During the ceremony, the organizers presented 12 awards to organizations and individuals and issued 117 certificates to projects entering the incubation phase of the startup competition.
The event was part of the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Digital Transformation Week 2024 (WHISE 2024).
The I-Star 2024 received 320 applications, increasing 50 percent over the same period last year. The projects included 91 in public innovation (Gov.star), 82 in artificial intelligence (AI.Star), 181 in sustainable development (GIC) and 130 in cultural industries (Innoculture).
At the award ceremony, Director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Viet Dung, Head of the I-Star 2024 Organizing Board mentioned that I-Star would not only honor startup projects and innovative solutions but it should also spread the entrepreneurial spirit to the public.
In the category of media works with a positive impact on the startup and innovation community, awards were given to several media pieces from authors at Nguoi Lao Dong (the Laborer) Newspaper, Saigon Times Online and Voice of Ho Chi Minh City (VOH).
Particularly, the I-Star this year highlighted numerous digital transformation solutions in various sectors, especially in the public sector of the city. The awards also attracted many digital transformation solutions in logistics, agriculture, transportation, energy, tourism, and so on.
The Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Startup Awards have been held since 2018, organized by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, along with the Department of Science and Technology as the permanent agency. Over the past seven years, I-Star has attracted a total of 1,996 applications.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology’s statistics, around 3,000 projects participated in incubation programs in 2024 alone, indicating significant innovation potential in the city.
