Vietnam's startup investment landscape in 2017 saw significant growth, with deal counts doubling to 92 deals from 50 in 2016. Total deal value reached $291 million, up 42% from 2016. Six large deals amounted to $198 million, including Sea Group's $64 million acquisition of Foody. E-commerce, foodtech, and fintech attracted the most investment. Local VCs and angels surpassed foreign investors in deal count for the first time, though foreigners generated higher deal values. CyberAgent Ventures successfully exited four portfolio companies. The Topica Founder Institute accounted for 26% of early stage deals in 2016 and has supported over 60 startups since 2011.

1. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
VIETNAM STARTUP INVESTMENT INSIGHT: 2017 IN SNAPSHOT
● Deal counts doubled: 92 deals, up from 50 in 2016
● The year of exits: 8 acquisitions, total $128M
● Strongest appetite: Sea Group (Garena), 3 out of 6 deals $10M+
● “EFF” E-commerce, Foodtech and Fintech saw the highest
number of transactions
● The rise of locals: The first time locals VCs and angels bypassed
foreigners in deal count; however the latter still generated higher
deal value
● Top exit investor: CyberAgent Ventures successfully exited 4
startups this year with Foody, CleverAds, Tiki (partial), Vexere
(partial)
● Start of ICO wave: $52m raised by Vietnamese-founded Kyber
Network; several other ICOs and crypto-investors preparing
launch
In 2016, 9 TFI startups got funded,
accounting for 26% of all early stage
funding deals in Vietnam (Seed, Series A).
“TFI Mafia” consists of hundreds of
startups, investors, mentors promoting a
“Pay-It-Forward” culture in building the
startup ecosystem.
FACTS
26%
Of Early Stage
Deals in 2016
$20m+
Funding
Raised
$100m
Combined
Valuation
Since
2011
For detailed deals info visit us:
Topi.ca/tfi
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2. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
ô
VIETNAM STARTUP DEALS 2017: DEAL COUNT DOUBLED TO 92, DEAL VALUE UP 42% AT $291M.
Number of deals & deal value
10
24 25 28
67
50
92
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
291137 205Deal value (US$ million)
● Deal counts: doubled to 92 (¹) from 50 in 2016
● New record in startup deal value: $291M (²), a 42% YoY growth from $205M
last year;
● Top 6 deals amounted to $198M (Details in table below):
3
3
8
17
61
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
>20m
10m-20m
5m-10m
1m-5m
<1m
Deal count
158
40
48
35
10
0 50 100 150 200
Deal value (US$ million)
Deal size comparison
(¹) 92 deals found through data gathered from information with trusted sources, both announced and undisclosed. There could possibly be more due to the remaining numbers of
undisclosed transactions
(²) Excluding 2 large deals worth $100+ each, involving Vietnamese businesses but with complex regional structure.
Investee Investors Type Estimated size
Foody Sea Group Acquisition $64M
2 Undisclosed deals Sea Group Acquisition $50M
Tiki JD.COM
STIC Investment
Series C $54M
Undisclosed TNB Ventures Series A $20M
Vntrip Hendale Capital Series B $10M
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3. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
REGIONAL UNICORN ACQUISITION LED TO LOCAL VCs SUCCESSFUL EXIT
$64M
~$50M 2 undisclosed
deals
● Sea Group (formerly Garena) acquired 82% stake of Foody for
around $64M, the most significant acquisition deal of the year.
Besides, Sea also acquired two top Fintech and logistic player
(undisclosed details, estimated value up to $50M, sources
said), consolidating their position leadership in Vietnam.
● Telenor acquisition of 701Search, regional holding of Chotot.vn,
a local classified site, for $109M was one of the notable deals
to watch, impacting Vietnam startup ecosystem. (*)
A top Fintech and
a logistic player
(*) Due to regional complex regional structure, this deal was excluded from total deal value & deal count in the Vietnam startup deals report.
Notable acquisition deals
Top exit investor
● Top exit investor: CyberAgent Ventures successfully exited 4
deals this year with Foody, CleverAds, Tiki (partial), Vexere
(partial).
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4. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
• E-commerce rose on top of the scene with 21 deals
in 2017, approximately of $83M in value.
• Followed by Foodtech with the presence of Foody,
Cooky and an undisclosed platform and social
community related to food and restaurants, at a total
deal size of $65M.
• Fintech stepped back to third place with 8 deals,
contributing $57M.
• Media also climbed to the “top list” with 9 deals and
above $18M in deal value.
• Logistics and Online travel contributed to the list
with 5 deals in total, $18M and $10M in deal value
respectively, some of big names are Vntrip,
Inspitrip...
“ EFF”: E-COMMERCE, FINTECH AND FOODTECH LED THE SCENE
0
25
50
75
100
0 5 10 15 20 25
$inmillions
Deal volume
Deals by top 6 industries
Food tech
$65M
Fintech
$57M
Media
$18M
Logistics
$18M
Online travel
$11M
E-commerce
$83M
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5. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
“ Big 4 investors” by deal size ($M)
DEAL COUNT BY LOCAL VCs AND ANGELS BYPASSED FOREIGN INVESTORS
BUT THE LATTER ACCUMULATED HIGHER DEAL VALUE
“ Big 4 investors” by deal count (*)
114
44
20
13
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
SEA JD.COM TNB Venture Mekong Capital
11
5
3 3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
500 Startups VN ESP Capital Nextrans SEA
(*) Excluding accelerators from this ranking
28
64
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Foreign investors
Local investors
245
46
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Foreign investors
Local investors
Deals count of local vs foreign investors.
Deals value of local vs foreign investors ($US millions)
• The first time local VCs & angels surpassed foreign investors in
term of deal count, by a factor of 2. However, foreign investors
still generated higher deal value.
• Among VCs & PE, 500 Startups led the scene with 11 deals,
followed by ESP Capital – a new homegrown VC.
• The rise of local VCs: VIISA, ESP, VSV, 500 Startups Vietnam
and Shark Tank together sealed 49 early stage deals in 2017
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6. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
VIETNAM STARTUP ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS FROM REGIONAL UNICORNS
Coworking Space
Government
Pre Seed/Seed
Series A and Series B Events
Community & Media Corporate Investors
Accelerators
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7. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
Topica Founder Institute (TFI) builds real startups, with real products, real
revenues, and real funding.
“TFI Mafia” consists of hundreds of startups, investors, mentors promoting a
“Pay-It-Forward” culture in building the startup ecosystem.
ABOUT TOPICA FOUNDER INSTITUTE
of Seed and Series A deals in Vietnam
in 2016 are TFI Graduates
Since
2011
60
Startup
Graduates
$20m+
Funding
Raised
$100m+
Combined
Valuation
26%
7
Highlighted graduates
Batch 2018 opening in April
Topi.ca/tfi

8. Compiled by Topica Founder Institute
DISCLAIMER
Data contains both disclosed and undisclosed (non-exhaustive) investment deals that took place in 2017. We do not guarantee
accuracy of the information for undisclosed deals, please use the information with discretion.
If you have any questions or requests pertaining to the list, please contact us at:
Quang Mai Duy
quangmd@topica.asia
Nhat Bui
nhatbd@topica.asia
Cong Tran
congtm@topica.asia
Bobby Liu
bobbyliu@topica.asia
Special thanks to our colleagues and friends who helped collect, research, and validate the information.
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