- VIISA shifts gears in acceleration with smaller cohort, more matured teams;
Founders come from various backgrounds including agriculture, digital media, banking/finance, and SaaS;
Companies have shown proven success and traction prior to joining the VIISA Accelerator Program.
The Vietnam Innovative Startup Accelerator (VIISA) continues its investment into Vietnam with 4 startups admitted into Batch 3 of its program. VIISA is a partnership between Dragon Capital, FPT and Hanwha Investment & Securities (formerly Hanwha Investment). VIISA continues to build on the success of the 18 teams that were accelerated in Batch 1 and 2 during the last year of 2017.
Applications for Batch 3 started in November 2017 and attracted more than 100 applications, predominantly from Vietnam. In this batch, VIISA is shifting the acceleration focus from early-stage ideas to Vietnam-focused ones with product-market fit, by zoning in towards local companies with proven traction and solid teams. This new focus is expected to bring about higher levels of success for the selected startups.
"This year, as part of our new growth strategy, we clearly separated our acceleration activities from incubation. More matured teams with established traction will go into the Acceleration phase, while early start-ups will join the incubation program VIISA-X. With this new focus, VIISA will be able to support our portfolio startups more thoroughly and improve our Accelerator Program’s quality,” says Dr. Le Hoang Anh, Chairman of VIISA and Managing Partner of Dragon Capital.
The 4 startups come from diverse industries, ranging from Digital Voucher Platform, On-demand Healthy Diet Delivery, Agricultural product and service provider, to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
1. URBOX - Agency focused on developing privileges program across all lifestyle angles digitally via platform of e-vouchers and loyalty.
2. SMARTMEAL - Meal-plan delivery service that focuses on making healthy-eating easy and more accessible in Vietnam.
3. AQUA GROW GREENS - Easy-to-grow micro-green kit that turns anyone into a gardener and social media aspect.
4. GOALIFY CHAT - Communication platform that combines every task in one place and helps people stay connected and updated with their team.
Mr. Tran Huu Duc, CEO of VIISA and Head of FPT Ventures adds, “We are excited to build on the success of our Acceleration portfolio in 2017 with our newly established Investment portfolio, including two companies from the Acceleration track: WisePass and WeFit. Their steady growth and regional scaling are testimonials to our efforts in leveling up the startup ecosystem by creating great global companies in Vietnam.”
As an outstanding alumnus from the VIISA Accelerator Program, Mr. Lam Tran, Co-founder and CEO of WisePass, weighs in on the effects of the go-global trends for his company’s growth during a separate interview with VNExpress, “Every month, we drive more than 1,500 visits to our partners and plan to reach more than 10,000 visits monthly by the end of this year. We are now based in Saigon, Hanoi and Bangkok, but we plan to expand to more locations such as Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur within 1 year.”
VIISA invests US$15,000 in cash and an undisclosed amount of in-kind services, including training, technical resources, office accommodation and access to more than 100+ world class mentors and investors. Promising teams will also get up to $200,000 from VIISA’s fundraising track.
VIISA Accelerator Program Batch 3 will graduate on July 5th 2018 with VIISA’s 3rd Investment Day, attended by selectively invited investors, partners and honorary guests.
CONTACTS
LIMITED PARTNERS
DRAGON CAPITAL
Dragon Capital Group is an integrated investment group centred around the emerging financial markets of Vietnam. Established in 1994 from an initial base of US$16m and eight staff, at January 2017, Dragon Capital Group managed around US$2 billion with approximately 100 staff. The Group have offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi (registered with Vietnam's SSC), the United Kingdom (regulated by the FCA), Bangkok and Hong Kong (registered with SFC).
FPT
FPT Corporation is a multinational information technology company of Vietnam with branches in 21 countries, as well as the largest information technology service company in Vietnam with its core business focusing on the provision of IT-related services. It is one of Vietnam's leading conglomerates, headquartered in Hanoi with 8 subsidiaries and 2 associates.
HANWHA INVESTMENT & SECURITIES
Established in 1962, Hanwha Investment & Securities is a wealth management company, provides financial products and asset management services in South Korea. It also offers stock trading, account/banking, and investment information services.