Vietnam Startup Scene by Hatch

1. The Definitive Guide to the
VIETNAM
STARTUP SCENE
By Dat Le Viet
Co-Founder
HATCH! PROGRAM
a publication ofLast updated on 10th Dec, 2014 (v.1.5)

2. 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
RESOURCES 25
Incubator/ Accelerator
Investment Fund
Co-Working Space
Key Media
Government
Universities
Vietnam Startup Festival
WANT TO JUMP AROUND?
BONUS 33
Why bootstrap in Vietnam?
Vietnam Angel Network
Reference/ To read
Our Partner
Contact us

3. WHY THE
VIETNAM
STARTUP SCENE
IS HOT ?
Photo: Justin Guariglia

4. Image: Rolling Stone Magazine
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

5. 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
Outstanding app:
Brief: Second most popular
OTT app in Vietnam with 10mil
users, after Viber with 12 milPhoto: VNG’s 10 years anniversary

6. Two Startup Centers
Hanoi City
Role: Political capital
Population: 6.6 million, ’10
Traits: Eastern-like, political,
diplomatic and more formal
Ho Chi Minh City
Role: Economic stronghold
Population: 7.4 million, ‘10
Traits: Western-like, friendly,
business-oriented and casualPhoto: NASA

7. VIETNAM: INTERNET USAGE
Vietnam Startup Festival 7Source: US Census Bureau, Internet Live Stats, WeAreSocial,sg
This makes Vietnam the 15th
largest market on the Internet.

8. VIETNAM: SMARTPHONE USAGE
With nearly half of the Internet
population in Vietnam is using
smartphone (and increasing),
the market clearly left many
undiscovered frontiers
startups to make a difference,
and even for big corporation
also.
Vietnam Startup Festival 8Source: US Census Bureau, Internet Live Stats, WeAreSocial,sg
With 54% of Vietnam
population is under 30, it
becomes one of the most
potential Internet market in
South East Asia.

9. WHAT’S MORE?
9
THE INNOVATION SCENE:
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
Image: zugaldia; Concept: TOPMITO, TechinAsia.com

10. 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'

11. STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2012
No Startup Categories/Type Investor Type Time
13 OrderFood.vn Food delivery MJ Group M&A Q2 12'
14 Blue Up Flashcard PVNI Seed Funding Q2 12'
15 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'

12. STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2013
No Startup Categories/Type Investor Type Time
1 Nhóm Mua Groupon Cùng Mua M&A Q4 13'
2 TOPICA Education Group Online Education Series B Q4 13'
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'

13. STARTUP INVESTMENT - 2013
No Startup Categories/Type Investor Type Time
11 Tinh Vân Ebooks Ebooks IDG Ventures Vietnam Series A Q2 13'
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'

14. 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
Learn Capital, John Katzman, and
Formation 8
Strategic Investment Q3 14'
8 Adatao Big data, Analytic
Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed
Ventures and Bloomberg Beta
Series A Q3 14'
9 Appota Mobile Platform Japan and Singapore investors Series B Q2 14'
10 hangtot.com E-commerce CyberAgent Ventures Q1 14'
11 Ahometo E-commerce OneCapitalWay (5DESIRE) Seed Funding Q1 14'
12 VinE-Com E-commerce VinGroup Strategic Investment Q1 14'

15. NOTABLE HI-TECH COMPANY

16. OUTSTANDING STARTUPS
US $1 billion US $75 million - $150 million US $10 million - $30 million

17. AND MORE…
…

18. 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

19. 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
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
Vietnam Startup Festival
MEET-UP/ EVENT

20. Vietnam Startup Festival
KEY PEOPLE
Nguyen Hong Truong
Vice President
IDG Ventures Vietnam
Nguyen Manh Dung
Head Representative
CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam
Pham Minh Tuan
Director
TOPICA Founder Institute
Anh-Minh Do
Editor in Chief
TechInAsia Vietnam
Le Huynh Kim Ngan
Founder
Twenty.vn
Bobby Liu
Founder
Hub.IT
Aaron Everhart
Senior Advisor
HATCH! PROGRAM

21. System
E-Payment
Logistic
Public Policy
Education on entrepreneurship
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
Vietnam Startup Festival
CONSTRAINT

22. Vietnam Startup Festival
WHAT ARE SOME MYTHS
FROM THE SCENE? Photo: Homero

23. 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

24. 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
MYTHS

25. WHAT IS AVAILABLE IN THE
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM? Photo: Yan Lerval

26. INVESTMENT FUND
There is also a new wave of investment fund from U.S., Japan and Korea.

27. ACCLERATOR/ INCUBATOR

28. Vietnam Startup Festival
COWORKING SPACE

29. Hanoi City
1. Clickspace
http://clickspace.vn/
2. Hub.IT
http://www.hubit.asia/
3. 5Desire
http://www.5desire.com/en/Incubation
4. iHouse
http://www.coworking.vn/
5. Manzi
https://www.facebook.com/manzihanoi
Vietnam Startup Festival
COWORKING SPACE
Ho Chi Minh City
1. Sandbox Hub
https://www.facebook.com/sandboxhubvn
2. The Start Center
http://start-saigon.com/
3. Saigon CoWorking
http://www.saigoncoworking.com/
4. WORK Saigon
http://www.worksaigon.com/
5. Gekko Space
http://www.gekkospace.com/
6. Aspire Office
http://www.aspireoffice.vn/
7. ITP- Đại học Quốc Gia
http://itpoffice.vn/
8. BTIC
http://www.becamextic.com/
9. The START Network
http://thestartnetwork.org/
Website Directory

