Sobanhang Excellently Won the Champion of National Innovative Technopreneur Contest

The final round of the National Innovative Technopreneur Contest TECHFEST Vietnam 2022 with the theme "Open Innovation Ecosystem - The Next Big Think" took place place on December 2, 2022 afternoon at Binh Duong Convention & Exhibition Center (B11, Hung Vuong street, Hoa Phu Ward, Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province) and live streamed on social media platforms. In the end, SOBANHANG excellently won the Champion of the contest, the team won the second and third prizes respectively FINA and FORTE BIOTECH.

This is the final round of a 3-month journey of supporting innovative startups in Vietnam and Vietnamese individuals living and working outside Vietnam, looking representatives on the journey to go global, inspiring the powerful impact that startups can have on the community and the socio-economic development of the country.

The final round of the National Innovative Technopreneur Contest within the framework of TECHFEST VIETNAM 2022 was attended by Mr. Tran Van Tung - Deputy Minister of Science and Technology; Mr. Pham Hong Quat - General Director of the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development, Ministry of Science and Technology; Mr. Pham Dung Nam, Director of The National Startup Support Center (NSSC); Mr. Chu Thuc Dat, Director of Local Science and Technology Development Department; Mr. Nguyen Viet Long - Director of Binh Duong Department of Science and Technology; Ms. Nguyen Nha Quyen - Head of the Organizing Committee of the Contest, Operation Director at Startup Vietnam Foundation (SVF), together with leaders of Ministries, People's Committees of Binh Duong Province, representatives of corporations, international organizations, investment funds, TECHFEST VIETNAM Organizing Committee, Technology Villages, prestigious partners, experts and hundreds of startups from the Contest.

After 3 months, the Contest has achieved remarkable results: Nearly 100,000 reach on social media platforms; The total prize value is more than 500,000 USD; More than 70 companion partners including 34 Technology Villages, Shinhan Square Bridge Vietnam, FPT Corporation, ECUE, Sunwah Innovations, Alibaba Cloud, Zone Startups, CrossFund, Ascend Vietnam Ventures and other partners; More than 150 leading experts in the open innovation ecosystem; More than 50 hours of training, mentoring, pitching activities with investors; Nearly 500 applications with more than 300 qualified applications.

The board of Judges and Technical Advisors in the Final Round will have the participation of investors, leading experts in open innovation and startup ecosystem:

The Judges:

Mr. Pham Ngoc Huy- Managing Director, Lotte Ventures Vietnam

Ms. Le Hoang Uyen Vy - General Partner, Do Ventures

Mr. Sukkun Sun - Project Owner, Shinhan Square Bridge, Shinhan Financial Group Hope Foundation

Mr. Sam Ang - CEO, North Bridge Ventures

Ms. Le Han Tue Lam - General Partner, Nextrans Vietnam

Mr. Jeffrey Nah - CEO, JN Capital & Growth Advisory

The Technical Advisors:

Mr. Tran Viet Huan - CTO, SonKim Group

Mr. Nguyen Van Kien - CEO, WeGoTT - Alibaba Cloud Intelligent's partner

Mr. Ngo Vu Tan Khanh - Country Director, Kaspersky

Speaking at the final round of the contest, Mr. Pham Hong Quat - General Director of the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development, Ministry of Science and Technology - shared: “Small and medium enterprises, innovative enterprises, start-ups are the ‘seeds’ that the Vietnamese ecosystem is having. However, it is not only possible to demand and expect from the internal resources of the enterprise, but also to have an appropriate external support mechanism to lead, guide and support. We need the joint action of all elements in the ecosystem such as government agencies, universities, support organizations, incubators, accelerators, mentoring networks, associations, and businesses themselves. We need to co-design, act together, and deploy immediately to catch the new wave of technology. For each actor in the ecosystem, an open innovation platform brings different benefits. That is why we aspire to jointly build and develop an open innovation ecosystem, in which the important goal is to promote the characteristics of CREATIVE, OPEN and LINKED INNOVATION.”

Mr. Kim Dong Uk - Senior Director, Shinhan Financial Group Hope Foundation - which has strong commitments to the Vietnamese ecosystem, shared about the 2022 Vietnam Techfest Shinhan Global Track Award. The program has selected 5 businesses in the Top 10 to provide a global startup accelerator package with opportunities to meet experts, raise capital and expand connections in Korea and around the world. “As part of the open innovation strategy, supporting the National Innovation Technopreneur Contest is a valuable opportunity for us to expand our network to Vietnamese startups, also together with Vietnam to promote the effective startup ecosystem We ourselves found some potential startups that we would like to cooperate with or invest in.” - Mr. Kim Dong Uk shared.

Mr. Vu Le Hoang Anh - Director of Digital Marketing Research and Development Center, FPT Telecom, an important partner accompanying the Contest, wishes to be able to support, and commits that FPT will always accompany all innovation programs in the country such as the National Innovative Technopreneur Contest TECHFEST.

In the Final round program, the panel discussion "Innovative business - A bright spot of development in a volatile economy" took place with the participation of representatives of business from the contest, investors, and experts:

Ms. Nguyen Quynh Anh - Program Manager, SwissEP Vietnam

Mr. Pham Ngoc Duy Liem - CGO & Co-founder, GoStream - Champion of TECHFEST 2020

Mr. Nguyen Thai Nhat - CEO & Co-founder, Otrafy - Champion of TECHFEST 2021

Ms. Tran Hoai Phuong - Vice President of Investments & Head of Vietnam, Wavemaker Partners

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Linh - Executive Director, Management and Sustainable Development Institute (MSD) - United Way Vietnam

Ms. Michelle Ng - Director, Quest Ventures

Mr. Bobby Liu - EIR Director, Touchstone Partners

The panel discussion focused on the story of outstanding achievement after being crowned the highest at the Contest; Sharing the experience, and response strategy regardless of market fluctuations; Sharing about the investment marketplace in Vietnam in the coming period.

The winner of the contest will receive prizes with a total value of up to 200 million VND (Including 100 million VND in cash and intensive support packages); Representing Vietnam to attend the Startup World Cup with a prize of US$1 million. In addition, the Top 10 finalists will receive many attractive sponsorship packages from the partners of the Contest: Select up to five (05) Vietnamese startups suitable for the Korean market to receive a 60,000 USD Vietnam TechFest Shinhan Global Track Award 2022 global accelerating package, a program organized by Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon in 2023; 01 enterprise in the Top 10 has the opportunity to receive a minimum investment package of 100,000 USD from CrossFund; A 10,000 USD service package from FPT for Top 3 enterprises; A 3,000 USD co-working space voucher at Sunwah for Top 3 enterprises selected by Sunwah Innovations; A 3-month strategic consulting by senior experts package of 5,000 USD for the Winner from Ascend Vietnam Ventures Fund; One-year Alibaba Cloud Academy Premium account for all Contest teams, participants and guests with a total value of up to 1,600 USD from Alibaba Cloud; 5 enterprises in the Top 10 will be selected to participate in the Vietnam Startup Talents program and have the opportunity to raise capital directly with venture capital funds in the United State.