Startups in Vietnam offered abundant venture capital

Companies headquartered in different countries have successfully secured more investment funds from venture capital firms and other sources for business in Vietnam, a new global production base with a population of 100 million people.

Singapore-headquartered healthtech firm BuyMed Pte. Ltd. has so far netted $63.5 million for its Vietnam operations. Launched in 2018, BuyMed operates thuocsi.vn, a business-to-business pharmaceutical distribution platform serving thousands of pharmacies and clinics across Vietnam.

In the latest series B funding round, it has obtained $51.5 million, including an equity investment of $18 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

With the DFC funding, BuyMed will expand pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals’ access to pharmaceutical products in rural areas and increase transparency and compliance within the healthcare industry in Vietnam, the U.S. government's development finance institution said this April.

The balanced $33.5 million of the $51.5 million came from a round led by UOB Venture Management, part of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB). The two other investors are Smilegate Investment and Cocoon Capital.

Singapore-based Cocoon Capital, an early-stage investor in Southeast Asia, has been present in BuyMed’s all capital raising rounds to date. In the seeding round, BuyMed netted $500,000 from Cocoon and Vietnam-based Viet Capital Ventures.

In a pre-series A round, BuyMed grabbed $2.5 million from Cocoon, Genesia Ventures, and Surge Ventures. Meanwhile, Nextrans, Cocoon, Surge, B Capital Group, and Smilegate Investment pledged $9 million for BuyMed in a series A round.

BuyMed claims it has about 20,000 monthly active customers and covers all cities and provinces in Vietnam, which is the company’s only market at the moment.

Battery charging and ADB moves

Virta, a Finnish provider of charging services for electric vehicles, has raised 85 million euro ($93.8 million) in a round led by its existing investors like Jolt Capital, Future Energy Ventures backed by E.ON, Helen Ventures, and Vertex Growth Fund.

The fresh funds will be used to grow its charging transactions by more than 5 times in the Asia Pacific and Europe by 2025. The company said it will expand to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, over the next two years.

“With the new funding, we are now ready to take the global lead in making electric vehicles an integral part of energy flexibility markets,” Virta CEO Jussi Palola said on April 25.

The funding round’s lead investor, Jolt Capital’s CEO Jean Schmitt, said: “Virta has demonstrated a rare ability to combine hyper growth, technology leadership and mature operations, enabling sustainable, profitable scalability.”

Founded in 2013, Virta provides smart charging services for both EV drivers and companies alike. The company, which hosts its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, plans to introduce its smart-charging capabilities for Asian markets later this year.

Just a few days before the Virta announcement, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) proclaimed that Selex, a Vietnamese maker of electric two-wheelers and battery packs, has raised $3 million in a convertible note round from the bank’s venture capital arm ADB Ventures and other investors. ADB Ventures’ investment capital was not disclosed.

“The electrification of road transport will have a profound impact on the automotive manufacturing and logistics sectors in Southeast Asia. We are proud to have been part of Selex’s journey from the very beginning, and look forward to helping it to become an important regional player in the sustainable transport market in coming years,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB director general for private sector operations.

In December 2021, ADB Ventures provided a $200,000 grant to Selex with an option to make an equity investment in the company.

Established in 2018, Selex specializes in producing electric two-wheelers and swappable battery packs that are purpose-built for large applications, including last-mile cargo delivery. Selex’s existing clients include regional delivery aggregators, such as Lazada and Grab.

Also in electric mobility, the ADB announced last October it had mobilized a $135 million climate financing package for Vietnamese automaker VinFast to manufacture the country’s first fully-electric public transport bus fleet and first national electric vehicle charging network.

This aims to support Vietnam’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and expand high-tech manufacturing industries, the bank said.

This February, the ADB disclosed its strategic equity investment plan for Vietnam-based Australis Holdings, committing more than $15 million to finance the firm’s climate-smart barramundi and seaweed aquaculture project. The bank added it would provide an additional grant of $3 million for the company’s recent undertakings through its Climate Innovation and Development Fund, which is dedicated to supporting sustainable and low-carbon economic development in Southeast Asia.