VNG plans to make IPO in the US

1. In late May, the Vietnamese tech giant VNG Corporation stated it plans to have an IPO on the US’s largest stock market, NASDAQ.  VNG and NASDAQ signed an agreement on accelerating the IPO process on May 29 in New York during PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the US.

If it succeeds, VNG would be the first Vietnamese company with an IPO on the US bourse. This will be great motivation for Vietnam’s startups and will help them raise funds from foreign investors.

2. Many investment funds have announced investment in Vietnam’s startup projects. These include ESP Capital with $20 million which targets startups in first development stages in Vietnam and South East Asia, and Innovatube with $5 million which focuses on Vietnamese startups.

Most recently, Lotte Group announced it would pour $1 million into Vietnam startups in the next five years through a cooperation agreement signed between Lotte Accelerator and Vietnam Silicon Valley Accelerator.

Domestic funds also showed great interest in startups. Asanzo president Pham Van Tam said the TV manufacturer is seeking projects to invest $5 million. VP Bank has launched VP Bank Startup, and is planning to invest $1 million in the first year.

3. Singaporean Sea (its previous name was Garena) has taken over an 82 percent stake of Foody, which books restaurants and delivers food, at the price of $64 million. Sea’s prospectus on New York bourse showed that the deal was completed in July 2017.

Sea also poured capital into Foody in 2015. The move will help Sea expand the Airpay payment platform which was brought to Vietnam in 2014.

4. Many Vietnamese startups successfully called for investment capital of millions of dollars from investment funds.

MK News reported that STIC Investment fund of South Korea and JD.com of China are planning to invest in Tiki.vn, an e-commerce firm. 

VNG, a big shareholder of Tiki, may buy more shares when Tiki calls for capital. The deal is valued at $54.5 million, while STIC Investment plans to invest $10 million.

5. CEO Dang Viet Dung leaves Uber Vietnam

2017 was a tough year for Uber in many countries, including Vietnam. The Taxi Association proposed stopping operation of Uber, while the HCMC Taxation Agency forced Uber to pay tax arrears of VND67 billion.

Dang Viet Dung, CEO of Uber Vietnam, left Uber Vietnam after three years in the post.

6. Four Vietnamese names are found on the list of Forbes’ under-30 most impressive faces in Asia. Three of them are CEOs of startups. They are Nguyen Hai Ninh, CEO of The Coffee House, Nguyen Hoang Trung, CEO of Lozi, and Nguyen Hoang Hai, CEO of Canavi.

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