Startups call the meetings with their companions, which could be mentors, funds, angel investors, supporting organizations or even all the community, as their “predestiny”. National Program 844, Ministry of Science and Technology has listened to all the inspirational stories of startups and partners staying together. Not only a general relationship between startups and investors, but also they have become close friends, working together for the innovation of the startup ecosystem of Viet Nam.

Investor funds, the developed organizations, mentors: Greater-than-money values

Vietnam has more than 100 domestic and foreign funds, which are active. Aside from the abundant financial resources, they also bring other significant values for startups. “With the idea of copyright audiobooks, we found help from the PK Invest - a domestic fund. They gave us the hope that we are not on this road alone.” - Le Hoang Thach, WeWe’s CEO shared. This startup has launched the Voiz FM application. Not only invested as the original financial source, but PK Invest also shared with Le Hoang Thach and partners different business plans as well as experiences to develop products, which were suitable for Vietnamese culture. WeWe also benefited from the portfolio and relationships of the funds’ founders such as product distribution partners, book copyrights, music copyrights, etc.

Not only domestic startups, but also well-trained startups abroad such as the US or Canada, etc.. still need support when opening the Vietnamese market. This is taken for granted because the local market is always different and requires experiences from advisors. “I have received comprehensive support from BLOCK71 - a cooperation program of BECAMEX IDC and the National University of Singapore (NUS) ”- Nguyen Nhat, CEO of Otrafy stated. Otrafy is a Vietnamese startup based in the US. Every week, he regularly participated in seminars to share experiences from mentors or successful startups in Vietnam, on how to build teams, access specific markets in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, how the company worked, and how it worked with big businesses. Otrafy has been connecting with many large businesses through BLOCK71, such as Masan - something that not all startups can do.

Independent advisors always have activities to support startups, but they do it silently and dedicatedly to nurture startups. "They are like older siblings in the house, with decades of experience, seeing the kids enter the job, and they need help" - Le Hoang Thach, WeWe’s CEO describes: “So, it is alright to ask if we are facing any problems.”

Each meeting takes about 15-30 minutes but the value is hard to measure. According to Mr. Tran Thanh Tung - BOD of Loli & The Wolf - specializing in researching and providing sexual health products, with just a 30-minute meeting, the mentor could point out the problems of his startup when he lost 1.6 billion VND in March 2020. Since then, the company's profit has been maintained at more than 15%. Even at a meeting with Mr. Ngo Thanh Son, the Head of the Medtech village at TECHFEST 2020 of the Ministry of Science and Technology,  Hanh Nguyen - CEO of Deepcare that specialized in providing medtech solutions, has compared his business career at that time as a transformation after years of consecutive failures. And thanks to that change: “After years of struggle, we got supported on how to enter the particular Medtech market. In June 2021, we will pilot our model in the first hospital.”- Mr. Hanh Nguyen said.

Support from developed organizations and community trust

Looking deeper into the ecosystem and talking more with new startups, we can see that not only investment funds or new entrepreneurs are interested in startups, but over time, there are many developed organizations or communities that have provided support to bring more opportunities to the Vietnamese startup ecosystem.

This helped FUWA - a startup specializing in the production of probiotics from fruit bark. Founder Do Xuan Tien realizes that the aspirations to do both business and create a positive social impact are through non-chemical, 100% natural products.  While still struggling with the method of producing and preserving bottles, Mr. Tien received unconditional support from Mr. Dang Duc Long - a biochemistry expert from Vietnam - UK Research Institute in terms of technique. When the products were finished, FUWA continued to be supported by UNDP's Youth Co:Lab about the provision of knowledge packages on product promotion, branding, customer base, etc. At the same time “Support packages of Communication received at TECHFEST 2020 by the Ministry of Science and Technology have helped a business in Thanh Hoa become more popular. The initiative on establishing 10 locations for refilling helped reduce waste to the environment by 600 to 1,000 plastic bottles per month.” - Mr. Do Xuan Tien shared in his perspective, the most important thing in his business model is to ensure that the community around him is protected by the use of non-chemical products. Moreover, it also helps limit the waste of plastic and products when decomposition, making it less harmful to the environment.

