The change was from the first half of 2017 to the corresponding period of 2019, with the country trailing only Indonesia and Singapore. According to the Vietnam Tech Investment Report released recently by Singapore-based venture capital firm Cento Ventures and Vietnam’s early stage venture fund ESP Capital, the amount of invested capital and the number of technology deals done in the country have grown six-fold in the period.

The report showed local start-ups raised a total of 246 million USD during the first half of 2019. In terms of sectors, key blocks of the digital economy such as retail and payment accounted for almost 60 per cent of investment. Multi-vertical companies are growing well and have captured a 12 per cent share of capital, while emerging sectors such as fintech, real estate and logistics are only just beginning to pick up in Vietnam, collectively taking a 10 per cent share of total capital.

According to the report, 2018 and 2019 have seen a new wave of Vietnamese start-ups that raised 50 million to 100 million USD rounds for the first time. If this trend progresses, more Vietnamese companies could approach the 500 million and eventually 1 billion USD valuation mark in the years to come.