30. Vietnam Startup Festival
KEY MEDIA
TECHINASIA.COM
Language: English
Coverage: Asia market
Key contact: Anh-Minh Do
twenty.vn
Language: Vietnamese
Coverage: Mostly Vietnamese market
Key contact: Le Huynh Kim Ngan
INFO TV
Language: Vietnamese
Coverage: Mostly Vietnamese market
VTV2
Language: Vietnamese/ English
Coverage: Mostly Vietnamese market

31. Vietnam Startup Festival
GOVERNMENT
Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology - FIRST
Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology - World Bank
Total Fund: US $110 million
Website: http://first-most.vn/
Project:
Vietnam Silicon Valley Project
Available Grants:
Overseas Talented Experts
Government Research Institutes
New Enterprises
Research-Innovation Consortia

32. Bachelor of Business (Entrepreneurship)
Saigon South and Hanoi Campus
RMIT University Vietnam
Vietnam Startup Festival
Universities
Entrepreneurship Training Course
Vietnam National University of Agriculture
International Entrepreneurship Training Course
Hanoi University of Science and Technology

33. BONUS:
WHY BOOTSTRAP IN VIETNAM? Photo: Louis Lim

34. VIETNAM IS A BEAUTIFUL MESS,
IT JUST WORKS!
Photo: Louis Lim

35. 1. Fast Internet
Downloading large files, making Skype calls or
using Javascript-heavy SaaS apps is no problem.
2. Low cost, high value lifestyle
You can live with upper-class standards on
$800/month salary; with higher salaries, in the
$1500/month range, residents can enjoy all the
luxuries they want.
3. Efficient Transportation
If you learn the motorbike system, it becomes
really easy and fast to go around. And it takes
only one minute every time to finish parking.
Vietnam Startup Festival
WHY BOOTSTRAP IN VIETNAM?
Photo: AsianBikeTour, VNExpress and Game4V

36. 4. Vietnam is happening
Vietnam is an emerging market and it changes
overnight. Everyone can find opportunity, a great deal
of fun, and even peace here. It’s great to travel in as
well.
5. Wonderful café culture
Great news for café lover: there are good café in
every corner of the country. Better news: You can
work there with free WIFI and unlimited tea.
6. Little language barrier
No need to worry if you only speak English. But there
is a huge plus for those who can speak just a little bit
of Vietnamese: people here will absolutely love them.Vietnam Startup Festival
WHY BOOTSTRAP IN VIETNAM?
Photo: Vietnam Travel, IVIVU and HATCH! PROGRAM

37. 7. Great food
The food is tasty, cheap and healthy, as well as locally
brewed beer and wine. For foodies: Ho Chi Minh City
is one of the best international food cities in the World.
8. Incredible community of online entrepreneurs
The scene is growing and growing, at a major pace,
there are people in nearly every startup field; and not
only Vietnamese, but also international entrepreneurs.
9. Working Opportunities
Not only you can work for many technology
companies here but also you can easily find a
teaching job to feed your startup journey.
Vietnam Startup Festival
WHY BOOTSTRAP IN VIETNAM?
Photo: Sylvia Fountaine, Tuoitre and HATCH! PROGRAM

38. Those points above are strongly inspired by three expats’ reviews below.
It is strongly recommended for you to read them.
Bootstrapping in Saigon,
Jon Myers, May 2013. [e-journal] Available through
<https://medium.com/@jonmyers/bootstrapping-in-saigon-fc9744367386>
Why I am living in Saigon, Vietnam,
David Hehenberher, Nov 2013. [e-journal] Available through
<http://davidhehenberger.com/saigon/>
Cheaply Bootstrap Your Startup from Vietnam,
Tomo Saigon, Oct 2012. [e-journal] Available through
<http://www.saigonist.com/vietnam/bootstrap-abroad-cheaply-bootstrap-your-startup-Vietnam>
Vietnam Startup Festival
WHY BOOTSTRAP IN VIETNAM?

39. SNEAK PEAK: VIETNAM ANGEL NETWORK
VIETNAM ANGEL NETWORK is a private
network for startup investment in Vietnam
http://angel.hatch.vn
and get your next big venture assessment!
Monthly Private Pitching
Networking & Co-Investing
Quarterly Portfolio Review
Investment Workshop

40. OUR PARTNER
Vietnam Startup Festival

41. Vietnam Startup Investment and M&A: 5 Interesting Trends in 2012 - 2013
Pham Minh Tuan, Dec 2013. [slide-share] Available through
<http://www.slideshare.net/hatchprogram/vietnam-startup-investment-and-ma-pham-minh-tuan>
There’s more to Vietnam’s startup scene that meets the eye,
Anh-Minh Do, April 2014. [e-journal] Available through
<http://www.techinasia.com/nhip-cau-dau-tu-startup-vietnam/>
A comprehensive look at Vietnam’s startup scene ecosystem in 2014
Anh-Minh Do, March 2013. [e-journal] Available through
<http://www.techinasia.com/comprehensive-on-vietnam-incubator-ecosystem/>
20 things Vietnamese startups need to win
Anh-Minh Do, April 2014. [e-journal] Available through
<http://www.techinasia.com/20-vietnamese-startups-win/>
A brief about Vietnam Startup Scene
Albert Mai, Feb 2012. [e-journal] Available through
<http://www.startupof.me/vietnam-startup-scene/>
REFERENCE/ TO READ

42. REFERENCE/ TO SEE
All these illustrations are created by our amazing teammate:
Mariam Margishvili
Appreciate her at:
https://www.behance.net/masho-land

43. Would you have any information or wisdom that should be posted?
Please feel free to contact us at:
xinchao@hatch.vn
(+84) 4 6275 7406
http://hatch.vn
CONTACT US

44. FOR ALL BRAVE START-UPS