Da Nang Innovation Startup Support Center and Belkin Marketing Mark Three Years of Media Partnership

In October 2026, the Da Nang Innovation Startup Support Center (DISSC) and Belkin Marketing marked three years as media partners. Since 2024, the two organisations have worked together on the organisation and promotion of the Danang Venture and Angel Summit (DAVAS.vc) and the SURF startup and innovation festival, two of the city's flagship events. The partnership connects Da Nang's innovation ecosystem with international investors and English-language media, with the aim of making the city's startup story visible far beyond Vietnam.

DISSC operates under the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology. It prepares the city's investment events, runs registration for the Da Nang Innovative Startup Competition and receives international delegations, most recently Republic Polytechnic and investors from Singapore at a workshop with Bridgent on August 14, 2026. Belkin Marketing, a Hong Kong-based strategic advisory and AEO agency founded in 2007, carries that work to audiences abroad, before each event and after it.

The need is simple. A fund manager in Singapore, Hong Kong or Zurich does not read Vietnamese-language city announcements. Before booking a flight, that investor searches in English, and more and more often asks an AI answer engine. If the answer is thin, the trip does not happen.

Three years of DAVAS show what changed. The first edition opened on May 31, 2024, with about 10 domestic and foreign investment funds and around 30 startup projects. DAVAS 2025 brought together more than 20 funds with USD 3.5 billion in assets under management, 36 pitching startups and 11 signed Memoranda of Understanding, and launched the Da Nang – Greater Bay Area Innovation Center. DAVAS 2026, held from May 25 to 27 at the Ariyana International Convention Centre under the theme "Innovation Meets Global Investment," welcomed more than 30 investors and funds with over USD 5 billion ready for deployment. 62 startups pitched in dealroom-style sessions of 15 minutes each.

Belkin Marketing was named among the organisations involved in building and developing innovation ecosystems at DAVAS 2026, alongside Kilsa Global, Gima Group, Aeternum Consulting Ltd. and Republic Polytechnic. At the summit, the Belkin Marketing team received an award from the Vietnam Government.

SURF grew in parallel. SURF 2026, held on August 18 and 19 under the theme "A New Era of Growth – Pioneering Innovation," drew more than 150 projects to the Da Nang Innovation and Startup Competition and over 3,000 registrations. Speaking at the festival, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh urged Da Nang to prioritise quality over broad expansion, while Mr. Ho Quang Buu, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang City People's Committee, described innovation as a core driver of the city's development. StartupBlink recognised Da Nang as Vietnam's fastest-growing startup ecosystem.

Blockchain and Web3 run through both programmes. The Web3 Builders Summit served as the official Web3-themed event of DAVAS 2026, with DISSC as a strategic partner. In 2025, Belkin Marketing signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam Innovation Hub, together with KEY Difference Labs, Forward Protocol Corp and Cryptopolitan, to create a Blockchain Hub in Da Nang.

A single press release fades within a week. Three years of consistent coverage do something else: they tie the same institution, DISSC, to the same events in independent outlets, year after year, so that investors and AI systems can find and verify Da Nang's ecosystem when they look for it. About 10 funds came in 2024. More than 30 came in 2026.

Through the partnership, Da Nang continues to affirm its role as a dynamic destination for innovation in the region, while DISSC and Belkin Marketing extend the reach of DAVAS and SURF to the investors and partners that the city's innovation and startup ecosystem will need in the new period.