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The Definitive Guide to the

VIETNAM
STARTUP SCENE
Last updated on 10th Dec, 2014 (v.1.5)
By Dat Le Viet
Co-Founder
HATCH! PROGRAM

a publication of


WANT TO JUMP AROUND?
WHY THE
VIETNAM STARTUP SCENE
IS HOT?
3

OVERVIEW
9
Startup investment: 2012 - 2014
Notable Startup companies
Movement/ Startup Trend
Meet-Up/ Event
Key People
Constraint
MYTHS

22

Vietnam Startup Festival

RESOURCES
25
Incubator/ Accelerator
Investment Fund
Co-Working Space
Key Media
Government
Universities

BONUS
33
Why bootstrap in Vietnam?
Vietnam Angel Network
Reference/ To read
Our Partner
Contact us


WHY THE

VIETNAM
STARTUP SCENE
IS HOT ?
Photo: Justin Guariglia


Flappy Bird
Creator: Dong Nguyen
Release: May 24th, 2013

Removal: Feb 9th, 2014
Brief: The world’s most
famous video game, created a
worldwide phenomenon and a
controversial removal in 2013.
No. of Download: 50 mil +
No. of Ratings: 48,000 +
Top free iPhone app:
109 countries
Revenue at peak:
US $50,000/day
Image: Rolling Stone Magazine


VNG Corporation
Founder: Le Hong Minh
Founded: 2004
Brief: Biggest Internet
company in Vietnam, works
on online entertainment, social
network & e-commerce
Value: US $1 billion
Revenue: US $100 mil, ’13

Photo: VNG’s 10 years anniversary

Outstanding app:
Brief: Second most popular
OTT app in Vietnam with 10mil
users, after Viber with 12 mil

Two Startup Centers
Hanoi City
Role: Political capital
Population: 6.6 million, ’10
Traits: Eastern-like, political,
diplomatic and more formal

Photo: NASA

Ho Chi Minh City
Role: Economic stronghold
Population: 7.4 million, ‘10
Traits: Western-like, friendly,
business-oriented and casual


VIETNAM: INTERNET USAGE

Vietnam
Startup
Festival
Source: US
Census
Bureau, Internet Live Stats, WeAreSocial,sg

This makes Vietnam the 15th
largest market on the Internet.

7


VIETNAM: SMARTPHONE USAGE

Vietnam
Startup
Festival
Source: US
Census
Bureau, Internet Live Stats, WeAreSocial,sg

With
Vietnam
With 54%
nearlyofhalf
of the Internet
population
30,isitusing
population is
in under
Vietnam
becomes
one(and
of the
most
smartphone
increasing),
potential
Internet

in
the market
clearlymarket
left many
South
East Asia.
undiscovered
frontiers
startups to make a difference,
and even for big corporation
also.

8


WHAT’S MORE?

THE INNOVATION SCENE:
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
Image: zugaldia; Concept: TOPMITO, TechinAsia.com

9


STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2012
No Startup

Categories/Type

Investor

Type

Time

1

Money Lover

Expense manager

Angel Investors

Seed Funding

Q4 12'

2

Kleii.com

Cloud solution

BTIC

Seed Funding

Q4 12'

3

Foody.vn

Food review

CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam

Seed Funding

Q4 12'

4

Baomoi.com

Online news

VNG

M&A

Q4 12'

5

Project Lana

E-Commerce

IDG Ventures Vietnam

Strategic Investment

Q3 12'

6

Giaohangnhanh.vn

Logistic solution

Angel Investors

Seed Funding

Q3 12'

7

VTC Online

Digital content

Duxton Capital

Series B

Q3 12'

8

Wala.vn

Social network

Angel Investors

Seed Funding

Q3 12'

9

Eat.vn

Food delivery

VC Corp

M&A

Q3 12'

10

Yume.vn

Social network

MJ Group

M&A

Q2 12'

