VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has no startups with value of $1 billion and higher (called unicorns), but foreign investment funds are optimistic about the future. Last year, Lee Jea Woong came to Vietnam seven times. He was one of three founders of Daum Communications, now Kakao. In 2016, he left the company and set up a venture fund and two startup incubators. He is now CEO of Socar. Daum, established in 1995, is now valued at $10 billion, with 4,000 workers, several dollar billionaires and many millionaires. Lee said Vietnam now has favorable conditions to produce unicorns, like South Korea of 20 years ago. “It’s time for Vietnam unicorns to turn up,” he said at the Forbes Vietnam Tech Summit 2019 on March 14. South Korea underwent industrialization in the 1960s, developed an IT industry in 2000s and is now entering the 4.0 industrial era. All three stages are occurring in Vietnam at the same time, which is a chance for Vietnam to make a jump in development. In … [Read more...] about Foreign investment funds optimistic about startup potential
Vietnamese investment funds
Vietnamese logistics startup raises $5.5 mln in latest funding round
By Pham Van  February 12, 2019 | 02:07 pm GMT+7 Logivan has raised $5.5 million in the latest funding round. Photo by Logivan Logivan, a web platform that helps trucks connect with potential customers, said it has raised $5.5 million in the latest funding round. The investment comes from two Asian angel investors and Indonesian venture capitalist Alpha JWC Ventures. One of the angel investors is David Su, a founding managing partner at private equity firm Matrix Partners China, who invested through his family office. He said: "Vietnam is the next rising star in the growing Southeast Asia region and it is well poised to experience a similar growth trajectory as we witnessed over the past years in China. "Vietnam’s logistics industry is highly fragmented, logistics costs make up 23 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP, with 90 per cent of trucks in Vietnam being owned by individuals. Given the success of Manbang (a Chinese truck-hailing firm), we believe that … [Read more...] about Vietnamese logistics startup raises $5.5 mln in latest funding round
Vietnamese logistics startup raises $5.5mln in latest funding round
By Pham Van  February 12, 2019 | 02:07 pm GMT+7 Logivan has raised $5.5 million in the latest funding round. Photo by Logivan Logivan, a web platform that helps trucks connect with potential customers, said it has raised $5.5 million in the latest funding round. The investment comes from two Asian angel investors and Indonesian venture capitalist Alpha JWC Ventures. One of the angel investors is David Su, a founding managing partner at private equity firm Matrix Partners China, who invested through his family office. He said: "Vietnam is the next rising star in the growing Southeast Asia region and it is well poised to experience a similar growth trajectory as we witnessed over the past years in China. "Vietnam’s logistics industry is highly fragmented, logistics costs make up 23 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP, with 90 per cent of trucks in Vietnam being owned by individuals. Given the success of Manbang (a Chinese truck-hailing firm), we believe that … [Read more...] about Vietnamese logistics startup raises $5.5mln in latest funding round
US-based investment fund invests in Organica Vietnam
Organica Executive Director Pham Phuong Thao (L) and SEAF Senior Managing Director Jennifer Buckey (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) Women’s Opportunity Fund (SWOF) and Organica Investment JSC signed a cooperation agreement in Ho Chi Minh City on January 9 to develop organic food production and trade. Accordingly, SWOF will buy 30 percent of stake in Organica to become its strategic shareholder. It will also assist Organica in financial governance and offer it a long-term loan for market expansion. SEAF Senior Managing Director Jennifer Buckey said her firm is a global investment management group based in the US. It provides growth capital for promising small- and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets. In Vietnam, SEAF has invested in over 20 companies operating in different fields, with Organica as the first organic food company it has invested in. Apart from trade and financial factors meeting … [Read more...] about US-based investment fund invests in Organica Vietnam
Singaporean investment fund lifts holding in Vietnam’s Masan Group
The Hanoitimes - The deal is reportedly worth VND2.27 trillion (US$101 million), for which Arnolis Investment will hold an 8.87% stake of Masan Group, or an equivalent of 103.15 million shares, according to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE). Arnolis Investment Pte, a Singaporean government-run investment fund, has bought an additional of 27.41 million shares of Masan Group, one of Vietnam’s largest privately-run conglomerates, thus becoming its second largest foreign shareholder after South Korea’s SK Group. Illustrative photo. The deal is reportedly worth VND2.27 trillion (US$101 million), for which Arnolis Investment will hold an 8.87% stake of Masan Group, or equivalent to 103.15 million shares. In October, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund bought roughly half of US-based KKR & Co.’s 4.7% stake in Masan worth VND2.18 trillion (US$95 million). It purchased the stock as part of a placement by KKR, which offloaded its … [Read more...] about Singaporean investment fund lifts holding in Vietnam’s Masan Group