[Latest News] Korean Startups Come to Vietnam Seeking Opportunities

On the afternoon of September 10, 2025, thirty startups from South Korea operating in fields such as AI, educational technology, financial technology, gaming, healthcare, and media arrived in Hanoi. Their goal: to explore market development, partnership opportunities, pilot solutions, and survey consumer behavior.

This delegation of Korean startups is part of the Vietnam Immersion Week Roadshow 2025, organized jointly by Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the National Innovation Center (NIC) of Vietnam, BambuUP, and several partner organizations.

At the expo, there were nearly 200 direct exchange sessions between the Korean startups and Vietnamese experts or partners. Some of the enterprises found potential collaborators to move forward with, with expectations to bring products to market within the next 3–6 months.

Kim Young Rock, Director of Next Challenge (the organizer of the program), stated that the startup ecosystem in Vietnam is lively and growing rapidly. He said combining Korean technological capabilities and business mindset with Vietnam’s innovative energy could create long-term cooperative relationships. vnexpress.net

From the Vietnamese side, Đỗ Tiến Thịnh, Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center, said Vietnam is in a “golden phase” not only for Vietnamese startups but also for Korean ones. Because many incentive policies have been established to support innovation and technology development, both domestic and foreign startups arriving in Vietnam benefit.

Nguyễn Hương Quỳnh, CEO of BambuUP—an organization regularly producing reports on open innovation ecosystems—suggested that Korean and global startups can seize this opportunity to enter Vietnam’s market. However, she emphasized that only startups that invest seriously, understand the market, and make good use of the local ecosystem can succeed.

The event of 30 Korean startups coming to Vietnam is seen as a two-way bridge: it helps foreign businesses get closer to the Vietnamese market, and also brings valuable international cooperation to the domestic startup ecosystem.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology, there are currently about 4,000 startups in Vietnam. Among them are unicorns like MoMo, Sky Mavis, and many others valued at over USD 100 million. The innovation startup ecosystem is supported by 208 investment funds, 84 incubators, 40 business-acceleration organizations, and more than 20 enterprise support centers.

The 2025 Global Innovation Startup Ecosystem Index report shows Vietnam has climbed one rank from the previous year, now 55th in the world and remains 5th in Southeast Asia. This is the third consecutive year Vietnam has improved its ranking, showing consistent effort to improve the national startup environment. Major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang concentrate many startups, especially in fields like fintech, edtech, e-commerce, and blockchain.