Official Announcement Vietnam Open Innovation Landscape Report 2021

BambuUP - The One-stop Open Innovation Platform officially launched the Vietnam Open Innovation Landscape Report 2021 (Report) and Innovation Showcase Day. The Report was developed and published by BambuUP, under the auspices of the National Startup Support Center (NSSC), Ministry of Science and Technology. The launch ceremony welcomed the participation of representatives from BambuUP, NSSC, the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development (NATEC), the Consul General of Vietnam in Japan and representatives of leading national and international experts in many industries.

Initiated in August 2021, after more than 4 months of implementation with great effort and investment, the Report has been completed with extremely valuable information on the background and trends of the innovation ecosystem. The Report has received more than 800 registrations from startups to get listed in the Report and more than 2,000 subscriptions from readers so far. More than 50 top experts from leading enterprises and organizations have advised and contributed to the content of the Report.

The Report provides the big picture of the technology startup investment in Vietnam. In the past 2 years, although Covid-19 had exerted a strong impact on the economy, the number of transactions has increased to the highest level in the past 5 years, reaching 108 investment deals. In the first 9 months of 2021 only, the number of investment deals ranging from 500,000 USD to USD 3 million has increased by 2.58 times compared with the number in 2020. There was a shift in the investment allocation ratio between investment rounds, with an increase in the round of 500,000 USD - 3M USD and 3M USD - 10M USD, while reducing investment in startups calling for capital in pre-seed and seed rounds.

The Report has created the Vietnam Startup Mapping 2021 with 04 main pillars: Business, People, Society, and Technology with holistic and multi-dimensional maps of the innovation startup ecosystem in 11 prominent areas: Consumer Goods, Retail, Education, Finance, Healthcare, Martech & Salestech, Logistics & Supply Chain, Sustainable Development, Agriculture, Travel & Tourism, Blockchain & Crypto. The Report outlines challenges of each area and features major technology breakthroughs in Vietnam.

For example, in the field of Fintech, the Report forecasts that 2021 to 2025 will be the acceleration period for all banks, businesses and fintech companies pursuing Digital First. The Report indicates that 25% of banks in Vietnam will “actively pursue modernization of digital core platforms”. The 5 major trends in the banking industry mentioned in the Report include (1) Customer Experience is the highest priority, (2) Neobank is operating independently and thriving, (3) Voice-activated technology, (4) Automated management and risk reduction technology for banking and financial services, and (5) Decentralized finance.

In the field of Martech & Salestech, technology adoption used to revolve around innovation and experimentation, but is now at the core of all activities. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are used in many technology solutions to help optimize and automate marketing in ways humans cannot match. Martech and Salestech help businesses put customers at the center of their business operations, or in other words, naturally turning customers into a complementary and co-evolving component of the entire marketing process.

In the field of Agtech & Foodtech, the Report indicates 5 main trends in 2021: Smart agriculture, Climate change adaptation, Alternative Protein production technology, Product delivery through E-commerce channel, and Information technology application to ensure food safety and transparency. Along with those trends, the report also mentions several popular technologies that have been applied in Vietnam: IoT and sensors, Robots and automation, Unmanned aerial vehicle technology (Drone) and crop monitoring, Machine learning and analysis, Electronic Exchange in Agriculture.

In the field of HealthTech, the Report indicates some notable trends in medical technology in Vietnam namely Personal Health Record, Telemedicine, Digitalize healthcare system, AI & Robotic, and Remote Patient Monitoring. Healthcare is believed to be the fastest digital transformed industry compared to other industries.

Many other technologies and innovation trends in other economic fields are also illustrated in detail in the Report.

In addition to the announcement of the Vietnam Open Innovation Landscape Report 2021, new technology solutions with great development potential from representative Vietnamese startups were also introduced at the Launching event. These are breakthrough solutions applied in key areas such as Fintech, Agtech & Foodtech, Salestech & Martech, Traveltech, Healthcare, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Huong Quynh, CEO of BambuUP Innovation Platform, the host of the project shared the vision of building an open innovation ecosystem in Vietnam: “The mission of BambuUP Innovation Platform is to enable everyone, every business to easily update, access and deploy innovation. We will provide innovation connections and consultations beyond any limit of geography and time. We absolutely believe that continuous innovation is the only way for businesses to survive and develop. Human knowledge is being doubled every 12 hours. Ask yourself: Are you prompt and fit enough for the future?”

Representative of the Report Content Board of Advisors, Mr. Doan Duc Thuan - Strategy, Marketing and Innovation Consultant Expert believed that: “The Report is a crucial reference for businesses and experts. The new era of governance in general and innovation in particular are all geared towards putting people at the center, upholding the purpose of a business organization as an organic connection of an organization to the community and society. Incremental innovations are gradually creating less of a competitve advantage for enterprises than radical ones, or even business model innovations based on a deep connection to the organization's purpose. During the difficult period of the pandemic, Vietnamese businesses are getting an opportunity to reshape their organization's social connections, curate profound innovations with sincere and kind values towards the community and create a sustainable competitive advantage”.

Mr. Vu Binh, Consul General of Vietnam in Fukuoka, Japan said: “The Vietnam Open Innovation Landscape 2021 Report has demonstrated initial efforts in building an innovation ecosystem in Vietnam. The Report shows the meteoric rise of businesses; the innovation spirit is not only found in small enterprises but also in large enterprises. The international context is increasingly favorable for the development of small and medium enterprises, facilitating the development of open innovation.”

Representative of the Investment Funds, Ms. Le Hoang Uyen Vy - Co-founder & General Partner of Do Ventures shared at the event that: The Vietnamese startup ecosystem is in a “tipping point” stage and leaving a mark in the region as well as in the world thanks to three main factors: (1) Vietnamese startups have started to target regional and global markets instead of only serving the domestic market, (2) Vietnamese startups have been able to launch new products and services with high technology content, (3) Vietnamese startups have companies that are mature enough to become the investors for the next generation of founders.” According to Ms. Uyen Vy, the introduction of the Vietnam Open Innovation Landscape Report 2021 brings important values to all stakeholders in the ecosystem, especially for domestic and foreign investors. In particular, the Report is also a link to help attract foreign investors' interest in Vietnamese startups, which increases capital flows into the domestic technology investment market.