Vietnam’s unicorn VNG halves net loss in 2024 amid AI push

VNG Corporation, Vietnam’s first tech unicorn, halved its net loss in 2024 following extensive cost-cutting and AI push efforts.

Last year, VNG (UpCoM: VNZ) reported a net loss of VND1.18 trillion ($45.73 million), down from VND2.31 trillion ($89.79 million) in 2023, marking the third consecutive year the company posted a loss exceeding VND1 trillion.

VNZ recorded VND9.27 trillion ($359.35 million) in revenue in 2024, a 22% increase from the previous year, according to its audited consolidated earnings report.

Excluding the cost of goods sold, the company earned VND3.42 trillion ($132.76 million) in gross profit, an increase of more than VND1.2 trillion compared to 2023.

The tech firm contributed VND1.11 trillion ($43.17 million) to the state budget in 2024, marking the third straight year its contributions surpassed the VND1 trillion mark.

Commenting on the company’s 2024 performance, VNG chairman Le Hong Minh said that despite a challenging year, the company overcame difficulties by focusing on its core values and investing in AI, which generated hundreds of billions of dong in revenue (VND100 billion = $3.88 million).

In 2024, VNG expanded its investment in AI infrastructure, launching a large-scale AI Cloud facility in Bangkok in cooperation with Nvidia last June. The center, one of Southeast Asia’s first AI-ready hyperscale data centers, is operated by VNG’s AI subsidiary GreenNode.

“VNG is well-positioned to become an ' AI-First' business in the next five years,” Minh said.

Regarding its social networking platform Zalo, Minh noted that by the end of 2024, over 20% of users had used AI features on the app. The company aims to double that figure by the end of this year.

Early this year, VNG ended its affiliate relationship with Tiki Global after entirely suffering losses from its VND510 billion ($20 million) investment in the Singapore-based company, which owns more than a 90% stake in e-commerce giant Tiki.

The tech firm still holds a 14.61% stake in Tiki Global as a long-term investment, but has incurred losses from this deal since 2019.