In this episode, we invited Tesoro Venture Capital Founder and Managing Partner Andy Lombard to share how he identifies future industry leaders amid the trillion-dollar global race in semiconductors and AI.
Developing a new chip often takes close to a decade and requires tens of millions of U.S. dollars in investment. Tesoro approaches this challenge through a model it calls “Codependent Innovation,” working in close collaboration with ecosystem partners such as TSMC, Cadence, and Amkor. By embedding startups directly into this network, Tesoro helps establish real-time feedback loops that significantly shorten development cycles. Andy explains in detail how Tesoro’s accelerator programs are designed to compress both R&D timelines and costs, with an ambitious goal: to cultivate the next generation of TSMC’s most important global customers within the next five years.
Beyond investment strategy, Andy also discusses how Tesoro is working to replicate the success of Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park in the “Silicon Desert” of Phoenix. Tesoro is actively connecting leading universities—such as the University of Arizona and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University—with advanced research centers, focusing on frontier domains including Physical AI, robotics, photonics, and AI chips engineered for extreme environments such as space.
In this episode, we take a closer look at how Tesoro supports Taiwanese and global startups as they establish a presence in the U.S. market. Through cross-border collaboration and what Andy describes as a “corridor effect,” Tesoro aims to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation hard technologies and help shape a truly global ecosystem for physical, real-world AI.

在本集節目中，我們邀請到 Tesoro Venture Capital 的創辦人兼管理合夥人 Andy Lombard，與我們分享他如何在價值兆元的半導體與 AI 競賽中挖掘未來的產業巨頭。開發一顆晶片通常需要耗時十年並投入數千萬美金，但 Tesoro 透過「共同依賴式創新（Codependent Innovation）」模式，與台積電 (TSMC)、Cadence 及 Amkor 等生態系夥伴緊密合作，為新創公司建立即時的反饋機制。Andy 詳細介紹了他們如何透過加速器計畫壓縮研發時間與成本，目標是在未來五年內，為台積電培養出下一批最重要的全球大客戶。
從新竹到鳳凰城：打造實體 AI 的全球生態系
除了投資策略，Andy 也探討了如何將台灣新竹科學園區的成功模式，複製到亞利桑那州鳳凰城的「矽沙漠」。Tesoro 致力於串聯全球頂尖大學（如亞利桑那大學與陽明交大）與研究中心，鎖定「實體 AI (Physical AI)」、機器人、光子學以及專為太空極端環境設計的 AI 晶片等前瞻領域。我們將深入了解 Tesoro 如何協助台灣及全球的新創團隊落腳美國市場，並透過跨國合作的「廊道」效應，推動次世代硬科技的商業化進程。