Startups recognising Vietnam’s cost-effectiveness

Startups recognising Vietnam’s cost-effectiveness

Vietnam’s startup funding landscape looks optimistic, although a fundraising slowdown continues to linger globally.

In late March, Vietnamese solar energy firm Stride wrapped up an undisclosed amount in a Series A equity round co-led by Singapore-based Clime Capital and UOB Venture Management. The new funding will facilitate Stride in expanding its operation and accessing green financing from existing and new lenders.

Andrew Fairthorne, co-founder and CEO at Stride, said, “We are delighted to have attracted a further round of equity investment to fuel Stride’s growth. This will help Vietnam move towards achieving its climate goals by enabling more households and small businesses to access cost-efficient green energy.”

In mid-March, Vietnamese startup Filum AI has raised $1 million from regional investment funds, including Nextrans, VinVentures, and TheVentures, alongside strategic investors and several other individual investors. Filum AI provides an AI-powered customer experience management platform that helps businesses consolidate data across all touchpoints and proactively listen to deeply understand customers, thereby, encouraging more sustainable growth opportunities with GenAI.

A representative from VinVentures said, “Filum AI is one of the rare startups with strong technological capabilities, a strategic vision, and the ability to create real value for businesses.”

In late February, Techcoop, Vietnam’s integrated agritech platform, also closed a landmark $70 million Series A funding round, comprising equity and debt financing. The equity round was co-led by existing investors TNB Aura and AVV, with participation from prominent new investors, including BlueOrchard, FMO, AppWorks, and Capria Ventures. This milestone funding positions Techcoop to accelerate its growth trajectory and digitise Vietnam’s agricultural value chains.

Erik Jonsson, general partner of Antler Vietnam, said, “Despite broader market headwinds, Vietnam’s startup ecosystem is showing remarkable resilience, and we believe this is not a coincidence. The country is benefiting from several converging tailwinds: a fast-growing, highly skilled workforce; stronger visibility in supply chains; and an increasing appetite among founders to build globally relevant, capital-efficient solutions.”

Investors are also recognising that Vietnam offers both technical talent and cost-effective scalability, Jonsson said. “AI is a particularly powerful enabler here, lowering the cost of launching startups and empowering small teams to punch above their weight. Founders are becoming more sophisticated in how they build and validate their business models early, and we’re seeing more venture-backable ideas with global ambition come out of Vietnam,” he added.

Antler deployed $2.2 million across 21 early-stage investments in Vietnam in 2024 and are aiming to invest $20 million across Southeast Asia in the first half of 2025, with Vietnam remaining a strategic priority within this allocation.

Earlier this year, Antler launched the Antler SEA Venture Launchpad in Ho Chi Minh City. This initiative is designed to provide early-stage startups with fast-tracked, tailored support and funding opportunities outside of Antler’s flagship programme.

The initiative is open on a rolling basis, allowing founders to access up to $600,000 within the first 6-9 months, including pre-seed and follow-on via its model designed to match capital from new investors to help portfolio companies close subsequent rounds quickly. Startups can work closely with investors from day zero, access Antler’s global network and tools needed to achieve early traction, scale effectively and succeed in this competitive ecosystem.

According to data by Tracxn, so far in 2025, $33 million has been raised in four equity funding rounds across Vietnam. In Q1 last year, $42.1 million had been raised across 15 rounds in Vietnam. So, 2025 has seen a 21.55 per cent drop in funding in companies of Vietnam as compared to 2024.

Binh Tran, general partner of Ascend Vietnam Ventures (AVV), said that it is harder to fundraise, but the appetite to invest is still there, especially for real companies solving real problems. “Investors are being more disciplined. They’re digging deeper into unit economics, founder quality, and go-to-market strategy. But the shift is also positive: it’s flushing out the noise and helping serious founders stand out,” he said.

In Fund 2, AVV has 18 companies in Vietnam so far, and the fund is still actively looking to invest in new companies. AVV’s strategy is simple: back the best founders early, be their first institutional partner, and help them scale, whether in Vietnam or globally.

“We’re especially excited about founders who are building from Vietnam for the world, or who are solving Vietnam-specific problems at a massive scale. Our plan is to continue investing in these promising opportunities,” he said.

VIR