According to the National Innovation Start-up Ecosystem Support Project until 2025, Ho Chi Minh City aims to support 300 innovation start-up projects and 100 innovation start-up enterprises by 2025, including 20 enterprises successfully raising capital from venture investors.
In 2023, Vietnamese start-ups secured a sum of US$529 million in investments, marking a 17 percent decrease from the previous year as per the Vietnam Technology and Innovation Investment Report 2024.
The decrease indicates that the tech investment environment in Vietnam is still being impacted by the unstable global economy.
Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City continues to test many measures aimed at promoting the innovation start-up ecosystem, including specific regulations for the innovation industry enacted by the National Assembly under Resolution No. 98/2023/QH 15.
To be specific, the municipal People's Council Resolution No. 20/2023/NQ-HĐND outlines the priorities, criteria, conditions, content, and support levels for innovation and startup projects in the city.
Deputy Head Phan Thi Quy Truc of the Department of Intellectual Property and Innovation Management at the City Department of Science and Technology stated that the department is actively working on initiatives to execute the Resolution No. 20/2023/NQ-HDND with the aim to foster innovative activities.
The resolution targets individuals, groups, businesses with innovative projects, as well as projects in priority sectors of Ho Chi Minh City, along with other relevant organizations and individuals.
Nine priority areas are outlined in this resolution including cyber security, sustainable development, e-commerce, financial technology, logistics, education technology, health and healthcare, and high-tech agriculture.
In addition, the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City is carrying out several programs such as the Program to support innovation projects, creative start-ups (SpeedUp), finding innovative solutions in the public sector in 2024 (Gov.Star 2024), the Program to incubate innovation projects, creative start-ups in the cultural industry of Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 - 2025 (InnoCulture 2024).
The Department of Science and Technology wants to work with investment funds to support creative start-up projects in the city's priority areas in order to promote better development. In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology is requesting that investors support innovation and start-up projects even after they have been incubated by the Department.
Moreover, the Department has taken part in the review and acceptance councils of the Department's supported innovation and start-up projects as well as provide matching funding to the Department of Science and Technology for the incubation of innovation and start-up projects.
Last but not least, the Department has collaborated in planning training sessions and establish a network of angel investors and venture capital funds.
Investors are of the opinion that the State's backing of early-stage start-ups, complemented by investment funds engaging in matching funding, is highly suitable.
This approach not only enables funds to increase the number of start-up projects seeking investment but also holds them accountable for assisting these start-ups in successfully securing capital in subsequent funding rounds. Additionally, it allows the State to realize favorable outcomes from its support of these initiatives.
Representative of DO Ventures Investment Fund Vuong Nhat Anh said that the fund is managing a capital of US$50 million supporting about 30 technology start-ups in Vietnam. The fund managers are willing to participate in matching funds to promote the development of start-up projects.
In 2024, Ho Chi Minh City ranks 111th out of 1,000 cities in the most dynamic global start-up ecosystem index. One of the factors that has a certain impact is thanks to the State's policies to promote start-ups and the strong cooperation of the social community and businesses.
Director Nguyen Viet Dung of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City emphasized the importance of engaging with investment funds to bolster science and technology initiatives in the city's key sectors. He stated that the department is committed to community consultation and is eager to hear suggestions and recommendations from investors and managers of investment funds to enhance the effectiveness of policies supporting science and technology in the southern largest city.
Ho Chi Minh City is currently developing a capital trading platform specifically designed for start-up projects. This initiative seeks to attract investment from backers for early-stage start-ups, particularly those in the seed phase, drawing inspiration from various international models. The platform is being designed with several essential features, with transparency being a fundamental requirement for both start-ups and investors.
Additionally, it will utilize advanced and secure technology systems to guarantee safety and scalability enabling the efficient and accurate processing of high transaction volumes; thereby, encouraging start-ups to engage with the platform.
