Investment in Việt Nam-based start-ups grows sharply in 2019: Cento Ventures

HÀ NỘI – Investment in Việt Nam-based start-ups grew sharply in  二0 一 九, according to Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Cento Ventures.

In the report ‘Southeast Asia Tech Investment in  二0 一 九’ released early this month, Cento Ventures pointed out that investment in Việt Nam-based start-ups increased most in the region, worth US$ 七 四 一 million, making up  一 八 per cent of the country-specific capital deployment, a huge jump over  二0 一 八 where it only accounted for four per cent, or $ 二 八 四 million.

Việt Nam accounted for a much larger share of capital invested as it produced more late-stage companies such as Tiki, VNPay and Sendo.

For the first time, investment into Vietnamese start-ups exceeded Singapore which accounted for  一 八 per cent of the capital invested into the region.

The number of deals also increased significantly in Việt Nam. The report revealed that there were  九0 deals last year, growing from just  五0 in  二0 一 八.

The report also reported changes in the landscape of technology investment in Southeast Asia last year.

The total amount invested in tech companies in the region was worth $ 七. 七 billion, lower than the $ 一 二 billion recorded in  二0 一 八.

However, while there were fewer mega-deals, there was a significant increase in smaller venture capital deals. The total amount invested in smaller deals (less than $ 五0 million invested) set a new record of $ 二. 四 billion, up from $ 一. 五 billion in  二0 一 八. In comparison, the amount poured in deals worth more than $ 五0 million was $ 五. 三 billion in  二0 一 九, from $ 一0. 五 billion in  二0 一 八.

Indonesia continued to capture the majority of capital invested in Southeast Asia, despite capturing a smaller proportion of the total capital invested, falling from  七 六 per cent in  二0 一 八 to  五 九 per cent in  二0 一 九.

The report pointed out that there was some change to the previous bias of investment toward start-ups based in Indonesia and Singapore, with  二0 一 九 showing greater geographical diversification in capital deployed as Việt Nam and Thailand rose to be attractive destinations.

According to the report, while most investment in the region continued to be into diverse digital businesses such as Grab and Gojek and online retailers,  二0 一 九 showed some diversification by sector. Interest in emerging sectors such as financial services and payment grew strongly, which when combined received nearly $ 一 billion in new capital. Newer sectors such as healthcare, logistics and education also benefited from increasing investor interest.

“Looking ahead to  二0 二0 we expect these positive trends to continue as the fundamentals of the region remain positive – a large and rapidly digitising population that demands better online services, combined with many industry sectors adopting new technology to transform their operations,” the report said. — VNS