Vietnam tech startups funding fall 39% Q1 2024

The Vietnam Tech ecosystem raised total funding of $35.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is a 39 percent decline from $58.6 million raised in the same period in 2023, based on Tracxn data. However, this is a 467 percent surge when compared with the $6.3 million raised during the fourth quarter of 2023. Since 2022, funding for Vietnamese tech startups has been on the decline.

Overall, Vietnam ranks third in terms of funding raised by Southeast Asian (SEA) countries in the first quarter of 2024, after Singapore and Indonesia. This is a positive change from the fourth quarter of 2023 when Vietnam had ranked fourth among the SEA countries based on tech startup funding.

Meanwhile, early-stage investments in the first quarter of 2024 to date stood at $31.2 million, 47 percent lower than the $58.6 million raised in the first quarter of 2023. There were no early-stage rounds recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. Be Group, an app-based aggregator that offers booking services for motorbikes, cars, air tickets, passenger cars, fast delivery, etc., raised $31.2 million in a Series B round, making it the highest funded round in this space in the first quarter of 2024 to date.

Companies in this space secured seed-stage funding worth $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2024 to date, 29 percent lower than the $6.3 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2023.

No seed-stage investments were observed in the first quarter of 2023, and no late-stage funding has been recorded for three consecutive quarters in a row.

AutoTech, EdTech, and Enterprise Applications were the top-performing segments in the overall Vietnam tech sector in the first quarter of 2024 to date. Companies in the AutoTech and EdTech spaces had not secured any funding in the fourth quarter of 2023 but raised $31.2 million and $2.5 million respectively in the first quarter of 2024 to date.

No new unicorns have emerged in this ecosystem in 2024 so far, similar to the first quarter of 2023.

There was hardly any activity in terms of exits, with only two acquisitions and no initial public offerings (IPOs).

In terms of city-wise funding, tech startups based in Ho Chi Minh City raised $33.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.

CyberAgent Capital, Nextrans, and Vietnam Silicon Valley are the overall all-time most active investors in this space to date. Northstar Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and R2 Venture Partners were the top seed-stage investors in this space in the first quarter of 2024.