March 21, 2020, the Kick-off of VietChallenge – the competition for startups around the world – has officially started the fifth season at Deluxe Service Office in Hanoi. The contest will be jointly conducted by the Vietnam Student Youth Association in the United States, Hanoi Youth Union and National Program 844 of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam. Thanks to the support of Deluxe Service Office for the location and Alobase for the technology, the Kick-off event was successfully conducted.
This fifth season of Vietchallenge 2020 marks many positive changes such as pairing people with respect to different areas, launching the Equity Crowdfunding Platform (ECP) the first time for startups in Vietnam, debuting two new events are The Startups Arena 100 and Vietnam Startups Championship in America.
Final round of VietChallenge 2019 at MIT University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
After the first four seasons, Vietchallenge has impressed numerous Vietnamese startups from all over the world and received credits for being the pioneer in creating springboards for young entrepreneurs to launch their startups. In general, there are over 800 applications sent to Vietchallenge from 21 countries to compete for the desired reward, which is up to $200,000 ($100,000 is cash not shared), connects the investment approximately $8,000,000 and creates over 10,000 job opportunities all over the world. The establishment of Vietchallenge has been engaged along with a crucial mission; actualizing business ideas of entrepreneurs in order to resolve the posed challenges of Vietnam’s economy, as well as the World in the era of 4.0 revolution. This mission has paved the way for VietChallenge to connect Vietnamese startups with professional startup leaders in the United State and help them fetch practical experience in order to successfully launch their businesses in the era of economic integration.
VietChallenge Kick Off 2020 - Hanoi on 21/03/2020
Most of the startups that took part in VietChallenge such as Medlink (champion 2019), VIOT (champion 2018), Tubudd, Smilee, VDES, VVN AI, are harvesting many achievements in their career paths.
Thanks to the contribution of valued examiners who have been accompanied with the organization through prior contests, and the professional investors, as well as the world-class advisors from America and Vietnam; Vietchallenge 2020 is expected to be a hyper energetic and informative season for Vietnamese entrepreneurs.
Specifically, on 12/2019, VietChallenge signed a contract with Republic.co, a company in America, which owns and operates the equity crowdfunding platform for startups. This cooperation will help the participants access the capital sources of American investors, when Republic officially becomes Vietchallenge’s partner in this season.
Not only partners with other trusted organizations in Vietnam for startups such as Saigon Innovation Hub, startups incubator OI, Startups Vietnam Foundation; VietChallenge is also one of the organizations whose mission is supporting the National Innovation Initiative of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam.
Ms Mai Phan Zymaris (Founder, President of VietChallenge, the second one counted from the right) at the event " Connecting and leveraging resources to develop innovative startups ",Ho Chi Minh City, 12/2019.
The cooperation signing ceremony of VietChallenge and Saigon Innovation HUB on 16/12/2019
VietChallenge 2020 will nominate the Champion with the reward up to $50,000. Specifically, all startups will go through listed rounds as below:
March 21st, 2020 – April 30th, 2020: Application submission
May 1st, 2020 – 15th May, 2020: Primary examination
May 20th, 2020: Announcing semi-final teams
May 20th, 2020 – July 1st, 2020: Mentorship 1-1 program for all startups
July 1st, 2020 – July 3rd, 2020: Semi-final round
Because of COVID-19, VietChallenge will organize the entire Mentorship 1-1 program, as well as Semi-Final online. All teams will pitch their projects online to the Council of Examiners, which includes investors and world-class experts.
July 4th, 2020: Announce which team will get into the Final Round
July 4th, 2020 – August 27th, 2020: Mentorship 1-1 program for teams that get into the Final Round
August 28th and 29th, 2020: Final round of VietChallenge in Hanoi and The Startups Arena 100. Vietchallenge will decide how to organize the events according to the status of the COVID-19 that time.
August 30th, 2020 – October 15th, 2020: Mentorship 1-1 program.
October 21st, 2020 – October 26th, 2020: Top teams of the Final round in Hanoi will participate in the Vietnam Startups Championship (C1 Startups) in America.
Medlink, Champion of VietChallenge 2019, received a $25,000 cash reward.
