Eight distinguished Vietnamese startups had the opportunity to pitch their vision and potential to investors and businesses from Japan at the JETRO Startups Connecting HUB - Pitch & Meet in Hanoi 2023, held on September 12 in the capital.

Addressing the opening, Mr. Takeo Nakajima, Chief Representative of JETRO Hanoi, noted that within the framework of JETRO’s activities to support Vietnamese startups, JETRO has successfully organized more than 30 webinars over the last two and a half years with more than 3,800 people in attendance. However, face-to-face gatherings like these present a unique venue to promote venture thinking among participants.

The event was composed of two main activities: a Pitch Session and Business Matching between Vietnamese startups and Japanese companies and investors. Vietnamese startups at the event are in different fields, including the largest local-resourced venture capital fund ThinkZone, digital investment platform Finhay, payment processing company OnePay, online motorbike transactions platform OKXE, online learning platform VUIHOC, office productivity edtech platform Gitiho, AI-focused healthcare solutions provider VinBrain, and cybersecurity company CyRadar.

Mr. Nakajima told VET that there are excellent Vietnamese startups in various sectors, such as education, fintech, transportation, and cybersecurity. But there are still a number of things that Japan can offer them, especially its global experience. “We have many companies in other countries like the US, Malaysia, and Singapore, so we can use this experience in our cooperation with Vietnam. Vietnamese startups have excellent marketing, strategies, market offerings, and technology. And the Japanese side would like to cooperate with them in all areas.”

Vietnamese startups are still in their developing stage. Vietnam is not a Silicon Valley as yet but boasts great potential, especially in e-commerce, fintech, and payments. Mr. Nakajima noted that there are few startups operating in fields such as green development, energy, and social issues. These will be areas that offer great opportunities for Vietnamese startups. Another untouched field that Vietnam could exploit is services for the elderly. It could learn from advanced countries in this field such as the US, China, and Japan, and use their experiences as data for its own development.

For his part, Mr. Ryosuke Ogata, General Manager of the Hanoi Representative Office of the Mitsubishi Research Institute, emphasized that presentations looked at how to change society and how to create a better world. “From the perspective of Japanese investors, I highly appreciate startups operating in the fields of healthcare, education, human resources, traffic, and social issues, which will deliver a positive social impact.”