11

N/A

N/A

CyberAgent Ventures

Seed Funding

Q2 12'

12

VC Corp

Online & mobile service

Intel Capital

N/A

Q2 12'

STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2012
No Startup

Categories/Type

13

OrderFood.vn

Food delivery

14

Blue Up

15

Investor

Type

Time

MJ Group

M&A

Q2 12'

Flashcard

PVNI

Seed Funding

Q2 12'

Appota.com

Mobile Platform

Angel Investors

Seed Funding

Q2 12'

16

Minh Châu

Online game

IDG Ventures Vietnam

Series A

Q1 12'

17

NhacCuatui.com

Online Music

CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam

Series B

Q1 12'

18

Colorbox.vn

Mobile game

CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam

Series A

Q1 12'

19

Tiki.vn

E-Commerce

CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam

Series A

Q1 12'

20

Wada.vn

Search Engine

Kusto Group

Series A

Q1 12'

21

Everyday

Groupon

Kusto Group

Series A

Q1 12'

22

Paylink.vn

Payment solution

Kusto Group

Series A

Q1 12'

23

Truongxua.vn

Social network

Kusto Group

Series A

Q1 12'

24

Coccoc.com

Search engine, browser

Russian Investors

Series A

Q1 12'


STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2013
No Startup

Categories/Type
Groupon

Investor
Cùng Mua

Type

Time

M&A

Q4 13'

Series B

Q4 13'

1

Nhóm Mua

2

TOPICA Education Group Online Education

3

Anphabe

Career network

Recruit Holdings

Strategic Investment Q4 13'

4

YTON.vn

Health care

Health tech group

Strategic Investment Q3 13'

5

Glamybox

Subscription

VanityTrove Singapore

M&A

Q3 13'

6

Tiki.vn

E-Commerce

CyberAgent Ventures & Sumitomo

Series A

Q3 13'

7

iStart.vn

Online education

Angel Investors

Seed funding

Q2 13'

8

Greengar.com

Mobile collaboration app

500Startups

Accelerator

Q2 13'

9

Tapmee.com

Dating app

Angel Investors

Seed funding

Q2 13'

10

Thegioididong.com

Mobile Retailer

Robert Willett & CDH Electric Bee Limited Strategic Investment Q2 13'


STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2013
No Startup

Categories/Type

Investor

Type

Time

11

Tinh Vân Ebooks

Ebooks

IDG Ventures Vietnam

Series A

12

Nganluong.vn

E-Payment

MOL

Strategic Investment Q2 13'

13

Violet.vn

Document sharing

IDG Ventures Vietnam & Tinh Van Corp

Series A

Q1 13'

14

DeltaViet.vn

Education

Angel investor

Seed Funding

Q1 13'

15

Ig9.vn

Crowd Funding

BTIC

Seed Funding

Q1 13'

16

Kiemviec.com

Recruitment solution

CareerBuilder

M&A

Q1 13'

17

Vietnamworks.com

Recruitment solution

EN - Japan

M&A

Q1 13'

18

Mytour.vn

Hotel booking

Recruit Holdings

Series A

Q1 13'

19

MobiVi.com

E-Payment

Kusto Group

Series B

Q1 13'

Q2 13'

STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2014
No Startup

Categories/Type

Investor

Type

Time

1

Antoree

Private Tutor Market

N/A

Seed Funding

Q4 14’

2

vLance

Freelancer Market

N/A

Seed Funding

Q4 14’

3

Uplevo

Brand Design

N/A

Seed Funding

Q4 14’

4

Morbling

3D Game Studio

N/A

Seed Funding

Q4 14’

5

Astro Telligent

Human Resource

Vietnam International Bank (VIB)

First Adopter

Q4 14’

6

Haivl

Funny Content

24h

M&A

Q3 14'

