Touchstone Partners has launched a new $10 million Green Transition Fund, to support startups in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
The firm said in a statement on last Friday that the fund will invest in startups and innovations in sustainable agriculture, circular economy, waste management and new energy technologies in the region.
Deployment is scheduled to begin in December 2025. Startups also receive direct coaching and strategic support from Touchstone and its network of advisors.
Since 2021, Touchstone Partners has been the pioneering investor in climate innovations in Asia, backing leading companies such as Selex Motors, Stride, Alterno, Enfarm, Neorice, and Forte Biotech.
The firm’s climate-technology portfolio has consistently outperformed while supporting Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and farmers to leapfrog to sustainability, reinforcing the “high-impact, high-return” potential of the new green economy.
Alterno, Enfarm and Forte Biotech notably have successfully expanded into China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
In addition to equity investments, Touchstone Partners collaborates closely with leading international grant funders including Temasek Foundation, P4G, and the Global Green Growth Institute.
Between 2023 and 2025, companies within its climate-tech portfolio attracted over $3 million in catalytic funding through these partnerships.
The new Green Transition Fund will continue trusted partnerships with international philanthropy to structure efficient blended finance investment offers to startups, helping investors de-risk while nurturing startups with non-dilutive grants coupled with result-driven investments.
Vietnam has also attracted top quality local entrepreneurs and global innovations in climate.
In 2023, Touchstone Partners and Temasek Foundation co-launched the Net Zero Challenge—supported strategically by the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) — to help close the funding gap and strengthen Vietnam’s climate-innovation landscape.
The Net Zero Challenge receives over 1600 startups submissions across 60 countries and territories in thre years (from 2023 to 2025).
Agriculture is essential to Southeast Asia, providing 30 percent of jobs, responsible for 54 percent of emissions in the region, and utilizing 31% of all land in the region.
According to the latest Project Drawdown report done in collaboration with Asia Philanthropy Circle, Vietnam’s top priorities are in the rice sector and in converting agriwaste into valuable products.
After Vietnam’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 at COP26, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented Resolution 98, which authorizes the city to pilot special mechanisms, creating more flexibility to advance green initiatives.
Complementing this, national frameworks have been established to strengthen climate resilience, promote green urban planning, and accelerate low-carbon economic growth from the private sector across the country.
These policies provide the enabling conditions needed to support Vietnam’s transition to a sustainable, climate-resilient economy.
“While most impacted by climate change, Vietnam and Southeast Asia also flourish with advanced agriculture and adaptation innovations,
“The ecosystem is resilient and entrepreneurial, with the public sector and conglomerates realizing the green economy is a must to continue our growth trajectory. We’re standing at a turning point in our sustainability journey,” shared Tu Ngo, General Partner at Touchstone Partners.