Investments into Vietnamese startups rise

Raising cash: A street vendor walks past an HSBC branch in Hanoi. The bank has supported numerous startups in Vietnam. ―Bloomberg

HANOI – Foreign investment in Vietnamese startups is expected to rise, despite the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the economy, according to experts.

HSBC Bank Vietnam announced that it has assisted General Atlantic and Dragoneer Investment Group in co-leading a US$250 million (RM1.05 billion) Series B funding round in VNLIFE Corp Joint Stock Company, a leading technology company that is pioneering the development of Vietnam's digital ecosystem.

This is thought to be the largest capital raising transaction recently disclosed in Vietnam's venture capital market. The capital injection is expected to accelerate the growth of VNLIFE's existing businesses while also assisting in the development of new platforms and technologies to better serve its merchant partners and Vietnamese consumers.

Similarly, VinaCapital Ventures (V2), the VinaCapital Group's technology investment platform, announced an investment in GlobalCare, an insurtech company that provides solutions for the sale and administrative processes of insurance agencies and business partners selling non-life insurance policies.

GlobalCare, founded in 2017 by Dinh Thi Ngoc Niem and her co-founder, Hang Minh Loi, offers a variety of insurance products to customers through its distributors and agencies, which include 3,000 distributors to online transaction points and other leading service sharing platforms. It also provides a comprehensive technology solution for over ten major distribution channels and 200,000 insurance agents.

The terms of the investment were not disclosed, but the transaction value is expected to be in the millions of dollars based on GlobalCare's contributions to the insurance industry and V2's investment history.