YOUTH INVEST IDEAS IN HO CHI MINH
Educated, digitally active population pushes innovative start-ups in Vietnam
ATECH-SAVVY population, a fast-growing economy and the perks of being first in an emerging market — entrepreneur Le Thanh saw the potential in the booming city for his start-up transforming coffee grounds into masks.
The 35-year-old chemistry graduate worked for two multinationals before stepping out on his own three years ago to launch ShoeX — a sustainable footwear company which nimbly pivoted to masks as the coronavirus pandemic struck.
When he entered the workforce, Thanh was drawn to the higher salaries and no-nonsense working culture at foreign companies he assumed were a cut above local firms, tangled up in rules imposed by his country’s staid Communist rulers.
“But now, I see there are more openings in a place where things are a bit murky.”
He is not alone in believing Vietnam, and especially its southern commercial centre here, is poised to become an innovation hub thanks to its young, educated and digitally active population.
Vietnamese e-commerce and e-payment companies had been “flooded” with private equity in the past couple of years, said Eddie Thai, a Ho Chi Minh Citybased partner at venture capital firm 500 Startups. Their rise has been stellar.
Vietnam-based start-ups made up 18 per cent — or US$741 million — of the capital invested in Southeast Asia last year, up from four per cent in 2018, according to a report by Cento Ventures.
Although Indonesia remains the leader, the amount pumped into Vietnam start-ups pushed ahead of Singapore for the first time last year, the venture capital firm said.
Air pollution — and then the outbreak of Covid-19 — prompted Thanh to take a gamble on sourcing coffee waste material to turn it into masks.
His cutting-edge design uses woven fibre made from coffee grounds to make a washable outer layer, with a biodegradable filter inside.
“I took a risk and hoped it would succeed,” he said, adding that there had been a surge in orders of his masks from Europe, the United States and Japan since they launched in April.
Bui Thi Minh Ngoc wanted to find a sustainable alternative to standard menstrual products, searching for months to find the right organic cloth for her sanitary pad business GreenLady Vietnam, which she operates largely on Facebook.
“In Vietnam, there are not many specialising in period products and reproductive health,” the 26-year-old said in Hanoi.
“But I like to do things which are difficult.”
While Vietnam is yet to produce any truly “disruptive technology”, said Trung Hoang of local investment platform VinaCapital Ventures, China has shown what is possible.
Back in his Ho Chi Minh City office space, packed with young professionals, Thanh fizzes with enthusiasm for his country’s start-up culture.
“I am in this exciting and young environment. It’s inspired us all.”