Max Wu

Max Wu (吳廣義) is the founder and general partner of Birch Venture Capital, Inc., a Taipei-based technology venture firm. According to the firm, he has more than 40 years of experience across the information-and-communications-technology (ICT) industry and venture fund investment. Before founding Birch, Max was a managing partner at InveStar Capital — one of Taiwan's early cross-border technology VC firms — and served as chairman of Hua Nan Venture Capital.

His operating career began in industry rather than finance. Max spent more than 20 years with the Acer group, where he led R&D, marketing, purchasing, and customer-service functions at various points, eventually serving as President of Acer America. That combination of a long operating tenure at one of Taiwan's flagship technology companies and later fund-management roles is the foundation of Birch's thesis of pairing capital with hands-on operating and supply-chain guidance.

Max is (or has been) an active board member across a portfolio of Taiwanese technology companies. The firm lists him as chairman of GTBF Ltd. and as a board director of Novatek, Apacer, YODN Lighting, Harvatek, Gigastone, and Antec. In earlier years he was chairman of Integrated System Solution Corp. (ISSC), iaSolution Inc., and Goyatek Inc., and a board director of APE, AOpen, MicroBase, and Aplix.

He has also been prominent in the technology community. He was chairman of the National Chiao-Tung University Spring Foundation (2012–2018) and was recognized among NCTU's "Impact 50 in 50 Years" remarkable alumni in 2008. Earlier, he chaired the Chiao-Tung University Alumni Association (CTUAA) of Northern California (2000–2001) and the Asia American Multi-Technology Association (AAMA, 1997), and sat on the board of the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, West Coast (1996–2000) — reflecting deep ties to the Silicon Valley–Taiwan technology network.

• Invests in high-tech businesses spanning semiconductors, communications/networking, cloud and internet services, mobile and software, display/touch technologies, green energy, and biotech/medical services.
• Focuses on venture fund investment across Taiwan, China, and California — explicitly positioning Birch as "bridging the innovation, creativity of implementation and manufacturing of the Pacific Rim."
• Backs "entrepreneurs with a vision, innovative technology, and a strong sense of commitment," and takes an active, hands-on role providing strategic advice and management expertise to portfolio companies.
• Firm-stated decision factors (Management Strategy): People — "we expect the entrepreneurial team to have the integrity, passion, commitment and capability… People make the difference"; Technology & Business Model — "The right technologies developed at the right time with the right business model," with a preference for innovation and control over critical points in the supply chain; Company Road Map — setting milestones with checklists; and Capability of Execution — "Be focused and make breakthroughs with priority," leveraging partner alliances given limited startup resources.
• Explicitly does not treat an IPO as the only exit — Birch also actively pursues M&A outcomes for its portfolio.