TheLEADER interviews Mr. Hoàng Đức Trung: Vietnam before the core technology game

Part 1 – Macro: Science, technology and innovation ecosystem

1. HCMC Venture Investment Fund was born in the context of the city's goal of shifting to a growth model based on science, technology and innovation. From your perspective, what are the most important priorities that parties in the ecosystem - from regulators, investors to businesses - need to jointly promote in the coming period?

The biggest priority in the coming period is that the parties in the ecosystem need to work together to create an environment that is trustworthy enough so that long-term capital can flow into innovation in a sustainable way. This lies not only in the size of capital, but more importantly in the policy framework, financial infrastructure and how the market operates. When non-market risks, especially legal and policy risks, are minimized, and there is a liquid market, investors will have more confidence to participate in fields with high levels of uncertainty such as technology and innovation.

At the same time, the ecosystem needs to be operated according to clear market standards, with effective coordination between the State, investors and businesses. Investors need to maintain discipline and a long-term vision, and startups need support to quickly connect with the market, infrastructure and partners to commercialise and expand. Only when these links operate in sync can innovation become a real and sustainable growth driver.

2. A notable point is that the fund operates according to the public-private model and accepts controlled risks, with state capital acting as "primer capital". How do you expect this mechanism to change the way capital flows into Vietnamese startups compared to before?

The "seed capital" mechanism under the public-private model is a very important step, because it changes the market's perception of risk towards venture capital in Vietnam. When the State participates as a partner and accepts risk sharing according to market principles, private capital flows, especially international capital, will have more confidence to participate earlier and stronger. The public-private venture capital fund (PPP) model with state capital as "seed capital" will fundamentally change the flow of Vietnamese startup capital in the direction of: proactively leading private capital, sharing risks (assessed by portfolio instead of each project) and prioritizing investment in breakthrough technology instead of just chasing short-term projects.

This mechanism is considered a big push, changing the state's approach from just administrative support to direct participation in taking risks with businesses. When a fund invests in a startup, it is not only a story about capital, but also about participating in risk sharing in terms of policy (sandbox), legality and long-term development orientation. This helps significantly reduce psychological barriers as well as perceived risks of private investors, thereby triggering the effect of attracting more capital flows.

3. The fund determines to focus on "core technology" fields such as AI, semiconductors, biotech or green energy. In your opinion, is Vietnam really ready for the core technology game, or is it still in the foundation building stage?

Vietnam has passed the initial stage and is entering an important transition period, from foundation building to selective acceleration.

Over the past decade, we have accumulated key foundational factors such as an abundant force of technology engineers, competitive costs, an increasingly dynamic startup ecosystem, along with increasingly clear policy direction from the Government in promoting innovation. These factors help Vietnam have a certain position in fields such as applied AI, digital transformation, or some stages in the semiconductor value chain.

However, with real "deep-tech" fields such as semiconductors, biotech or large-scale green energy, we are still in the process of perfecting the foundation. Limitations in long-term capital, research and commercialisation capacity, as well as delays in the legal framework remain significant barriers.

Therefore, the appropriate approach is not to spread out, but to focus resources on segments with clear competitive advantages, while taking advantage of new mechanisms, such as the public-private partnership (PPP) model or "controlled risk-taking" mechanism, to gradually participate more deeply in core technology fields. In other words, Vietnam is now at the right point to accelerate if it has the right strategy and capital flow.

4. Innovation is not only a capital story, but also involves universities, research institutes and businesses. In your opinion, what is the missing or weakest "link" in the Vietnamese science and technology ecosystem today?

One of the biggest bottlenecks in the innovation ecosystem in Vietnam today is the commercialisation of research results. Although research institutes and universities have significant research capacity, the rate at which these results reach the market remains very low. The main reason lies in the lack of professional "intermediary links" such as intellectual property valuation organisations, technology transfer centres and quality incubators, causing many research to stop in the laboratory instead of becoming commercial products.

Besides, the connection between schools and businesses is still "out of phase". Businesses are afraid of risks and the output of research projects, while universities do not always follow practical needs and commercial scale requirements. Therefore, the startup ecosystem lacks deep-tech businesses based on core technology, instead still favoring existing business models. This situation partly reflects limitations in applied research and the ability to transform academic knowledge into platform technology.

