Start-up Exchange to be held in City

Sixty of them have been chosen from a business start-up contest (Start-up Wheel 2016) organised by the same people -- the HCM City Young Businesspeople Association and the Business Start-up Support Centre -- while the rest have been recommended by incubators and start-up support organisations.

Of the 60 chosen from the contest, the organisers hailed highly Medixu, a monitoring device for people with cardiovascular diseases; ceb.vn, a website that provides training programmes in finance and accounting via infographic video (the first of its kind in Vietnam); and Vincent hi-end pennywort powder and related products to help cool the liver, detoxify, purify the body, treat acne and scars and others.

Dương Thanh Tam, CEO of Onnet JSC and a member of the Start-up Exchange jury, said, "From the perspective of a young business owner, I support the Vietnamese Government’s strategy to turn the country into a start-up nation.

“But it can only succeed when every young entrepreneur, every young person dares to engage and connect and support each other.

“That is why we are always ready to back events like the Start-up Exchange. I think this is not simply a playing field for young people with an ambition to succeed in life, but also an environment that equips you with deeper knowledge of managing and running a business and of business plans.

“And the biggest benefit brought by the programme is linking feasible projects with capital sources and prestigious investors."

Many big investors are willing to look for promising start-ups this year, according to the organisers.

Mobifone, for instance, has a war chest of VND15 billion (US$672,645) to invest in promising start-ups in IT and telecom infrastructure.

Vietcombank is among a handful of banks that will be present, looking for promising start-ups to whom they will provide loans on easy terms.

According to economists, like start-ups elsewhere in the world, in Vietnam too they are focused on IT and applications in healthcare, education, and agriculture.

A professor at the University of Economics’ International School of Business, who asked not to be named, said investment in education is flowing into developing countries, including those with a major start-up scene like Thailand and Vietnam.

But to attract large investments, start-up ideas should not be confined to their own countries but instead should be applicable globally, he said.

Start-up Exchange, which began in 2013, has greatly benefited start-ups in the country, with more than 150 of them attracting investments of over VND22 billion ($986,547) at the annual event as of last year.

To be held at the Riverside Palace in District 4 on August 27, it is expected to attract more than 3,000 investors, start-up funds, entrepreneurs, and others.

It will be part of Start-up Day, which will also include the final round of the Start-up Wheel 2016.