7

Rockit Online

Online Education

8

Adatao

Big data, Analytic

9

Appota

Mobile Platform

Japan and Singapore investors

10 hangtot.com

E-commerce

CyberAgent Ventures

11 Ahometo

E-commerce

OneCapitalWay (5DESIRE)

Seed Funding

12 VinE-Com

E-commerce

VinGroup

Strategic Investment Q1 14'

Learn Capital, John Katzman, and
Formation 8
Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed
Ventures and Bloomberg Beta

Strategic Investment Q3 14'
Series A

Q3 14'

Series B

Q2 14'
Q1 14'
Q1 14'


NOTABLE HI-TECH COMPANY


OUTSTANDING STARTUPS
US $1 billion

US $75 million - $150 million

US $10 million - $30 million


AND MORE…

…


MOVEMENT/ STARTUP TREND
Top movements:
1. Gaming
2. E-Commerce
3. Mobile app
4. Online booking
And more:
5. E-learning & education
6. Food security & agriculture
7. Business platform
8. Hardware application

Vietnam Startup Festival


MEET-UP/ EVENT
Annual:
HATCH! FAIR/ Vietnam Startup Festival
DEMO ASEAN
Bar Camp

Tech Camp
Vietnam Mobile Day
PHP Day
Monthly:
Startup Grind
Founder Matching Day
Business Thursdays
Vietnam Startup Festival

Hackathon:
Teckathon & Mobile Hackathon
Hackathon Vietnam
Competition:
Startup Weekend Hanoi & HCMC
Kawai Startup Competition
VCCI Startup Competition
VYE Bootcamp
Global Competition:
Seedstars World
Code for Resilience


KEY PEOPLE
Nguyen Hong Truong
Vice President
IDG Ventures Vietnam

Anh-Minh Do
Editor in Chief
TechInAsia Vietnam

Nguyen Manh Dung
Head Representative
CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam

Le Huynh Kim Ngan
Founder
Twenty.vn

Pham Minh Tuan
Director
TOPICA Founder Institute
Vietnam Startup Festival

Aaron Everhart
Senior Advisor
HATCH! PROGRAM

Bobby Liu
Founder
Hub.IT


CONSTRAINT
System
E-Payment
Logistic
Public Policy
Education on entrepreneurship

Vietnam Startup Festival

Human
Teamwork competency
“Me-too” vs. Real innovation
Naïve mindset on business and startup
Lack of business skill in depth
Too entrepreneurial in young people
Too risk averse in old people
Lack of culture for constructive feedback and
accepting failure


WHAT ARE SOME MYTHS
FROM THE SCENE?
Vietnam Startup Festival

Photo: Homero


MYTHS
There’s a naïve perspective on how to make an organization that can bring an innovation to
commercial success, and those are:
1)

a lack of the mindset to accept failure; not only amongst entrepreneurs themselves, but the
general business community in Vietnam and Asia

2)

a lack of practical knowledge and understanding on how to commercialize innovations: such
as developing a business model, relationship build-up, having an investor’s perspective,
identifying a scalable market, deep customer understanding and a sense of customer
experiences;

3)

and finally, a lack of teamwork and real innovation evidenced by too many “me-too” startups.

Vietnam Startup Festival


MYTHS
As you can see, the ingredients for positive economic development in Vietnam
can be observed in a robust and growing startup ecosystem.
While the startup ecosystem is apparent and operational, still there remain three problematic
issues at hand: a gap between the startup and the VC, a lack of innovation evidenced by many
“me-too” start-ups, and two critical gaps: siloing amongst potential innovation enablers, and a
lack of an angel funding network to bridge startups from incubator/accelerator status to VC-ready
status.
Fortunately, solutions are in the works, and for that reason, the Vietnam may actually pivot into a
positive direction, positioning it well for a future as a nation leading in the overall success of the
future of South East Asian nations.

Vietnam Startup Festival


WHAT IS AVAILABLE IN THE
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM?

Photo: Yan Lerval