In addition, some problems related to financial and public asset management mechanisms still somewhat limit the process of commercialising research results. The formation of spin-off businesses from universities also faces certain legal obstacles, causing many potential ideas to not have favourable conditions to access and develop in the market.

In short, to remove these bottlenecks, the focus is not only on increasing resources for research, but more importantly on perfecting the mechanism for pricing and exploiting intellectual property assets, promoting the development of spin-off businesses, and building a closer, more substantive connection between research activities and commercialisation needs from the business side.

Part 2 – Role and orientation of HCMC Venture Investment Fund

5. The fund aims to attract an additional 3–5 dong of capital from the private and international sectors for each dong. So to truly become a "capital magnet", what does the fund need to do to create trust for international investors?

To become a "capital magnet", the most important thing is that the fund must operate according to market principles, with clear investment discipline and transparent decision-making mechanisms following international standards. The public-private model allows the fund to combine the flexibility, speed and governance standards of the private sector with the role of direction and policy support from the State.

In addition, the participation of reputable financial institutions and experienced investors will help improve the fund's credibility in the eyes of international investors. When capital flows are deployed on the basis of data, market analysis, strict appraisal and methodical risk management, the fund will create long-term trust, thereby attracting investors to accompany in the next capital rounds.

6. Unlike many traditional funds, the Ho Chi Minh City fund focuses on Series A and B rounds - the startup's acceleration phase. Do you think Vietnam is currently lacking capital at this stage, or is it lacking qualified businesses to absorb capital?

While the first phase is still quite exciting and the later phase still attracts capital flows, the acceleration phase is the "low point" of the ecosystem. The number of funds capable of leading the Series A and B rounds is limited. However, the problem is not only in capital. In fact, not many startups have achieved the necessary "maturity" to absorb large capital flows. Factors such as the product truly meeting the needs of the market (product–market fit), not yet demonstrating sustainable scalability, or not meeting the standards of governance and financial performance required by institutional investors.

Therefore, the problem is not simply adding capital, but improving the quality of the business. The formation of funds with a leading role, combined with support for governance and ecosystem connection at home and abroad, is expected to help narrow this gap in the near future.

7. A big advantage of the fund is the participation of large corporations, forming a startup support ecosystem. According to you, can this "ecosystem" factor make a real difference for startups, or are there still other conditions needed to help them scale?

In my opinion, the ecosystem factor is one of the key advantages of the fund. The participation of large corporations helps startups not only access capital, but also have the opportunity to access markets, infrastructure, data and customers at an early stage. For investors, this is a very practical "risk reduction" mechanism. When startups are placed in an ecosystem capable of supporting commercialisation and scaling, the likelihood of success is significantly higher. This not only helps startups speed up the development process, but also enhances the attractiveness of the business in the eyes of private and international investors in the following capital raising rounds.

Part 3 – Investment trends

8. In the fields of core technology and digital transformation, healthcare is emerging as an industry with both great demand and deep innovation, especially in the context of a growing middle-class population and increasing demand for health care. From your perspective, what is the biggest opportunity for technology startups in the medical field in Vietnam today?

The field of medical technology (Medtech) is opening up great opportunities for technology startups in Vietnam, in the context of rapidly increasing demand for health care while the medical system is still under pressure from overload and lack of uniformity. Notable are AI application solutions in image diagnosis and testing, remote medical platforms (telehealth) and patient data management systems, helping to reduce the load on higher-level hospitals, support lower-level doctors and improve the quality of medical examination and treatment services.

In particular, AI supports X-ray, CT, MRI and laboratory analysis to help improve diagnostic accuracy, especially important when high-quality human resources are limited. Telehealth also contributes to expanding access to medical services for people in remote areas, while allowing for more continuous patient monitoring and care.

Besides the clinical segment, biomedical technology combined with the medical Internet of Things (IoT) brings great potential in management and prevention. Real-time health data collection and big data analysis help detect risks early, improve treatment effectiveness and reduce long-term costs for the health system.

However, the sustainable advantage will belong to startups that not only own the technology, but also understand the medical operating process and the actual context in Vietnam. The ability to integrate AI, Cloud, IoT with the needs of doctors and patients, as well as cost and legal constraints, will determine the level of practical application of the solution.

