According to the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Organization (KOTRA), Vietnam with more than 96 million people is an attractive market for Korean investors.
As of November2018, South Korea has become the most FDI country in Vietnam.
According to economic experts, South Korea has astrategy to further promote investment in Vietnam in the coming years,including the fashion industry (apparel, leather shoes...), Vietnam's strengths, promising to bring many great opportunities for Vietnamese startups.
The Vietnam Technology Investment Report 2019 of ESP Capital and Cento Ventures shows thatin just two years, Vietnam from the inactive startup ecosystem has reached thetop three of the strongest startup communities in the 6 member countries associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) participated in the survey, just behind Indonesia and Singapore.
Also according to this report, investment capital fromKorea accounted for the largest proportion of the total USD 246 million pouredinto Vietnamese startups in the first 6 months of this year.
A series of business networking seminars and eventswas held in cities such as Seoul or the port city of Busan, South Korea, with inthe framework of "Techfest 2019," to help Vietnamese startups find opportunities investments from Korean financial institutions and venturecapital funds.
This is an opportunity for businesses, start-upsupport centers, function agencies in charge of elements in Vietnam's startup ecosystem, policy makers ... to gain a deeper understanding of the ecosystem. Korea's advanced start-up businesses have a clearer and more comprehensive view of Vietnam's startup ecosystem in the integration process with the global startup ecosystem.
In particular, the chain of activities under theframework of “Techfest 2019” in Korea also gives startups many valuable opportunities such as meeting investors, discussing with target partners, expanding relationships and raising High knowledge of entrepreneurship.
The Vietnamese market is becoming the destination for Korean funds as the investment amount is increasing, accounting for 30% oftotal transactions in the first half of this year, while in the period2017-2018, the majority of transactions were from Singaporean and Japanese investors.
Last July, Korean investment fund Nextrans pouredcapital into Base, a startup providing business management solutions on theSaaS (Software as a Service) platform.
Since its eyes on the Vietnamese market in 2015, this famous Korean investment fund has poured capital into a total of 10 Vietnamese startups. Some outstanding projects such as Luxstay, JamJa, EcoTruck, Leflair... with a total investment of tens of millions of dollars.
Mr. Eddy Hong, Managing Director of NexTrans affirmedthat Vietnam is one of the most exciting startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia,containing a great attraction for Korean investors.
NexTrans representative said that the current startup community in Vietnam is similar to South Korea 10 years ago, with a lot of development motivation and vast potential, with abundant ideas, quality, desire The success of founders, support from the Government of Vietnam as well asinvestors willing to pour capital.
Another Korean investment fund also active in Vietnamis STIC Ventures of STIC Investment.
Both funds are actively seeking potential partners inVietnam to add to the portfolio. While STIC Investment has a wide search rangeof large, medium and small businesses, STIC Ventures focuses on startups,technology-based businesses and early stages of development.
Familiar names in the startup world such as Tiki,Cammsys Vietnam, Nanogen Pharmaceutical ... are all in the STIC portfolio.
To achieve this success, it can be said that the Korean government, many agencies and localities have actively helped Vietnamese startups from promoting, connecting businesses to work places, privatebusinesses. Legal advice, brand protection….
The Korea Entrepreneurship Support Organization(NIPA), the Korea Information Technology Industry Promotion Agency (KICC) andthe Center for Young Entrepreneurs' Support (BSSC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to support the startup community Vietnam. In particular, at theend of April, Vietnam Internet Association (VIA) and KICC launched the"K-Startup Grand Challenge" contest for Vietnam startup community.
This is an annual program organized by the Korean Government since 2016 with the purpose of building an open ecosystem, helping startups expand markets in Asia by using the Korean market as a step stone. The organizers selected Vietnam as one of the main venues for this year's regionalqualifier competition with Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Hong Kong(China) and Taiwan (China).
The Center for Seoul Creative Economy and Innovation,the Seoul Creative Startup Incubator, Busan Innovative Startup Incubator ...and other Korean partners attach great importance to the Vietnamese market aswell as Vietnam's proposals.
Representatives of many Korean investment funds said that in the coming time, they will continue to expand their investment portfolio in Vietnam, especially in services operating on mobile platforms, financial technology, and biotechnology.High-tech agriculture and learning./