We established a partnership with the €11 million ($12.2 million) Finland-Vietnam Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), which accelerates growth for startups originating in Vietnam and is supported by the Governments of Vietnam (Ministry of Science and Technology) and Finland (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) until 2018.

During the two-month Training of Trainers (ToT) program, we provided local market context for the international trainers who came to lead 12 Vietnamese Innovation Champions from the private and public sectors in Vietnam through their custom program. Subjects included lean startup methodologies, effectuation, and product development in sessions, workshops, and classwork. These activities were followed by a one-week Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) Bootcamp for 14 high-growth and innovative companies and four system developers (a consortium of three or more local organizations developing training, incubation, or acceleration services) across Vietnam. We operated as qualified participant-observers during this training portion.

Additionally, we led in-person outreach and relationship management on behalf of the Finland-Vietnam Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) with more than 35 startup incubators, accelerators, and/or coworking spaces in Europe (Helsinki, Tallinn, Berlin, Paris, and Geneva) and North America (San Francisco, New York City, and Mexico City) in order to develop suitable market-entry pipelines for the IPP portfolio teams.

We introduced, proposed, and promoted activities between the National Agency for Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Commercialization Development (NATEC), a body within Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and potential innovation partners in the United States.

Other activities included different kinds of cross-sector and inter-governmental outreach as well. Our relationship with MOST also includes having participated in complementary delegations to other countries, as well as collaborating on enterprise ecosystem events such as Techfest Vietnam.

And for the private sector we are helping to create the next generation of Vietnamese companies by working with startups to localize/develop product features for their target market; refine their business models; and to build and leverage relationships across borders.

There’s a lot of opportunity in Southeast Asia, in particular, Vietnam: favorable demographics, consistent economic growth, untapped markets, and increasing purchasing power. However, many companies don’t know much about Vietnam but want to learn more about this market to do business here. (And are interested in expanding to the rest of Indochina as well.)

We assist foreign companies and organizations that are looking to enter Vietnam or already have a presence here and want to become more effective and efficient in the Vietnamese market. Our services include advising newcomers to Vietnam’s complex ecosystem, connecting them to the appropriate local partner, or by directly partnering with them for special projects. Let’s do it together.

If you’d like to learn more about opportunities in Vietnam, then please email info@gktagroup.com for more information.