Notably, digital transformation of healthcare towards the "smart hospital" model is being strongly promoted by the State. Digitizing and connecting medical record data (EMR/EHR), along with smart management and payment systems, is opening up great space for startups to provide technology platforms and infrastructure, creating a foundation to improve management efficiency and quality of medical services in the long term.

9. After the post-Covid period of rapid growth, many healthtech models are having to adjust towards efficiency. How do you assess this “revaluation” – and what will be the medical models capable of attracting capital in the next 3–5 years?

After the hot growth period of 2020–2022 thanks to the impact of the pandemic, the Healthtech sector is entering a "revaluation" cycle, shifting from a growth-at-all-cost mindset to prioritizing efficiency, sustainability and long-term viability. This is a necessary purification process as the market becomes more mature and models that lack a substantive foundation are gradually eliminated.

In the next 3–5 years, the Healthtech businesses that are likely to succeed will be those that simultaneously solve three core problems: controlling costs, improving patient experience, and deeply integrating with traditional medical systems.

Hybrid care model - combining online services and direct medical examination and treatment - is forecast to become a mainstream trend. This model meets the need for continuous care, while maintaining patient trust through offline medical touch points such as hospitals, clinics or pharmacies, especially in the form of O2O (Online to Offline).

In addition, chronic disease management solutions and online specialised medical services are emerging as a sustainable direction, consistent with the trend of population aging and the rise of non-communicable diseases. Long-term monitoring, early intervention and remote care models are considered more effective than short-term medical examination and treatment services.

The B2B Healthtech trend is also increasingly clear, focusing on solutions to help hospitals and clinics optimize operations, automate processes and digitalize management. As cost pressures increase, medical facilities prioritize internal efficiency over simply expanding patient capacity.

AI and medical data analysis will play a central role in the next phase. From just being experimental, AI platforms in diagnosis, risk analysis and clinical decision support are gradually becoming the core infrastructure of medical enterprises, with value lying in the ability to deploy on real data and integrate into daily operating processes.

Finally, technology related to longevity and rehabilitation also opens up new growth potential, with solutions to support the elderly, home recovery and early diagnosis, meeting the need to improve quality of life in the context of an aging population.

10. From an investor perspective, what are the indicators or signals that a digital health model has passed the "testing" stage to become a scalable model?

When evaluating a digital health model that has gone through the initial testing phase and is ready to scale, investors don't just look at short-term revenue. What is more important is whether the model really creates sustainable value, both in terms of treatment effectiveness and the ability to deploy on a large scale.

A key sign is when a digital health solution is no longer just convincing with "ideas" or technology, but proves specific "results", such as improving treatment quality, saving costs or improving operational efficiency for medical facilities. At the same time, the model must be technically replicable, easy to deploy to many different hospitals and clinics, and have a clear economic problem, with actual commercial contracts showing that the larger the scale, the better the financial efficiency.

11. For biotech and companies that own core technology, this is a long-term and high-risk playground. How would a fund like VinaCapital Ventures evaluate between a “deeptech” startup with no revenue and a model with clear cash flow?

For core technology fields such as deeptech or biotech, we see this as a long-term game, requiring patience and a very disciplined portfolio approach. The fact that the startup has no revenue is not an exclusion factor, if the technology, team and future application potential are convincing enough.

However, the fund will not make extreme bets on any model. Instead, there is a balanced approach, allocating capital appropriately between models with cash flow and core technology projects, to ensure the resilience of the entire portfolio against the inherent risks of venture capital.

12. In the context that Ho Chi Minh City is placing high hopes on innovation as a new growth driver, if you look to the next 5–10 years, what do you expect this venture capital fund to leave the clearest "imprint" on the ecosystem - not only in the number of deals, but in the way the market operates and creates value?

In the long term, I expect the fund's biggest impression will not only lie in the number of deals or the scale of investment capital, but in contributing to shaping a new way of operating the venture capital market in Vietnam.

The fund can serve as a platform launchpad where bold ideas, ambitious technology businesses and long-term capital flows meet in a transparent and disciplined framework. If done well, the fund will help build market confidence, standardize the way capital flows to innovation and create the foundation for a more sustainable venture capital ecosystem in the future.

Thank you!