HCMC’s startup ecosystem valued at $7.4 bln

Ho Chi Minh City’s startup ecosystem is currently valued at $7.4 billion, attracting a total of $260 million in venture capital, said Lam Dinh Thang, director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology.

The city is home to nearly 50% of all startups in Vietnam and is the birthplace of three tech unicorns VNG, MoMo, and Sky Mavis, Thang told the inauguration ceremony of the Building of the Startup & Innovation Hub of Ho Chi Minh City (SIHUB) at 123 Truong Dinh street, Xuan Hoa ward on Saturday.

According to Thang, the establishment of SIHUB is a strategic move to realize the goal of placing HCMC among the world’s top 100 most dynamic innovation ecosystems.

Currently, the city already holds a solid foundation, having been ranked 110th globally by StartupBlink and for the first time, entering the Top 5 startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia.

The city has also made its mark globally in various high-tech sectors, including Top 30 globally and Top 2 in Southeast Asia for Blockchain startups, 54th globally in Fintech, 62nd in Edtech, 71st in E-commerce & Retail, and 87th in Transportation.

He said cooperation agreements signed by SIHUB and the Department of Science and Technology with major domestic and international partners will focus on core technology R&D, high-quality human resource training, building global supply chains, and offering free technical and R&D support for startups that meet selection criteria.

They also aim to collaborate on identifying, developing, accelerating, and scaling promising startup projects, launching the “Startup Flight” program, and conducting various other activities to support entrepreneurship, innovation, and global networking, he added.

Under Vietnam’s national semiconductor industry development strategy to 2030 with a vision to 2050, the country aims to train at least 50,000 high-quality professionals. Of that, Ho Chi Minh City is tasked with training around 9,000 personnel, mainly in IC design, chip fabrication, and related technology fields.

In line with the city’s goal of entering the global Top 100 startup ecosystems, HCMC also aims to establish 5,000 innovative startups by 2030.

By that time, the proportion of businesses engaging in innovation is expected to exceed 40% of all enterprises in the city. The number of patent applications and issued patents is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 16-18%, and the commercialization rate of research, technological development, and innovation results is targeted to reach 8-10%.

On June 12, the National Assembly, the country's legislature, passed a resolution that reduces the country's number of provinces and cities from 63 to 34. Accordingly, HCMC was merged with industrial centers Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces to form the new HCMC.

After the merger, the new HCMC now spans more than 6,722 square kilometers and has a population of over 14 million. It comprises 168 commune-level administrative units, including 113 wards, 54 communes, and one special zone - Con Dao.