There have been 18 investment deals involving Vietnamese IT firms in thefirst nine months of 2013 amid the backdrop of the ongoing economiccrisis, according to a survey carried out by Pham Minh Tuan, founder andCEO of TOPICA Education Group.
Among the deals, thewww.yton.vn health network project of the HSP Group received the mostinvestment. The project was among 18 IT services to win Sao Khue 2013Awards given by the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association inApril.
"Any economic crisis can be considered as a storm.People who desire to set up a business choose to stay in a safe place toavoid the storm. They do not recklessly start to build something newthat may be swept away."
This opinion was voiced by NguyenQuang Duc, founder and CEO of HSP Group during a talk to youngstersinterested in how to fund raise successfully during an economic crisis.
Sharing about that project, Duc said that joining start-upcommunities like he did would help young people realise the difficultiesthey may face and receive advice from successful entrepreneurs andexperts in the field.
"Communities can bring opportunities,but chances must come with preparation and readiness," Duc said. "Thereare a lot of things start-up people have to face in the storm. They haveto prepare and seek opportunities against a tornado."
He saidthat when investors knock the doors, start-up business people must beaware of their business model. They should choose strategic investorsand not look for mentors, he added.
Attending the event as aguest speaker, Victor Lavrenko, CEO of Coc Coc search engine, pointedout the difference in persuading investors to join a project before andduring the crisis.
"All investors are interested in makingmore profit and regard investment as a method. Before the crisis, it wasfine if you lacked experience and were just smart. In a time of crisis,you need to be smart and show them your experience. They want to makesure that you can return them much more money than they invest," Victorsaid.
The CEO emphasised on building trust between investors and entrepreneurs. He took his company as an example.
The Coc Coc search engine, which is considered as a rival to Google inthe Vietnamese market, gained support from Russian search engineYandex, Internet service provider Mail.ru Group and internationalinvestment firm Digital Sky Technologies (an investor in Facebook).
Victor said that Yandex put their trust in Coc Coc because they wereconvinced by the company's foreign manager who had 15 years experiencein IT field and developed two search engine products.
He said that during the crisis, investors would seek for professionals they trust.
"Before the crisis, you just needed to have a software or draftdesign, but now it is not enough. You have to show real existingprojects with stable growth. During difficult times, investors seek fastresults with cheap prices and entrepreneurs have to explain how it'sgoing to be cheap enough," Victor said.
TOPICA founder Tuangave a presentation on tech investment deals that took place from 2012to June 2013. He said that investors were currently focusing investmentin e-commerce, mobiles, educational technology and online paymentsystems.
"People funding start-ups should target global orregional markets rather than the domestic one. Some Vietnamese start-upcompanies, such as Money Lover and Appota, have already targeted foreignmarkets where there is more chance for growth," he said.
According to Tuan, Japanese and European investors are taking over andSingapore, which has invested a lot in Vietnam, is falling behind afternot making any start-up tech deals in the country.-VNA
Among the deals, thewww.yton.vn health network project of the HSP Group received the mostinvestment. The project was among 18 IT services to win Sao Khue 2013Awards given by the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association inApril.
"Any economic crisis can be considered as a storm.People who desire to set up a business choose to stay in a safe place toavoid the storm. They do not recklessly start to build something newthat may be swept away."
This opinion was voiced by NguyenQuang Duc, founder and CEO of HSP Group during a talk to youngstersinterested in how to fund raise successfully during an economic crisis.
Sharing about that project, Duc said that joining start-upcommunities like he did would help young people realise the difficultiesthey may face and receive advice from successful entrepreneurs andexperts in the field.
"Communities can bring opportunities,but chances must come with preparation and readiness," Duc said. "Thereare a lot of things start-up people have to face in the storm. They haveto prepare and seek opportunities against a tornado."
He saidthat when investors knock the doors, start-up business people must beaware of their business model. They should choose strategic investorsand not look for mentors, he added.
Attending the event as aguest speaker, Victor Lavrenko, CEO of Coc Coc search engine, pointedout the difference in persuading investors to join a project before andduring the crisis.
"All investors are interested in makingmore profit and regard investment as a method. Before the crisis, it wasfine if you lacked experience and were just smart. In a time of crisis,you need to be smart and show them your experience. They want to makesure that you can return them much more money than they invest," Victorsaid.
The CEO emphasised on building trust between investors and entrepreneurs. He took his company as an example.
The Coc Coc search engine, which is considered as a rival to Google inthe Vietnamese market, gained support from Russian search engineYandex, Internet service provider Mail.ru Group and internationalinvestment firm Digital Sky Technologies (an investor in Facebook).
Victor said that Yandex put their trust in Coc Coc because they wereconvinced by the company's foreign manager who had 15 years experiencein IT field and developed two search engine products.
He said that during the crisis, investors would seek for professionals they trust.
"Before the crisis, you just needed to have a software or draftdesign, but now it is not enough. You have to show real existingprojects with stable growth. During difficult times, investors seek fastresults with cheap prices and entrepreneurs have to explain how it'sgoing to be cheap enough," Victor said.
TOPICA founder Tuangave a presentation on tech investment deals that took place from 2012to June 2013. He said that investors were currently focusing investmentin e-commerce, mobiles, educational technology and online paymentsystems.
"People funding start-ups should target global orregional markets rather than the domestic one. Some Vietnamese start-upcompanies, such as Money Lover and Appota, have already targeted foreignmarkets where there is more chance for growth," he said.
According to Tuan, Japanese and European investors are taking over andSingapore, which has invested a lot in Vietnam, is falling behind afternot making any start-up tech deals in the country.-VNA
