INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT
AND PORTAL
At the Vietnam Innovation and Private Capital Summit in Hanoi on April 22, Vinnie Lauria, founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures, explained why groups like his were so interested in Vietnam.
“It is a country filled with people who are eager to learn, innovate, and most importantly, build businesses, which is why companies like Nvidia, Google, Nasdaq, and institutional investors like Warburg Pincus and MUFG, are here today. They recognise what is happening here and what is ahead,” said Lauria.
“Vietnam was less than 10 per cent of our investments when I moved here three years ago. It is now a third of all of our investments and I want to continue that for the next few years,” Lauria added.
Golden Gate is looking for tech, software, and AI activities that might be displacing existing industries here in Vietnam, he said. It was one among more than 200 delegates from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Oman, and the US to join the event. Others included Do Ventures, CDH Investments, Insignia Ventures, Tekton Ventures, VinaCapital Ventures.
Vy Le, chair of Vietnam Private Capital Agency (VPCA) and general partner at Do Ventures, said, “Vietnam has graduated from promise to potential. This is our defining decade. Amid global uncertainty, Vietnam stands out as the destination for durable growth, digitally native innovation, and forward-thinking policy. The capital is ready. The time is now.”
VPCA was co-founded by a group of private capital industry leaders last year with the aim of fostering entrepreneurship in Vietnam through venture capital and private equity, with a goal to drive $35 billion in private investments by 2035.
According to investors and experts, Vietnam now boats an ecosystem rewired for scale. From capital market reforms to international financial centres and blockchain regulation, Vietnam’s financial infrastructure is maturing at speed. These reforms are creating clearer exit pathways, de-risking foreign capital, and positioning Vietnam for an investment-grade rating in the near term.
The country is also in the middle of a super cycle of infrastructure investment. With nearly $500 billion in ongoing foreign direct investment, including mega projects from Samsung, Intel, Lego, and Foxconn, Vietnam is not just a manufacturing hub, but a strategic node in the global supply chain.
Ben Sheridan, global head of Principal Investors at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), said, “Investors who understand Vietnam’s unique macroeconomic setup, and act with long-term conviction, can shape the next wave of Southeast Asian growth. We are entering a golden age for private capital in Vietnam.”
According to the Vietnam Private Capital & Innovation Report 2025 released at the event by VPCA, the National Innovation Centre (NIC), and BCG, Vietnam saw $2.3 billion deployed across 141 deals in 2024. Resilient deal activity, buoyed by fundamentals, signals continued investor confidence even as global venture and private equity flows softened.
The report reveals a perfect storm of opportunity, including 7.1 per cent real GDP growth in 2024, ahead of most Asian economies; a $1.1 trillion economy by 2035; $25 billion in foreign investment disbursed in 2024; a middle-class set to comprise 46 per cent of the population by 2030; a digital economy contributing 18.3 per cent of GDP, en route to 35 per cent by 2030.
BCG forecast that Vietnam is emerging as a hotbed for next-gen tech sectors like AI startups, agritech, and green technology.
NIC director Vu Quoc Huy said, “Vietnam’s growth story today is deeply intertwined with our innovation agenda. We are not just investing in infrastructure, but in future-ready ecosystems where digital talent, deep tech, and international capital converge. This is a pivotal moment to build Vietnam into Asia’s most agile innovation economy.”
