10X Innovation Lab Sets Its Sights on the Incredible Potential in Vietnam
10X INNOVATION LAB SETS ITS SIGHTS ON THE INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL IN VIETNAM
This past week, Klaus Wehage and Aaron McDaniel from the 10x Innovation Lab team were honored to be invited to participate in a roundtable session hosted by the General Consulate of Vietnam in San Francisco. The Honorable Consul General, Mr. Hu Xuan Son, hosted a group of government officials from various Ministries including The Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung and the Minister of Technology and Science, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh. The purpose of the 10x team’s involvement was to share more about the challenges and opportunities that Asian founders face when expanding to the US. The team was also there to get more insight on how the Vietnamese government views its role in growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as learn more about the various policies being created to support the advancement of emerging technologies. Amongst other things, topics centered around 1) new policies made to foster innovation and technology advancement, 2) education and its role in creating an innovative workforce, and 3) future investments made by the government to support startup growth and ecosystem development.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING STRATEGIC POLICIES
The roundtable session was attended by many well-known Silicon Valley companies including Apple, PayPal, Airbnb, Stripe and more. In particular, PayPal has had an active role in Vietnam, working with the government to create policies that allow for more innovative solutions in the area of public transit through streamlined payment systems. The former US Ambassador and now SVP of Global Government Relations, Demetrios Marantis, kicked off the session by referencing the strong partnership PayPal has with the Vietnamese government and how they’ve worked closely together to implement a more seamless and transparent payment solution for local, public transportation. As a country, Vietnam has been historically known as a cash-based nation but in the last decade or two, there has been a major push to change their payment infrastructures to revitalize the economy. The Minister noted that they’ve greatly enjoyed the benefits of working strategically with organizations like PayPal and they are now, even more open to expanding their partnerships in order to push the economy forward. The Vietnamese economy has seen a +7% YoY increase for the past couple of years along with continued strong population growth, and the Minister is looking forward to opening its doors to more partnerships.
THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN AN INNOVATION DRIVEN ECONOMY
Midway through discussions, the Founder and CEO of Got It, Peter Relan, brought up an interesting point. He feels Vietnam is at an important junction, where it could 1) fall into the same trap as India, known to be the leading outsourcing nation in the world, or 2) it could become a leading R&D hub and center for innovation for Asia and the world, as a whole. His company, Got It, has hired 30+ engineers in Vietnam due to the incredible talent and work ethic he has seen pouring out of this country. Hence, he is personally convinced that Vietnam has a unique opportunity to create policies that not only invest in larger R&D centers but also increase investments in education. Vietnamese students are of high caliber and make up a large percentage of the overall population, which also means Vietnam is not experiencing the same “aging population” issues as many other countries. We, at 10x Innovation Lab, agree with Relan’s outlook on Vietnam, as seen through our work with Asian startups that have expanded to the US, with R&D centers and tech teams, based in Vietnam. One example is the team from Cinnamon, who we’ve worked with through the NEDO startup program. They have approximately 30 people in their Vietnam office and that number is expected to grow significantly, as they recently raised $15M in investment capital. In addition, our CEO, Klaus Wehage, experienced the boom of the Vietnamese economy first hand, when he was stationed in Hanoi back in 2012.
GOVERNMENTS INVEST IN THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM TO FUEL GROWTH
As noted earlier, one of the main reasons 10x Innovation Lab attended the roundtable session was to understand the government’s role in the Vietnamese startup ecosystem. Through our work with more than 40+ countries, we now see the government as a central stakeholder. As a stakeholder, they create startup friendly policies that not only enable the ecosystem to flourish through policy frameworks that make it easier for startups to form and grow, but also make it attractive for investors to take risks and invest into early stage startups. With that in mind, we asked the Minister of Technology and Science, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh, about their ambition to invest more capital into the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh informed the invited guests that it is their focus to create more initiatives that will support startups and investors in Vietnam. Moreover, it was noted that a key area of importance for the Ministry is to expose their entrepreneurial talent to international ecosystems like Silicon Valley. Hence, we foresee a much greater push towards creating cross-border entrepreneurial programs that will support Vietnamese founders in their expansion to the US as well as other strategic markets. 10x Innovation Lab is already very active in supporting Vietnamese talent through their partnership with the newly established Accelerator ThinkZone based out of Hanoi and we look forward to supporting Vietnamese founders willing to “fail-forward” and challenge the status quo.
Thanks to the Honorable Consul General, Mr. Hu Xuan Son and the team for the invitation and opportunity to participate in this important conversation. We look forward to following up on the great conversations and to forming strategic partnerships with the Minister of Technology and Science, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh and his team.
