UpYouth working to bring Silicon Valley startup culture to Vietnam
UpYouth - the first startup incubator in Vietnam - is intended to bring the Silicon Valley startup culture to the Southeast Asian nation.
Illustrative image (Source: vneconomy.vn)
The incubator, whose members are studying and working at leading universities and groups from across the world, targets young entrepreneurs.
It offers connectivity, consultation, training and market research opportunities, along with other kinds of assistance, to Vietnamese people aged from 18 to 25 who want to embark on tech startup.
Since its inception more than one year ago, the 2,000-strong incubator has helped firms lure up to 2.5 million USD.
Vietnam is becoming a magnet in Southeast Asia for attracting investment in start-ups, driven by a convergence of a young consumer and workforce base with increasing demands for digital technology in the post-pandemic period.
According to Vu Quoc Huy, Director of the National Innovation Centre (NIC), Vietnam saw a robust development of start-up firms last year and was on track to become the next growth driver of Southeast Asia and play a vital role in the region’s start-up golden triangle.
He cited statistics that investment into start-ups hit a record high of 1.4 billion USD in 2021 despite the impacts of the COVID-19 with strict social distancing measures in place, breaking the previous record of 874 million USD in 2019.
The number of new businesses set up in the first four months of this year increased by 12.3 percent over the same period last year, which, together with positive growth momentum in foreign investment inflow, demonstrated the country’s large potential for the development of the start-up ecosystem, he said.
He expects investment in start-ups to double in the next three years./.
VNA
