While plans are in the works for a Vietnamese version of Silicon Valley, an even more promising piece of tech news broke this week.
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Vietnam’s IT giant, FTP, has announced the establishment of a venture capital arm that would dedicate over US$3 million each year for seed and series A investments in Vietnamese startups, reports TechinAsia’s Anh Minh Do.
“[This is] a huge step for the corporate giant and a potential ripple effect for Vietnam’s startup community,” wrote Do who clearly outlines how and to whom the money would be distributed:
“Investments would target companies with valuations below US$1 million and fund at a minimum of US$50,000. Do the math – that’s a potential 60 seedstage startups per year.
Apparently, FPT is working with Silicon Valley investors for the initiative but has yet to specify who. FPT would act as an investor and accelerator by providing cash, resources, as well as their wealth of technical and management experts. The only caveat is that FPT asks founders to commit at least five years to building a big company. But FPT guarantees that it will finalize every investment decision within four months of the submission date.”
This move is great news for the future of Vietnam’s startup ecosystem that holds enormous potential.
Head over to TechinAsia to read more about what this announcement means for the local tech scene.
[Top photo via Wired]