Japan’s venture capitalist invests $700,000 in Vietnamese media start-up

The deal, finalized during the first quarter of 2020, is being made public after Vietcetera received its digital media license from the government, Bloomberg quoted its co-founder and CEO, Hao Tran, as saying.
Silicon Valley-based Hustle Fund Management also took part in the seed funding.

Vietcetera expects to complete its Series A funding of at least several million dollars in the first half of 2021, Tran said.

Vietcetera is a digital media company targeting the nation’s growing middle class, based in HCMC. It provides Vietnamese and English content ranging from general business articles to lifestyle stories and podcasts.

Tran said the funds will support expansion of its data science platform, accelerate product development and expand market share. Vietcetera’s website last year grew its readership by 700 percent, he added.

Vietnam’s online media market is expected to reach $7 billion in 2025 from $3.3 billion in 2020, while its e-commerce market is projected to grow to $29 billion in 2025, according to a report by Google, Singaporean investment firm Temasek and American consulting company Bain & Company.

Its e-economy is forecast to increase to $52 billion in value in 2025 from $14 billion last year, with e-commerce at $29 billion, according to the report.

There were 72 million social media users in Vietnam in January 2021, according to the "Digital 2021: Vietnam" report compiled by strategic marketing consultancy Kepios Pte, social media management firm Hootsuite Media Inc. and social media marketing firm We Are Social Ltd.

YouTube is the most popular social media platform with 92 percent of internet users aged 16-64, the report said. Facebook and local social network Zalo, owned by Vietnam’s VNG Corp., attracted 91.7 percent and 76.5 percent of users, respectively.