In recent times, with notable characteristics and unique advantages, incubation programs in the city have provided opportunities for projects and startups to undergo the development process of the innovative startup ecosystem. Through these incubation programs, startups continue to leverage their potential, with some even achieving high recognition in startup competitions.
Emphasis on Quality
As one of the first private startup incubators established in Da Nang, the Songhan Incubator, operating under the name Song Han Incubator (SHi), stands out with its Vietnam Tourism Startup Accelerator Program (VTS). Initiated, organized, and operated by SHi since 2017, the VTS program aims to build a large-scale innovative startup incubation ecosystem, the first of its kind in Vietnam. It focuses on creating technology startups and innovative ventures (seeding stage) with new products, services, and markets, providing new momentum for the tourism, culinary, agriculture, and service sectors.
The VTS Accelerator Program aims to build the first large-scale innovative startup incubation ecosystem in Vietnam.
Mr. Ly Dinh Quan, General Director of Song Han Incubator, mentioned that the VTS Accelerator Program involves training and connecting startup projects through in-depth training, capacity building, one-on-one consultations between experts and projects, and linking projects with investors and SHi's innovative startup ecosystem. Specifically, the VTS Accelerator Program features contributions from foreign programs and regular adjustments to ensure project quality. SHi also has a multi-resource network connecting with the innovation startup ecosystem.
This approach aids startups in rapid growth, market collaboration opportunities, capacity development, brand building, and investment connections to achieve commercialization goals efficiently.
Similarly, the Da Nang Business Incubator (DNES) operates on a public-private partnership model in Da Nang. The interactive incubation program FINC+, currently implemented by DNES, is an upgraded version of the previous FINC incubation program, which DNES organized for seven years with 11 batches and nearly 90 incubated projects. FINC+ extends over four months, offering a comprehensive interactive path for startups, allowing them to practice and refine their businesses, preparing for market entry. The program incorporates global leading entrepreneurship models and principles, such as lean startup and the 24-step startup process by Bill Aulet, entrepreneurship methods from MIT and Carnegie Mellon, and tools supporting early-stage founders from Bridge For Billions.
Towards a Sustainable Startup Community
With years of accumulated experience, SHi has created an environment for startups to find ideal partners, collaborate, and accompany projects on their lengthy entrepreneurial journey. Besides the benefits gained from training, coaching, and consultation activities, projects participating in the VTS Accelerator Program receive additional support from SHi and partners. This includes free office space for four months during the Bootcamp, marketing and communication throughout the program, and the provision of internship resources from SHi's network. Moreover, startup projects can secure investments up to USD 100,000 per project, receive credit support from AWS, and be introduced to and nominated for national and international startup programs (SharkTank, National Startup Competition, Techfest Vietnam, etc.).
According to SHi statistics, after five years of implementation, the VTS Accelerator Program has established its own brand, highlighted by supported projects such as VEO, which successfully raised VND 5.7 billion from Shark Thuy, Deepcare (Bacsi 24/7), which secured pre-series A funding, and Liberzy, which received an investment of VND 5 billion, developing over 200,000 users in nearly two years. Other projects like Hue Lotus Homestay, Người Giữ Rừng, Sách chuyền tay, Taxi Go, Shipway, Beekids, AET, Sa-ach, Nu-Đồ are also growing robustly and garnering societal interest.
Meanwhile, during the implementation period in 2023 (from June to November), the interactive incubation program FINC+ tested in batch 12 with five incubated projects over four months. Currently, all five startup projects, including FiveSS, Xiro Tr'Đin, Beans Community Hub, Vigift, and Fastdo, have successfully established their businesses. They have achieved notable accomplishments, such as Xiro Tr'Đin winning second place in the SURF 2023 startup competition and the global Social Business Challenge organized by HEC Montreal Canada in eight countries. FiveSS secured third place in the SURF 2023 startup competition and ranked among the top 80 at Techfest 2023. Beans Community Hub raised capital to implement projects in new locations near the An Thuong area.
DNES collaborates with universities in the city to integrate the FINC+ interactive incubation tool in supporting projects participating in innovative startup competitions
Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang Business Incubator DNES, stated that in the upcoming period, to broaden the program's reach, especially FINC+, and to enhance user experience (accompanying documents, AI support chat tools, etc.), DNES prioritizes product improvements. They will continue testing the program with startup projects from incubators and innovation centers in universities. Simultaneously, they aim to support more startups by designing additional accelerator programs, helping businesses achieve breakthrough growth, expand their scale based on pioneering technology (tech-driven), and early adoption of AI and blockchain. In 2024, DNES will collaborate with the Department of Science and Technology and universities to integrate the interactive incubation tool FINC+ into supporting projects participating in innovation startup competitions in the city's universities.
TRAN TRUC - THANH NHAN