Funding for Vietnamese seed-stage technology companies was worth $4.5 million in the first quarter of the year. — Photo vneconomy.vn

The Việt Nam tech ecosystem raised a total funding of US$35.7 million this year as of March 15, down 39 per cent from $58.6 million of the same period last year, according to private markets data platform Tracxn.

Overall, Việt Nam currently ranks third in terms of capital mobilised in the first quarter of this year among Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, behind Singapore and Indonesia.

The country’s early-stage investments only reached $31.2 million in the first quarter of this year, down 47 per cent year-on-year.

Funding for Vietnamese seed-stage technology companies was worth $4.5 million in the first quarter of the year.

Be Group, the owner and developer of the multi-service consumer platform Be, has raised $31.2 million in Series B round, becoming the company with highest funding in the field in the first quarter of the year.

Automotive technology, educational technology and corporate applications are the segments with the best performance in the entire Vietnamese technology industry in the first quarter of this year.

Of which, companies in the AutoTech and EdTech sectors have raised $31.2 million and $2.5 million, respectively, from the beginning of the year to mid-March.

So far, no new unicorns have appeared in the Vietnamese ecosystem since the beginning of the year, similar to the first quarter of last year.

There was hardly any divestment-related activity, just two acquisitions and no initial public offerings (IPOs).

In terms of capital funding for the city, tech startups based in HCM City raised $33.2 million in the first quarter of this year, while startups based in Bình Thạnh District raised $2.5 million.

CyberAgent Capital, Nextrans and Việt Nam Silicon Valley are the most active investors.

Northstar Ventures, Monk's Hill Ventures and R2 Venture Partners were the top seed-stage investors in technology companies in the first quarter.

The Tạp chí Kinh tế Việt Nam (VnEconomy – Việt Nam Economic Times) quoted Tracxn’s assessment that Việt Nam has established itself as an emerging startup centre in Southeast Asia and this ecosystem has the potential to develop in the coming years. — VNS