Ho Chi Minh-based asset management VinaCapital on Thursday launched VinaCapital Ventures, a tech-focused venture capital fund with a corpus of $100 million.
The new venture capital fund will set up a technology investment company in Vietnam, that will invest in startups with innovative technology solutions with ticket sizes of about $2 million to $10 million per investment with an unlimited holding time.
However, VinaCapital may invest less than the committed amount in the case of becoming a strategic investor or participating in the investment with other major partners. The new fund will focus on two main kinds of investment including venture capital and joint ventures with key players.
“While manufacturing and property get most of the attention and investment in Vietnam, tech – and startups in particular – hold the greatest promise for the country,” said Don Lam, VinaCapital Co-founder and CEO.
“Technology is playing a transformative role in all manufacturing and service sectors and will drive Vietnam’s economy forward. That’s why venture capital, including supporting startups and entrepreneurs, has been a key part of VinaCapital’s business for the past 15 years.”
VinaCapital Ventures has also declared two investments in two startups on technology solutions in the field of transportation in Vietnam including LOGIVAN and FastGo.
The newly established fund along with Singapore-based Insignia Ventures Partners and Ethos Partners have co-led a $1.75 million Series A funding round in Vietnamese freight-with-trucker connecting platform LOGIVAN.
Meanwhile, it is said to pump an investment into FastGo, a new local ride-hailing company under tech group NextTech.
The investment value has not been disclosed officially but CEO of NextTech Nguyen Hoa Binh revealed to DEALSTREETASIA that it is a 7-digit investment while some sources say it’s a $5 million investment.
Recently, newly-formed homegrown venture capital firm – Startup Viet Partners – has launched $5 million debut fund focusing on B2B and B2B2C sectors, specializing in finding investment opportunities in tech-enabled solutions for SMEs and corporates in Vietnam.
“The fund will invest in growth stage startups focusing on B2B, B2B2C sectors, and tech-enabled solutions for Vietnamese SMEs,” An Ha, Managing Director at Startup Viet Partners told the portal in an interaction.
Startup Viet Partners is among the few homegrown VCs that is aiming to ride on Vietnam’s buzzing startup boom. Other such firms include ESP Capital, that has been operating for a year, and targets pre-seed and seed rounds, with ticket sizes of about $300,000, even as the firm hopes that one its portfolio companies can become the first unicorn in Vietnam.
Source: https://www.dealstreetasia.com