【Vietnam Rising】
When it comes to Southeast Asia, Indonesia with its sheer size and economic clout often finds itself hogging the limelight. However, Vietnam shows promising potential for 4 reasons:
1. Among the big 6 SEA markets, Vietnam has exhibited the fastest average growth rate at 6.8% CAGR over the last decade
2. At 93 million, Vietnam's population is one of the region's largest and youngest with more than 60% under the age of 35--many who are just now coming to terms with increasing affluence, consumer sophistication, and digital transformation
3. Large-scale pool of technical talent, with an estimated 100,000 engineers graduating every year
4. Young and vibrant startup ecosystem, with increasing local and foreign investor interest
The country has already experienced several high profile transactions in recent years, including Sea Group's US$ 64M acquisition of foody.vn, Tiki's 50M series C round led by JD.com, and MoMo's US$ 100M funding round led by Warburg Pincus.
The window of opportunity is ripe, likely lagging behind Indonesia by only 2-3 years. It's only a matter of time before the landscape starts to heat up and we start experiencing runaway valuations. So next time you're mapping your expansion strategy or sourcing for new areas of growth, Vietnam may just warrant a second look.
-Jun Wakabayashi
Analyst, AppWorks
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