TSMC wants its new venture fund to back chip startups that could become the next Nvidia, Kevin Zhang, the company’s deputy co-chief operating officer, told Nikkei Asia, Taiwan News reported on 13 November. The fund is NT$16.45 billion (US$500 million), the report says.
TSMC’s board approved “no more than US$500 million” for an investment company on 10 November, its board resolutions release says. TSMC first set up an emerging fund of about NT$6.57 billion in 2021, the report says; by our arithmetic, the new fund is about 2.5 times that.
Business Pill · Data Flywheel
A short explainer on flywheels. It teaches the general idea and does not discuss TSMC’s fund.
The key insight: As we read the two sources together, the board approved the money on 10 November and the interview supplies the purpose: startups that could become large customers, plus suppliers and intellectual-property partners, according to Zhang.
Zhang told Nikkei Asia the aim is to support startups that could grow into large customers, the report says. “When Nvidia started working with us, Nvidia was a startup”, he said, adding: “We not only support today’s Nvidia, but we also want to support the future’s Nvidia.”
He named Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom as today’s large customers, and said the company wants to serve innovators across the industry, not only the global chip giants, according to the report.
TSMC’s new venture fund against its 2021 emerging fund and its Anthropic and OpenAI approvals, NT$ figures as reported by Taiwan News; the 2.5x ratio is our arithmetic.
Who the Fund Could Back
Beyond startups, Zhang said the company could back its own suppliers and partners, such as providers of intellectual property, the report says. The fund could also back types of companies TSMC has never invested in before, according to the report.
The 2021 emerging fund gave startups access to TSMC’s advanced manufacturing capacity, the report says. Zhang said returns from that earlier program had been “exceptional” and that the company would not rule out putting more money into such efforts.
How It Compares
The board release describes the vehicle as an investment company “for the purpose of making strategic investments in the semiconductor industry and related ecosystem”. The same meeting approved about US$40.93 billion of capital appropriations; by our arithmetic, the fund is about 1.2% of that.
The fund comes just after TSMC moved to invest up to NT$32.87 billion in Anthropic and OpenAI, the report says, which we covered on 10 November. By our arithmetic, the new venture fund is about half the size of those two approvals combined.
As we read the scale, the fund is about 2.5 times the 2021 emerging fund and about half of the Anthropic and OpenAI approvals, by our arithmetic from the reported NT$ figures.
As we read the supplier line, backing intellectual-property providers would be new ground: the report says the fund could back types of companies TSMC has never invested in before.
Kevin Zhang, deputy co-chief operating officer, TSMC, to Nikkei Asia (via Taiwan News, 13 November 2026)
“But remember, when Nvidia started working with us, Nvidia was a startup”
Three Implications
FOR CHIP STARTUPS A fund of NT$16.45 billion (US$500 million) aimed at companies that could grow into the next Nvidia, the report says.
FOR SUPPLIERS AND IP PARTNERS Zhang said the company could back its own suppliers and partners, such as providers of intellectual property, per the report.
FOR TSMC The board release caps the investment company at US$500 million, beside about US$40.93 billion of capital appropriations at the same meeting.
The framework says: “Each flywheel will depend upon the context in which the company operates.”
As we read it, Zhang’s “reinforcing loop” is one company describing its own context: funding startups that may later need its manufacturing. The framework does not discuss this story.
What Is Not Established
The report does not give the fund’s start date, its first investments, its legal structure or how much of it goes to startups versus suppliers. The board release gives only the US$500 million ceiling and the purpose; the startup, supplier and 2021 comparisons come from Zhang’s interview with Nikkei Asia as reported by Taiwan News. We did not read Nikkei’s own article.
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TSMC’s board approved up to US$500 million for an investment company, and Kevin Zhang told Nikkei Asia it is meant to back chip startups, and possibly suppliers and intellectual-property partners, at about 2.5 times the 2021 emerging fund by our arithmetic.
A note on sourcing. The fund’s purpose, the 2021 comparison and the quotes come from Taiwan News’s report of 13 November 2026 on Kevin Zhang’s interview with Nikkei Asia, read in full on 15 November 2026; the US$500 million ceiling and the capital appropriation come from TSMC’s board resolutions release filed with the SEC on 10 November. Ratios are our arithmetic.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
