First venture summit kicks off in Hanoi

The first such summit, lasting until June 12, is a dialogue platform between the Vietnamese Government, startups and domestic and international venture funds.

Many investment funds have been established in Vietnam and are willing to pour capital into investment projects, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.

Vietnam is a potential market for these funds as its population is nearly 100 million people, with 63% of them having access to the Internet, 57% actively using social media and 73% owning mobile phones.

In addition, there were over 3,000 startups in Vietnam last year, placing the country third in Asia, Dung added.

According to Vinnie Lauria, representative of Golden Gate Ventures, which coordinates with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to organize the event, Vietnam’s innovative startup projects are attractive to foreign venture funds.

Representatives of more than 100 venture funds will come to Vietnam to seek opportunities. At the Vietnam Venture Summit 2019, major deals with Vietnamese startups will also be announced, Lauria noted.

Many large Vietnamese firms have also invested heavily in the startup ecosystem. Specifically, VinaCapital Group has launched a new venture investment fund, called VinaCapital Ventures, worth a total of US$100 million, while Vingroup has set up a VND2 trillion (US$85.6 million) supporting fund for startups and science and technology research.

The number of local venture funds has reached 40.

According to a report on the startup movement last year by the Topica Founder Institute, 92 projects by Vietnamese startups received total investment of some US$889 million, tripling that in 2017.

The Vietnam Venture Summit 2019 also introduces Vietnam’s business environment, innovative startup ecosystem and National Innovation Center. Domestic startups can explore support from the Government and investment funds.

Also, discussions will focus on startups’ needs in terms of financial technology, artificial intelligence and ecommerce as well as experience in expanding business operations to other countries.

Minister Dung said that the summit will be held annually to promote innovation among domestic enterprises, encourage them to establish venture funds and provide them with easier access to capital resources.