Vietnam startups raise funds successfully despite Covid-19 pandemic

	Many Vietnamese startups are supporting the fight against COVID-19
	Vietnam’s start-up landscape attractive to Korean investors
	Youngsters take part in start-up festival in Da Nang

(Photo: Velocity Global)

Affirma Capital in February announced an investment of $34 million, or VND790 billion, into Sieu Viet Group, a startup that owns the job posting websites TimViecNhanh, Vieclam24h, MyWork and ViecTotNhat.

The founders of Sieu Viet include Phan Minh Tam, chair of STI, which invested in 30Shine, Anycar and 24h.com.vn, and Xuan Minh, the director of Sieu Viet.

Sieu Viet is the fifth investment deal of Affirma Capital in Vietnam since 2014. The other four include N Kid Corporation, Online Mobile, Loc Troi Group and Golden Gate.

Also in February, Go2Joy, a hotel booking app, raised $2.5 million in a Series A funding round led by STIC Ventures, according to DealStreetAsia.

The other startups that have received capital from STIC Ventures include Tiki, Cammsys Vietnam and Nanogen Pharmacy.

Making its debut in 2017, Go2Joy (formerly Appro Mobile) makes short-term hourly hotel booking.

(Photo: Vietnamnet)

Waves, the sound-focused content platform founded by Kevin Cao and Ben Minh Le last year, announced a successful call for $1.2 million worth of seed capital from a partner from Singapore - Insignia Ventures Partners last February. Other investors include Hustle Fund and Skystar Capital.

Waves provides professional recording, video and audio services with modern equipment, studio, editing and marketing. The startup strives to become one of the leading platforms in Southeast Asia for podcast and recording content.

On February 17, TopDev, a recruitment network in Mobile & IT fields, received strategic investment from SaraminHR. The deal is part of the South Korean recruitment company’s global development strategy.

The value of the deal was secret, but analysts said this is a 7-digit number in US dollars.

TopDev has 300,000 profiles of developers and 5,000 regular clients who are technology firms in Vietnam and the region, according to Vietnamnet.

(Photo: MBA Andrews)

Buymed, the Vietnamese startup behind pharma distribution marketplace thuocsi.vn, has raised US$2.5 million in funds. The funding round was led by Sequoia Capital India's accelerator programme Surge and Japan-based Genesia Ventures, with participation from existing investor Singapore-based Cocoon Capital.

Thuocsi.vn serves over 7,000 pharmacies, clinics and hospitals across Vietnam, after recording a 250 per cent growth, or 3.5 times, in six months. The platform has also expanded its network of suppliers, distributors and manufacturers to more than 700 partners, according to Business Times.

In early March, Tech in Asia reported that STI had made a strategic investment in JupViec, a home help service website, and had become the largest shareholder. Tran Tuan Tai, STI’s investment director, said the value of the deal was several million dollars.

In late March, eDoctor, a startup providing healthcare services using mobile technology, received capital from four large investment funds - CyberAgent Capital, Genesia Ventures (Japan), Bon Angels and Nextrans (South Korea).

The total investment capital was $1.2 million, including $500,000 from Shark Dzung Nguyen, director of CyberAgent Vietnam and Thailand.

Most recently, Finhay, a fintech startup, in early April received investment from Jeffrey Cruttenden, cofounder of Acorns, and the Vietnamese firm Thien Viet Securities. Finhay said it will use the new funding to expand its market reach, optimize IT infrastructure, and recruit more staff to grow the platform, according to Tech in Asia.

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