Targeting Vietnamese technology startups
In late 2022, South Korean venture capital fund Nextrans announced plans to launch a $50 million fund focused on the technology startup ecosystem in the Vietnamese market.
According to DealStreetAsia, Le Han Tue Lam , Representative Director of Nextrans Investment Fund in Vietnam, confirmed that this investment fund will create bets on startups worth up to 3 million USD.
Le Han Tue Lam is one of three Vietnamese people honored by Forbes in the 30 Under 30 list in 2021. Currently, this businesswoman holds the position of Representative Director of Nextrans Investment Fund in Vietnam. Tue Lam is one of six sharks in the Shark Tank Vietnam season 6 program that just launched on September 19.
According to Nextrans, Tue Lam is the founder of Venture Capital Fund Program (VCFP) and previously worked at startup Base.vn. Ms. Lam has nearly 6 years of experience working closely with startup founders, regional venture capital funds and local partners; has a passion for SaaS (software application service distribution), Edtech (educational technology) and Agritech (agricultural technology).
Nextrans Fund is a fund that focuses on finding startups with high growth technology elements, demonstrated through a diverse investment portfolio in sustainable growth areas such as food waste treatment solutions and electric vehicles, along with emerging areas such as Edtech, Proptech (real estate technology), SaaS,... Not limiting the industry or investment area is considered Nextrans' strategy of spreading risks in the market.
Nextrans is one of the most active foreign venture capital firms in the Vietnamese market with 32 startups in its portfolio. This venture capital fund from Korea started participating in the Vietnamese market in 2015, behind a series of famous startups such as Luxstay, JamJa, Thuocsi.vn, Base, Okela, Ecomobi, VDES, Ecotruck…
This investment fund has recently recorded positive changes in its investments.
In early May 2023, Vietnamese pharmaceutical startup BuyMed, part of Nextrans' portfolio, received an additional $51.5 million in investment capital in its Series B round from UOB Venture Management, US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Smilegate Investment and Cocoon Capital.
BuyMed's vision is to revolutionize the $73 billion healthcare sector (estimated to be worth $73 billion by 2024) in Asia, making it more accessible and affordable, rather than fragmented as it is today.
BuyMed is a startup that operates the e-commerce site Thuocsi.vn, becoming a "bridge" between pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companies with 35,000 pharmacies and clinics in 63 provinces and cities nationwide. In addition to the Vietnamese market, BuyMed is currently present in 3 other Southeast Asian countries: Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia.
In January 2021, BuyMed successfully raised $9 million in a Series B round led by Smilegate Investment with participation from B Capital Group and previous investors Cocoon Capital, Genesia Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Nextrans. BuyMed also successfully raised $33.5 million in its Series B round.
Thus, the total capital that this startup has successfully called for through different funding rounds is up to nearly 100 million USD from many different investors.
Operating in the HealthTech field, BuyMed was founded in Singapore in 2018 by Mr. Peter Nguyen (co-founder of Thuocsi.vn); Nguyen Huu Minh Hoang (CEO of BuyMed) and Vuong Dinh Vu (co-founder of Thuocsi.vn).
Invest in small items, emphasize the human element
Nextrans Investment Fund mainly operates by searching for and “investing capital” in potential startups in three markets: Korea, the US and Vietnam. Currently, Nextrans has a portfolio of more than 70 companies in many fields.
Nextrans has been investing in Vietnam since 2015 and is a backer of e-commerce platform Tiki and wealthtech startup Infina.
In late November 2022, Nextrans also led a group to invest $4.5 million in Cooky, a Vietnamese e-grocery platform. Accordingly, the online grocery shopping platform Cooky, founded by two veteran entrepreneurs Dang Hoang Minh and Nguyen Thanh Dai, received $4.5 million from two investment funds Nextrans and Do Ventures. These are the founding members of Foody, a pioneering food delivery service in the Vietnamese market, which was later acquired by Southeast Asia's leading Internet corporation SEA Group. The Cooky mobile application currently has millions of downloads after more than 2 years of launch.
The pandemic has boosted the demand for online shopping, and this consumer behavior is continuing in Vietnam thanks to the young population who trust technology products. Vietnam's e-grocery market is expected to reach 1.5 billion USD by 2025.
Nextrans CEO Seungho Chae expects the grocery market to innovate to become more efficient. Cooky's innovative model will make meal preparation more convenient.
At Nextrans, Le Han Tue Lam is considered a bridge to startups. Ms. Tue Lam (born in 1994) is a prominent and familiar face in the Venture Capital community in recent years. She holds the position of Representative Director of Nextrans Fund in Vietnam, in charge of the Southeast Asian and US markets.
On their part, in sharing with the media, Tue Lam and Nextrans have never encouraged founders to focus on attracting a lot of money and setting a high valuation. The important thing emphasized is the purpose, direction, and human factor - "the important thing is who to go with", which "partner" to find.
In recent years, Vietnam’s technology startup sector has become an attractive destination, attracting the attention of many domestic and foreign investors. Funds from Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc. have all paid attention.
VinaCapital Ventures, the venture capital arm of Vietnam-based asset management firm VinaCapital, plans to launch its second $100 million fund in 2023, which will focus on providing growth capital to companies, according to DealStreetAsia.
In an economic forum held late last year, Mr. Chris Chae - CEO of Nextrans investment fund of Korea expressed his belief that within the next 10 years, "Vietnam will become the best developing country and create many changes, especially in Southeast Asia, as well as Asia - Pacific".
Shark Tank Vietnam season 6 officially launched on September 19 in Ho Chi Minh City. This year, in addition to familiar faces from previous Shark Tank seasons such as: Shark Binh, Shark Hung, Shark Louis Nguyen and Shark Hung Anh, there are 2 brand new sharks - Shark Bui Quang Minh (Minh Beta) and Shark Le Han Tue Lam. In particular, Shark Tue Lam not only attracts attention as the only female shark, but also because she is the youngest.
The female "shark" born in 1994 is currently the Representative Director of Nextrans Vietnam Investment Fund, and was once one of the leading young entrepreneurs in the list of 300 talents under 30 years old in many fields in Asia selected by Forbes.
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