Statistics show that Vietnamese start-ups raised a record 1.4 billion USD in 165 deals last year. (Illustrative photo: cafebiz.vn)Thewriting cited data from Vietnam’s National Innovation Centre (NIC) asshowing that Vietnamese start-ups raised a record 1.4 billion USD across 165deals last year, up from 894 million USD and 126 deals in 2019 – anindication that dealmaking in the market has regained momentum following asmall COVID-19-induced dip in 2020.
Start-upfounders across the region – not just from Vietnam – are eyeing the SoutheastAsian nation as an ideal launchpad for their regional businesses, explainedAscend Vietnam Ventures (AVV) co-founder and managing partner Binh Tran.
Citinga 2016 government stated target of one million start-upsby 2020, he said Vietnam's tech ecosystem is relatively young, clocking in atsix to seven years old, so venture capital opportunities are mostly seed based.
Whilethe target may have been overambitious, it set out an intention to promote andsupport the nascent start-up ecosystem, and to create hype about the digitaleconomy, he explained.
“Thesolutions coming out of Vietnam aren't going to just serve emerging Asia, someof these solutions are going to be globally leading companies that will beatSilicon Valley,” he told FinanceAsia.
Factors whichmake the country appealing to foreign investors include strong GDP growth –which was in the area of 7% per year for two decades priorto COVID-19 and is forecasted at 7.5% in 2022 – andits English-proficient and skilled youthful workforce.
Additionally,Tran highlighted the absence of large conglomerates acting as barriers to entryfor new start-ups.
“97%of the enterprises in Vietnam are SMEs, and so you have this very accessible,equitable playing field,” he said.
MarinaTran-Vu, founder of Vietnam-based sustainable start-up brand, Equo, also notedthe county’s young population, growing middle class, and investment into landand infrastructure.
In thecontext of global supply-chain woes exacerbated by pandemicrestrictions and geopolitical trade tensions, Vietnam is drawing increasedinterest for its potential to develop further as an international trading andmanufacturing hub. This has led many corporations to adopt a strategy for thediversification and management of global supply chains: turning to SoutheastAsian markets.
VinnieLauria, managing partner of Golden Gate Ventures (GGV), referred to Vietnam asone of the vertices of the Southeast Asia “Start-up Golden Triangle,” theothers being Singapore and Indonesia.
Hecited “firms to watch” in Vietnam as including electric vehicle maker VinFast;gaming unicorn VNG; and e-wallet Momo.
Lauria heldthat listing on the local exchange is slowly becoming more appealing as an exitoption and “we are likely to see dual listings for start-ups that have abroader regional footprint.”
TheVietnamese government has continued to update its strategy with the exchanges,which started in 2016 and this still continues to sharpen, he added./.
VNA