On top of it, to quickly adapt with the rapid changes of business environment, VietChallenge 2020 will bring to the startup ecosystem of Vietnam many new features as below:
Equity Crowdfunding Platform (ECP) – the first platform for startups in Vietnam - Jóng Ventures (jong.ventures, jong.com.vn, jong.vn). Being inspired by Thánh Gióng in Vietnam folktales, Jóng will help startups raise money directly and quickly from the community. This promises a new investing channel for individuals and organizations in Vietnam. Jóng’s platform was built by Vietnam information technology engineers and excellent security experts, who are supervised by Vietnam technology experts who are living in the USA and working for F.A.N.G, as well as for Republic.co. Moreover, Jóng is operated on Amazon Web Services; therefore, the security and the stability are extremely absolute.
The interface of ECP jong.ventures
Registration by field. All startups will register by different fields 1) Technology, 2) Medical and Healthcare service, 3) General fields and Consumer goods. Different fields will be consulted by different experts, different investors, as well as different examiners. This gives startups a better and specific perspective in their own field.
The Startups Arena 100. This is a brand-new platform in which Vietnam hasn’t had before. This platform will directly connect top 100 startups in Vietnam with 100 representatives of investment funds, startup incubators, as well as domestic and international angel investors. All startups need to go through due diligence before the event. By this way, the investors will have an overview and basis to determine whether they would like to invest before they come to the event. The event will be organized at the same time with the Final Round of Vietchallenge in Vietnam, expected in August 2020. Both crucial events will be co-operated by Vietchallenge and Securities Joint Stock Company SSI.
Event Vietnam Startups Championship (C1 Startups) in America. The best teams from other startup competitions will participate in the Vietnam Startups Championship in America, expected in October, 2020. The prediction is the best startups from the contest Viettel Advanced Solutions Track, Techfest and other contests will participate in “Final C1 Cup” of this Startups Vietnam. The teams will have the opportunity to practice capital raising skills, update the latest knowledge, listen to advice on applying for funding, human resource management, organizing and meeting potential investors in the US.
Primary examination. To raise money directly from Jóng as well as participate in The Startups Arena 100, all startups will have to go through due diligence. This is a crucial step which helps startups to standardize their profiles to work with hedge funds, as well as being an important basis for hedge funds to assess startups and fund them. The appraisal process is carried out by financial and legal experts with long-term expertise and experience.
Mentorship Program 1-1. The 6-month mentoring program gives startups not only received financial support, they also are given dedicated guidance from experts in their field. Experts in fields such as computer science, artificial intelligence, automation robots, and huge data will support each group to quickly overcome the difficulties they encounter. The Mentorship program gives teams a chance to meet and learn directly from leading experts in the US.
“The quality of the examiners and the mentor board of Vietchallenge are truly amazing. During and after the contest, we have received several invaluable advice, as well as the opportunities to be invested by America and even Australia funds. Vietchallenge’s organizers have constantly connected us with the Boston startup ecosystem even when the contest finished. Currently, we have been funded over $245,000 and we are focusing on the R & D stage.” Mr Viet Nguyen, Managing Director of the current Champion of VietChallenge 2018, confined.
The application terminal for season fifth of VietChallenge 2020 will be officially opened on 21st March 2020. For the prospective teams who keep score at home, right now you can follow up all the information and the application form through website: https://vietchallenge.org/ or http://jong.ventures/
VietChallenge truly thanks to all the sponsors and partners, who have accompanied with us for 5 years: Securities Joint Stock Company SSI, Military Industry - Telecommunications Group Viettel, Ortholite Company, BDA Partners, VietJet Airlines, Hanoi Youth Union, National Program 844 of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam National Innovation Center, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam Embassy in the United States, Saigon Innovation Hub, Startups Incubator OI, UP Co-working Space, Deluxe Service Office, Alobase, Sơn KOVA, Startups Vietnam Foundation, National Channel of Vietnam VTV, VTC channel, Nguoi Dong Hanh Site, Vietnam News agency, Tuoitre online, Thanh nien Newspaper,...
VietChallenge - Vietnam Student Youth Association in the United States - Hanoi Youth Union
Website: www.vietchallenge.org
Email: contact@vietchallenge.org
Follow this page to keep up with the newest news from Vietchallenge: https://www.facebook.com/vietchallenge.org
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For more details, please contact:
1. Mr. Nguyen Minh Cuong – Director of VietChallenge Vietnam: 0988 150 322
2. Ms. Ly Diem Huyen - Coordinator: 0978 159 330