Ascend Vietnam Ventures has said that it is looking for the next wave of globally iconic start-ups emerging from Viet Nam.
It also announced that it had exceeded its US$50 million target for the flagship early-stage venture capital fund, AVV Alpha.
With the new fund, AVV has been exploring a broad range of tech opportunities including those in financial inclusion, education and the future of work.
It identified 10 start-ups in the last nine months, including Kilo, a SaaS and wholesale marketplace for over 30,000 micro, small and medium-sized retailers across Viet Nam; Virtual Internships, a remote internship placement and management platform for companies in over 70 countries; T&C Logistics, an e-commerce fulfilment platform in Viet Nam; and Mandu, a social commerce platform focused on reseller enablement.
AVV Alpha is led by Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, who have been investing together in Viet Nam since 2015 and have backed home-grown international successes such as Axie Infinity, ELSA and Trusting Social.
With AVV Alpha, the team increased its investments in start-ups, seeding up to $2 million into 25 startups by next year and following up with cheques of up to $5 million.
“The likes of Axie Infinity, ELSA, and Trusting Social are by no means isolated successes,” Binh said.
“Viet Nam’s dynamism, accessibility, low cost of living, and abundant quality engineering talent attract many founders. On top of that, many tech solutions built here can address similar challenges and customer behaviors in other emerging markets worldwide. Viet Nam will continue to be seen as one of the best places to build global and regional market-leading companies.”
Thai said, “We believe in the ability of all entrepreneurs in Viet Nam to do great things, regardless of their backgrounds, and in our ability, opportunity and obligation to help them do so.”
AVV Alpha is backed by investors from Asia, Europe, and the US, including development finance institutions, funds of funds, corporate VCs, and high net worth individuals.— VNS