Interestingly enough, I have opportunities to talk to peers from Deloitte, McKinsey and Prudential about startups ecosystem in one just week. They approach because they want to know more about Vietnamese startup ecosystem and to see how they personally or their companies can engage.
Those meetings coupled with some observations recently make me realize how exciting time it is for startups in Vietnam. Because corporate side, a very important part of the ecosystem starts to show their interest & engagement. Let’s see!
<Corporates to acquire startups>
- Phuong Trang (a transportation group) acquired VATO (a Uber like app in Vietnam) See more in Vietnamese;
- BMG (a real estate group) acquired AMI ( a prop tech startup), See more in English;
- VIN group ( a very big domestic conglomerate) acquired Vicare (a health care startup) …. See more in Vietnamese.
<Corporates to engage with startups>
- VP Bank partners with UP co-working space to run co-working space and various engagement programs for startups like Hackathon, competitions;
- ACB Bank hosts “Bank without walls” Hackathon;
- Ecopark (a real estate group) forms a strategic innovation team to look for innovation solutions;
- VIN group founds VINID, a company which is said to build payment solution and be the one to drive the tech innovation effort for the group;
- VinaCapital (investment management and real estate development firm) with their new fund for tech startups is trying to engage with the community;
- An undisclosed foreign real estate is building their co-working space and making it free for startups in HCMC soon;
- Deloitte is said to be looking for Startup Ecosystem Consultant in Vietnam market.
< and some cases that I promise not to disclose yet. They’re not big secrets and I guess many people may know them better than me :)) But well, it’s promised so … >
These are all new activities of corporates I observe recently. I do not mention to some old cases like CMC to establish their Innovation center last year, or some foreign banks and finance groups ( Shinhan Banks, UOB, VISA) to run their own incubators or engagement activities in Vietnam since last year.
<More rich people to consider startups as alternative investment>
- I know more and more clubs of angel investors are founded in big cities like Hanoi and HCMC.
- Also, some classes teaching startups investment for angels can be seen already.
Personal story: the other day when we were running a hackathon at a A level shopping mall ( = where you will easily find many rich parents bringing their kids to on weekends), a man came across and asked me how he could invest in startups. He was totally fine with $50k or $100k check size. Just didn’t know how!
I believe that Shark Tank reality show does some good education here! I hope to see more Corporate Venture Capital soon!
<Corporate friends look for job opportunities in startups>
Too personal to be shared here but yes, it’s great to see this trend!
Of course, still many things to be done but anw, so exciting time for startups ecosystem in Vietnam, I think!
One minute for advertising
If you are interested in seeing how startups in Vietnam are catching up with tech trends like AI, IoT, Blockchain, VR/AR… and how local corporates are catching up with the trends, come to our event on 6th October ! Link below:
https://www.facebook.com/events/285575471987320/
On the same day, we will be hosting an event dedicated for investors (and investors — want- to-be) who’re interested in Vietnam startups market . Will share the link soon!
San 
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