Vietnam-based conglomerate Vingroup announced Monday the launch of the VinVentures capital fund, with total assets under management of $150 million.

The fund is dedicated to investing in high-impact technology startups, aiming to foster and develop the startup ecosystem, the group said in a statement.

This initiative is expected to contribute significantly to the creation of digital technology enterprises in Vietnam and across the region.

VinVentures is a capital fund sponsored by Pham Nhat Vuong and Vingroup. Pham, an automobile and property tycoon, is Vietnam’s richest person, according to earlier reports.

The fund currently manages total assets of $150 million, of which $100 million is an inherited investment portfolio from Vingroup, with an additional $50 million expected to be disbursed over the next three to five years.

The primary investment focus of VinVentures includes Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and cloud computing, as well as other high-tech products.

The fund also welcomes startups from diverse sectors, provided they demonstrate growth potential and the ability to deliver quality products and services, without being limited to those associated with Vingroup.

The fund initially targets Vietnamese market, focusing on startups with local founding teams in the early stages, specifically the seed and Series A rounds—which are the second and third of five typical funding rounds for startups.

In the future, the fund aims to broaden its scope to include startups in regional markets with development traits similar to Vietnam, such as Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the company added.

The fund collaborates with potential investees through a series of defined steps: initial meetings, exchange of information, detailed research on the product and its target market, thorough investment appraisal, signing of negotiation agreements, and then the final investment contract.

The timeline from when a startup submits its application to when it secures funding typically spans two to three months, maxing up to six months for larger-scale transactions.

Le Han Tue Lam, Managing Director of VinVentures, stated, ‘Beyond providing capital, VinVentures offers startups a unique advantage by facilitating connections within the Vingroup ecosystem. This includes using the ecosystem as a rigorous platform for evaluating and testing products and services before they enter the market, with the potential for these companies to also become customers of the startups.”

Investing in technology startups has consistently been a strategic priority for Vingroup as it transitions into Vietnam’s leading technology conglomerate.

Prior to VinVentures, Vingroup had already invested in numerous tech startups through funds such as Vingroup Ventures and VinTech City, the group said.

With robust resources from the conglomerate, these startups have developed and launched products to the market, with some even rising to become leaders in their respective fields, including VinBigData, VinAI, VinBrain, VinCSS, among others.

VinVentures said it will strategically optimize opportunities for the realization and introduction of innovative technology ideas into the Vietnamese and regional markets, at the same time broadening the conglomerate’s revenue streams

According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GESER 2023) by Startup Genome, Vietnam’s startup ecosystem is currently ranked third in Southeast Asia, boasting an estimated economic impact of $5.22 billion.

The number of startups in Vietnam has dramatically increased from approximately 1,600 during the Covid-19 pandemic to over 3,800 at present, with AI startups making up nearly 10 percent of the total.

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