January, February & March 2021
Vietnam’s startup news
The Vietnam Q1 2021 startup news collection pulls together the country’s startup, technology and venture capital news headlines from the first 3 months of 2021 – January, February & March.
Vietnam’s Q1 2021 startup news headlines, hyperlinked below, outline changes in Vietnam’s technology and startup scenes, showcasing items across a range of fields and technologies: live-streaming for social e-commerce, e-wallet and digital payment developments, Gimo’s early-wages platform for the underbanked population, and many others.
Vietnam startup news items listed are the headlines, linked and bulleted without preamble, providing readers with a quick-glance knowledge of Vietnam’s tech news across Q1 of 2021, along with instant, 1-click access to the online articles, in full, behind each startup news headline featured.
January 2021 | February 2021 | March 2021
Vietnam’s tech news: March 2021
- Vietnam: Vietcetera Media gains $700K investment with focus on the nation’s growing middle class and an online media market expected to hit $7BN in 2025
- Vietnam: Citics proptech startup secures $1M pre-series A with comprehensive data-as-a-service platform focusing on the real estate market
- Vietnam: Prime Minister approves 2-year pilot of Mobile Money service, allowing use of mobile phone accounts to pay for small-value goods and services
- Vietnam: ThinkZone early-stage accelerator partners Hanoi University’s BK Fund to raise and manage its first $10M investment vehicle
- Vietnam: Applications for 2nd edition of SK Startup Fellowship Programme for early-stage startups closes March 24th, a program from South Korea’s SK Group
- Vietnam’s Vingroup and Taiwan’s Foxconn in early-stage talks around partnership to focus on developing EV batteries and electric car parts
- Vietnam: Gimo gains funding with focus on providing underbanked workers with access to their earned income ahead of a scheduled payday
- Vietnam: Homebase proptech becomes first Vietnamese startup accepted to Y Combinator, in the process gaining $125K
- Vietnam: VinFast auto maker debuts e34, the country’s first electric car, with sights also on 40K charging stations nationwide by year-end
- Vietnam-Australia partnerships gain boost via Innovation Partnership Grants, helping scale tested activities in any sector of Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem
Vietnam’s startups: February 2021
- Vietnam: ELSA raises $15M Series B with app-based language learning, helping non-native English speakers improve pronunciation and speaking skills
- Vietnam: A brief intro to 5 of the country’s fintech startups, working in e-wallets, agriculture, lending and more
- Vietnam: Go2Joy mobile hotel bookings firm raises $2.3M Series A+ with service focus including hourly rentals
- Vietnam: Another look at Loship 1-hour delivery firm, adding podcasting choices for customers to enjoy while waiting for food delivery
- Vietnam: Loship e-commerce delivery-with-podcasts platform gains Series C funding, in part from Skype co-founder’s MetaPlanet Holdings
- Indonesia’s Traveloka to launch ‘buy now, pay later’ financial services in Thailand and Vietnam
Vietnam’s tech news: January 2021
- Loship e-commerce startup adds Loship Radio for customers waiting for 1-hour food deliveries, offering podcasts and other audio content to fill the time
- An overview of the e-commerce landscape in Vietnam, and the growing in-country competition between the region’s major e-commerce firms
- An intro to Kardiachain, blockchain firm allowing businesses to build transparent, secure applications, most recently helping HCMC Youth Union manage 10K members
- A brief look at how Vietnam’s startups are braving the impacts of COVID-19, touching on Loship 1-hour e-commerce delivery firm and Wee Digital fintech startup
- A brief look at the race to 5G, with the country’s 3 major mobile carriers each announcing commercial 5G service trials
- Gov’t Ministry of Info and Comms Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information launches online Vietnam Anti Fake News Centre
- MoMo payment app raises over $100M in new funding round, on back of 23M users and $14BN in transactions last year
- Be Group ride-hail startup partners Vietnam Prosperity Bank to roll out Cake digital bank, offering services on Be app via VPBank’s digital banking license
- GoStream gains 7-figure funding with multi-platform livestream broadcasting for social sellers, marketers and content creators
- An intro to 5 startups from batch 8 of Vietnam Innovative Startups Accelerator Investment Day
- A brief look at the recently-launched SEAF Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund, focusing investments primarily on Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines
- Gpay e-wallet provider gains Series A funding from South Korea’s KB Financial Group, aiming for a fintech joint venture named KB Fina
- Hue gains $13M funding from South Korea International Cooperation Agency for 5-year project to pursue smart city ambitions, focusing on culture and tourism
- Singapore’s Geniebook edtech startup expands into Vietnam, adding to Indonesia presence, with AI-driven learning based on student strengths and weaknesses
- Taiwan’s Foxconn to build $270M factory in Vietnam to produce tablets and computers, in part possibly an Apple move to shift production lines from China
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