Regional vs Local; Biometrics payment; New VC funds; YC Office Hours
Your monthly newsletter on Vietnamese in tech
Hi! Welcome to issue No.4 of Accelerate Vietnam.
Last month seems to be quiet, with only a few funding rounds and one acquisition announced. But September will be exciting, as there are two new VC funds being established by some of the most influential people in Vietnam’s tech ecosystem.
The timing for Vietnam seems to be NOW. If you want to build something for the country and beyond, wait no more! 🙌
Insights
Vietnam needs more aggressive founders?
Last month, Tech In Asia published an thought-provoking piece that explains why there is a gap in VC funding between Vietnam and Indonesia. The main reason, according to their research, is the lack of “local tech companies that can or want to compete with their regional peers.” Even VNG – Vietnam’s sole unicorn – operates only within the country. 🦄
“Startups from Singapore or Indonesia go regional very early on, which means some investors are more willing to back them in later rounds partially due to their larger addressable market.” – Darren Nguyen.rvices.
From the Maker
The shutdown of luxury e-tailer Leflair came as a surprise to everyone in the ecosystem. In a recent interview, Loic discussed what he has learned during the journey. Loic Gautier / Leflair via Vietcetera
(In Vietnamese) The engineering team behind Tiki, Vietnam’s e-commerce giant, share their experience building and scaling the tech over the last decade. Nghia Le / Tiki 📦
In Vietnam, many organisations see digital identity as a natural next step to provide enhanced customer experience. Here’s Wee Digital’s take on how biometrics payment landscape is evolving. Christian / Wee Digital via Vietcetera
(In Vietnamese) On providing high-quality STEAM education for Vietnamese students. Hung Tran / Got It via NDH
Trending in Vietnam Tech
Dzung Nguyen (ex-CyberAgent) and Vy Le (ex-ESP) launch Do Ventures, a Vietnam-focused VC fund of $50 million, backed by Naver, Vertex and other notable LPs.
Khanh Tran (ex-Vina Capital) and Tu Ngo (CEO @ YOLA) are establishing a new Vietnam-focused VC fund.
VNG hits TikTok with copyright infringement claims. ⚖️
Galaxy Media acquires edtech startup Hocmai.
Motorbike marketplace OKXE raises $5.5M in Series A funding. 🏍
PasarPolis (InsurTech), PropertyGuru (PropTech), and more are looking to expand into Vietnam.
NextPay invests $475K in local customer service app CNV Loyalty.
Computer Vision Vietnam received an investment of $500K from Next100.
Wavemaker Partners invests $500K in e-commerce Foodmap.
Opportunities
– Y Combinator is hosting online office hours for startup founders every Friday throughout September.
– Applications for Startup Arena Pitch Battle 🔥 by Tech In Asia and Surge are now open. They will have four regional events in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia, with a grand finale at the Tech in Asia Conference.
Events
🗓️September 8
Meet the VC feat. AngelCentral
🗓️September 12
Chat with Jeff Dean (Head of Google AI)
🗓️September 12
Ho Chi Minh Startup Ecosystem
🗓️September 12-13
AI Day 2020
🗓️September 12-13
UX+ Conference with Shopify, Uber, Grab, Adobe, Salesforce, and more
🗓️October 15
Under 30 Summit 2020 - Imagineering The Future ✨
🗓️October 19-22
Tech In Asia Conference
More things I consumed this month
Read 📰 Sequoia’s First Woman Partner Is Raising Capital, and Standards. Analysing Y Combinator Summer Batch 2020. The Future of Southeast Asia’s Digital Financial Services.
Listen 🎧 A super insightful podcast with Ming Maa (President of Grab) on Grab’s growth strategies
Attend 👀 SaaStr Annual At Home.
Try out 🔮 Typing without a physical keyboard with Port 6. Taking notes with Roam Research.
Thank you for being part of Accelerate Vietnam this month. 👋
If you are a Vietnamese investor, founder or startup operator, I'd love to feature your content. If you come across a blog post that you think I should feature, please let me know via the same form.
Comments, questions, tips? Send me a direct note.
Curated by Amy (Trang) Nguyen, pre-seed investor at Wave Ventures. Born in Ho Chi Minh City. Based in Helsinki. You can find me elsewhere on LinkedIn, Medium, and Twitter.