The Vietnam Tech ecosystem raised total funding of $35.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 to date (till March 15, 2024), which is a 39 percent decline from $58.6 million raised in the same period in 2023, Tracxn said Wednesday.

The global software as a service (SaaS)-based market intelligence platform said in a statement that this, however, is a 467 percent surge when compared with the $6.3 million raised during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Overall, Vietnam ranks third in terms of funding raised by Southeast Asian (SEA) countries in the first quarter of 2024 to date, after Singapore and Indonesia.

This is a positive change from the fourth quarter of 2023, when Vietnam had ranked fourth among the SEA countries based on tech startup funding.

Meanwhile, early-stage investments in the first quarter of 2024 to date stood at $31.2 million, 47 percent lower than the $58.6 million raised in the first quarter of 2023.

There were no early-stage rounds recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Companies in this space secured seed-stage funding worth $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2024 to date, 29 percent lower than the $6.3 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2023.

No seed-stage investments were observed in the first quarter of 2023, and no late-stage funding has been recorded for three consecutive quarters in a row.

Be Group, an app-based aggregator that offers booking services for motorbikes, cars, air tickets, passenger cars, fast delivery, etc., raised $31.2 million in a Series B round, making it the highest funded round in this space in the first quarter of 2024 to date.

Auto Tech, EdTech, and Enterprise Applications were the top-performing segments in the overall Vietnam tech sector in the first quarter of 2024 to date.

Companies in the AutoTech and EdTech spaces had not secured any funding in the fourth quarter of 2023 but raised $31.2 million and $2.5 million respectively in the first quarter of 2024 to date.

No new unicorns have emerged in this ecosystem in 2024 so far, similar to the first quarter of 2023.

There was hardly any activity in terms of exits, with only two acquisitions and no initial public offerings (IPOs).

In terms of city-wise funding, tech startups based in Ho Chi Minh City raised $33.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, while those headquartered in Binh Thanh raised $2.5 million.

CyberAgent Capital, Nextrans and Vietnam Silicon Valley are the overall all-time most active investors in this space to date.

Northstar Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and R2 Venture Partners were the top seed-stage investors in this space in the first quarter of 2024.

“Vietnam has established itself as an emerging startup hub in Southeast Asia, and there is potential for this ecosystem to grow in the coming years,” said Tracxn.

Tracxn : SEA tech startups see 13 pct decline in funding in first quarter