Financial

Vietnam’s delivery e-commerce startup Loship raises funds from Skype co-founder

February 26, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn is the latest big tech name to invest in Vietnamese startup Loship

Tallinn’s investment in Loship puts him on a list of global tech leaders betting on Vietnamese tech startups, which has shown resilience and growth even amidst COVID-19. Thus, Loship is poised to become a prominent tech figure for any seasoned investor looking at Vietnam, according to Loship CEO Trung Hoang Nguyen.

“MetaPlanet’s investment will help us build a much stronger image of Loship as a National Startup Hero. The competition will be much steeper in the long term, and we hope to pick up deep tech insights from Jaan Tallinn that can be applied to the Vietnam market,” he further opined.

The latest fundraising, which is part of the startup’s Series C round, comes just four months after its undisclosed bridge round led by Vulpes Investment Management. The new funding would fuel Loship’s path to becoming Vietnam’s leading one-hour-delivery e-commerce platform.

“We already have a winning playbook, and we look to expand it to more markets. Secondly, we know what we want to do with our product, and there are just 1 per cent of things that have been done. So, a huge portion of the funding will be poured into upgrading our app and increasing our tech capability. Also, we will ramp up marketing strategies to strengthen our foothold in the existing markets,” stated the CEO.

Founded in 2017, Loship traces its roots back to Lozi , a review app allowing users to find food, beverage, and coffee shops, before transitioning into a one-hour-delivery services platform. Loship had earlier closed its Series A and B rounds from several investors, including South Korea’s Smilegate Investment, Hana Financial Group, DTNI, Golden Gate Ventures, before announcing its Vulpes Investment Management-led bridge round in October 2020. The round was joined by DAAL Ventures and Wealth Well (Saudi Arabia-based VC Firms), Eucagi Ventures (Nigerian VC Firm), KI Group, and the vice president of Starbucks.

By Thanh Van

Unable to cover expenses during Covid-19, owners sell hotels at cheap prices

February 26, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Many offers to sell coastal hotels in Da Nang have appeared on real estate forums these days. Most of them are located in districts Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son.

Unable to cover expenses during Covid-19, owners sell hotels at cheap prices

A hotel put up on sale

On just one real estate website on February 22 many ads were listed.

A 4-star hotel on Vo Nguyen Giap street, 600 square meters, with 19 stories, 125 rooms and 2 conference rooms is offered at VND440 billion.

Hotels on the major streets of Ha Bong, Tran Bach Dang, Ho Nghinh, Vo Nguyen Giap and Ho Xuan Huong are offered at tens or hundreds of billions of dong.

Hoang Lam, the owner of a hotel on Tran Bach Dang street, said accommodation service providers have been hit hard by Covid-19.

“We have been struggling to survive by cutting costs. However, as capital is getting exhausted, hotel owners have to liquidate assets to pay bank debts,” he said.

“Selling hotels is unavoidable as there is no source of revenue, and the operation cost is high,” he said.

Do Van Hien from Dana Hotel, a broker, said a lot of hotels in Da Nang have been put up for sale since the second Covid-19 outbreak.

“The hotels for sale are 2-4-star. The prices have fallen by 20 percent and buyers are mostly from northern provinces,” Hien said.

According to Hien, 3-star hotels are priced at VND20-100 billion, while 4-star hotels are at least VND280 billion. The value of hotels depends on the locations, area, quality, numbers of rooms and brands.

The transactions of 4-5-star hotels, which have strong brands, are confidential. Hotel owners only work with prestigious brokers, and buyers have to prove their financial capability.

Hien said no one wanted to sell hotels in 2016-2019 because they could make a high profit from the business. But since 2020, guests are coming in dribs and drabs, and operation costs and loan interest rates are high.

Cao Tri Dung, chair of the Da Nang Tourism Association, admitted that tourism services have become nearly frozen and many hotels have been put up on sale.

“The pandemic resurgence before Tet blocked sources of guests. Ninety percent of clients cancelled or postponed plans to come to Da Nang,” he said.

He said this is common in a market economy, and that it is time to restructure the accommodation segment.

According to Da Nang People’s Committee, the total number of guests staying at accommodation facilities in the city in January 2021 was 251,094, a 65.6 percent decrease compared with the same period last year.

Ho Giap

Retired deputy minister becomes bank president

February 26, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

VietBank’s president has unexpectedly resigned and his position has been transferred to a former government official.

Retired deputy minister becomes bank president

VietBank’s chair of the board of directors Bui Xuan Khu

VietBank has announced that Duong Ngoc Hoa resigned from the post of chair of the board of directors on February 23 and the office has been taken by Bui Xuan Khu, who was Deputy Minister of Industry Trade.

Khu became a member of the bank’s board of directors in 2011 after he retired. Later, he acted as deputy chair of the board of directors until he was appointed president of the bank.

Khu is the next former high-ranking official to become a bank president. Le Thi Bang Tam, former Deputy Minister of Finance, is now president of HDBank and president of Vinamilk.

Tam joined Vinamilk in 2013 as an independent member of the board of directors. She has been president of the nation’s leading dairy producer since 2015 and president of HDBank since 2010. She is also a senior advisor to some foreign financial institutions.

A lot of former government officials became businessmen after their retirement. Tran Xuan Gia, former Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia, became the president of ACB in 2008-2012. Gia, together with a lot of former senior managers of the bank, including Ly Xuan Hai, Le Vu Ky and Trinh Kim Quang, were investigated in a case related to Nguyen Duc Kien, or ‘Mogul Kien’.

Kieu Huu Dung, former director of the Banks and Non-bank Credit Institutions Department, served as president of Sacombank in 2014-2017. He later became president of ACB Securities and president of Sacombank Securities.

The other officials included Pham Viet Muon, who was Vice Chairman of the Government Office, Cao Sy Kiem, former Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and Truong Van Phuoc, former head of SBV’s Foreign Exchange Management Department.

Former Deputy Minister Bui Xuan Khu, who joined VietBank in 2011, also has a lot of business experience as he was general director of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Corporation (Vinatex), the largest garment producer in Vietnam, general director of Viet Tien Garment and deputy president of the Global Petroleum Investment JSC.

In mid-2019, VietBank put VBB shares into transactions on the bourse.

VietBank was established in December 2006 as a rural bank with charter capital of VND200 billion. Its founding shareholders have relations with Hoa Lam Group, ACB and Dieu Hien Company. The bank now has charter capital of VND4.19 trillion after five capital increases.

ACB has divested from VietBank, while Dieu Hien is no longer mentioned in documents and information about the bank. The shareholders from Hoa Lam Group still maintain their stake with Duong Ngoc Hoa as the representative. Duong Nhat Nguyen is now deputy chair of the bank.

V. Ha