Venture funds commit $815 mln to Vietnamese startups

Vietnamese startups earned pledges of $815 million over the next five years from 33 foreign and domestic venture funds.

The pledges, announced at the recent Vietnam Venture Summit, came from several foreign funds who’ve been active in Vietnam in recent years, like CyberAgent Capital, AlphaJWC, Monk’s Hill Ventures, as well as several domestic funds like VinaCapital Ventures, Do Ventures, and Viet Capital Ventures.

At the same event last year, 18 funds had committed $415 million to Vietnamese startups for three years, and $220 million of this was disbursed in the first half of this year.

Investment in Vietnamese tech startups in the first six months fell 22 percent year-on-year to $222 million due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by Ho Chi Minh City-based venture capital firm Do Ventures.

Among six major economies in Southeast Asia, Vietnam accounted for 16 percent of the latest investment pledges, ranking third behind Singapore (37 percent) and Indonesia (30 percent), it added.

A recent report by U.S.-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company says 12 large digital ecosystems (companies providing services across sectors) will be established across retail and services in Vietnam by 2025, creating a revenue pool of about $100 billion.