● OMO in the spotlight, as LINE Taiwan looks to make everyday life better by merging online and offline

● New ventures include LINE Taxi and LINE Spot to boost convenience for consumers 

● LINE PROTOSTAR continues to expand development of Taiwan’s startup ecosystem 

TAIPEI – October 23, 2019 – LINE Taiwan announced a busy lineup of new services and partnerships, along with plans to continue growing in the Taiwan market, at LINE Converge 2019 Autumn on October 23. A wide range of guests, partners and reporters were on-hand for the day’s program, featuring the company’s latest strategies and products for accelerating LINE’s OMO (online merging with offline) plans and bringing the “Life on LINE” vision to the people of Taiwan.

LINE Taiwan managing director Roger Chen presenting at LINE Converge 2019

  

OMO services boost convenience, led by launch of LINE SPOT and LINE TAXI

LINE Spot is a new platform for connecting physical stores to a wide range of OMO services. By identifying a user’s physical location, LINE SPOT helps provide people with up-to-date information on the stores close to them and the LINE services they offer. LINE SPOT also makes it easier to work with partnering companies, including FunNow, TaxiGo, Taiwan Designated Driver, ezding, Niceday, WeMo Scooter and dudoo, which will be joining LINE SPOT by the first quarter of 2020. In addition, in the future LINE SPOT will expand functionality, providing users with additional features like the ability to view company information and learn about connected services.

 LINE SPOT brings together several new partners to make the OMO experience better than ever 

LINE Taxi was created through a partnership with TaxiGo, bringing the convenience of a taxi-hailing service, embedded right in the main LINE platform. Users can also hail rides through a chatbot if they follow the LINE TAXI OA (Official Account).  

“LINE TAXI is an open platform connecting taxi teams and consumers, and TaxiGo is our partner,” said Roger Chen, managing director of LINE Taiwan. “LINE TAXI welcomes more local collaborators to join us in the future and help us provide a more convenient ride-hailing service for our users.” 

 

LINE PROTOSTAR looks to boost local startups

LINE launched LINE PROTOSTAR in Taiwan at the end of 2015, aimed at boosting the development of the local tech industry. Since then, it has steadily provided investment and guidance to outstanding startups, assisting more than 30 aspiring tech companies taking their dreams to the next level. 

Several of LINE SPOT’s partners – TaxiGo, Taiwan Designated Driver, and dudoo – were all developed with the help of LINE PROTOSTAR.   

At LINE Converge, several exciting plans for LINE PROTOSTAR were announced, including partnerships with consultancies like Deloitte Taiwan and CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator, to offer courses, mentorships and managerial advice to startups. 

 

Cecilia Tang, senior director of corporate strategy at LINE Taiwan, outlined big plans for LINE PROTOSTAR in the year ahead.

“As LINE PROTOSTAR enters its fifth year, we will provide more resources to outstanding startups than ever,” said Cecilia Tang, senior director of corporate strategy at LINE Taiwan. “That will include a free official account for a year, API connections, and NT$300,000 worth of advertising and marketing amenities.” 

 

LINE Converge outlines a strong future for LINE in Taiwan 

Through the day’s events at LINE Converge, the speakers illustrated the many ways that LINE is working to make everyday life better and more convenient. With 21 million monthly active users in Taiwan, sending more than 10 billion messages each day, LINE is clearly the app of choice for the people of Taiwan. Services like LINE TODAY, LINE TV and LINE Music continue to grow and find new users, offering convenient and compelling digital lifestyle content. 

LINE Taiwan is also very active ensuring it helps contribute to a positive social environment in Taiwan, having launched the LINE Digital Accountability Project in March and the LINE Fact Checker OA and website in July, among other services designed to ensure a good environment for public communications. 

 

About LINE Corporation

Based in Japan, LINE Corporation (NYSE:LN/TSE:3938) is dedicated to the mission of “Closing the Distance,” bringing together information, services and people. The LINE messaging app launched in June 2011 and since then has grown into a diverse, global ecosystem that includes AI technology, fintech and more.

 

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