In another story related to culture, with the aspiration to "popularized history", Viet Su Giai Thoai - a startup that aims at developing projects related to history, especially on Vietnamese history, has admitted that the support from the history-researching community helps them do many seemingly impossible things. Viet Su Giai Thoai has built an ecosystem around “history” that both generates profits and maintains a desire for history in the hearts of every Vietnamese, not having to shut down like many previous projects due to financial difficulties. “Startups must be able to balance profit and community meaning. We were fortunate to be supported by the community, improving our product each day passed. Some comments even stated that “I have never paid attention to history before, but it was unexpectedly good” - CEO Doan Xuan Quang added.

Localities’ dedication to support

In recent years, innovation startups have not only been vibrant in big cities but have also spread to suburban areas. Those interested in Vietnam's innovative startup ecosystem must know about Go Stream - a startup from Nghe An province - that has successfully made itself widely known to the world. That is just the starting point. Aside from Nghe An, many other provinces have also created favorable conditions in several aspects to serve as a springboard for startups. Most significant example is the bio-product of FUWA; after gaining 4 stars in the OCOPP Vietnam program, the product has been making its appearances at all the waypoints in Thanh Hoa province. Since then, FUWA has been selected as the product to be displayed at OCOPP booths. Founder Do Xuan Tien of  FUWA affirmed: "Without local support, we would have spent a lot more money and time to achieve such efficiency."

Witnessing the dynamic and enthusiastic rise of the provinces in entrepreneurship, the story of Que Rung Xanh continues to bring more confidence that the local startup ecosystems and regions have been bringing forth tremendous values. The social changes have completely transformed the startup slow-flow of the regions. With the drastic direction of GoVs at all levels, localities are considered as connection points in the startup network and also move along the "big waves” from the Central. Therefore, Ms. Tran Thi Xuan Quynh – CEO of Tan Hoa Thao with the Que Rung Xanh brand, which focuses on producing cinnamon tea from Quang Ngai, is fervently supported by the provincial leaders. 

The phone calls of representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, as well as the quick connections between the startups and the provincial leaders, communities, and representatives of the ethnic groups further support Que Rung Xanh to quickly find the best quality of Tra Bong cinnamon to put into production. The idea of building an organic growing area of Que Rung Xanh is also eagerly assisted by provincial leaders in terms of origin, growing areas to quickly obtain organic certification according to international standards, and with the intention to export these products and materials after processing. “After the start-up competition in Quang Ngai province, cinnamon tea from Tan Hoa Thao was chosen to display at the provincial booths or at tourism activities. Thanks to that, our brand will go beyond.” - CEO Xuan Quynh excitedly shared.

The stories of startups and its companions show that the elements of the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam have been closely linked to nurture and create a launch pad for startups to conceive and develop, forward to promoting sustainable socio-economic development.

Launched on January 25, 2020, “Startups & Companions” campaign, under the communication areas of Program "Supporting the national innovation startup ecosystem"  (National Program 844) directed by MOST, co-implemented by Nhan Dan TV, May Media and Vietnam Silicon Valley Accelerator. Over the past 02 months of implementation, the judgment board has selected potential startups to receive communication support packages from FPTPlay, Vietcetera and Wiziin Inc.

List of Startups receiving support package, including: 

1. Tan Hoa Thao 

2. Abivin 

3. Viet Su Giai Thoai

4. FUWA Biotech 

5. Deepcare 

6. WeWe Technology JSC

7. MED-ON 

8. The ̛Gioi Tho

9. Pety Technology JSC

10. JobWay 

11. Otrafy Technologies Inc. 

12. OpenCommerce Group- Shopbase

13. LC Vietnam Technology JSC 

14. NamiQ AI 

15. VIFO 

16. HASU 

17. Loli & The Wolf (Yêu là Đủ)

18. Smart Fashion 

19. Mosia

20. Tasa Vietnam 

If you need further information or contact to list of startups above, please contact:

Ms. Thanh Hang - Communication Coordinator, Program 844 (Mobile: 0869 889 869)

Link to the fanpage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanphongdean844/posts/2751391678416673