As of last week, 500 Startups is open for business in Vietnam.
On March 8, the Silicon Valley venture capital seed fund and startup accelerator announced that it will be providing US$10 million to Vietnamese-connected startups.
The regional microfund will make 100-150 investments in the local startup community, handing out anywhere from US$100,000 to US$250,000 per investment, reports Tuoi Tre.
Apart from financial support, these companies will also receive assistance from 500 Startups' 3,000 mentors and founders as well as up to US$1.5 million of credits through 500 Startups partners such as Facebook and Amazon.
500 Startups' Vietnam branch is now led by venture partners Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, whom the company's cofounder, Dave McClure, hailed as “experienced operators who combine Silicon Valley know-how with Vietnamese hustle”.
“They are going to invest aggressively in the best and brightest founders all over the country,” McClure continued in the company's press release.
500 Startups' headquarter is located in Mountain View, California. According to its partner in Vietnam, the fund is currently in control of a US$240 million fortune. Since 2010, the outfit has invested in over 1,500 companies in more than 50 countries.
In recent years, the number of Vietnamese tech startups has increased sharply. With the success of apps like Foody, Lozi, TicketBox and BigTime, even government agencies are beginning to get involved in Vietnam's burgeoning startup economy (https://www.techinasia.com/talk/vietnams-looming-perfect-startup-storm).
“Vietnam has more people than California, New York, and Florida combined and more than 40 million of them are on the internet,” McClure said in the company's press release. “It is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and has been Apple’s fastest-growing market in the world.”
[Photo via 500.co]
