In Vietnam, the challenge isn’t talent but mindset, says Vertex’s Genping Liu

*This article is adapted from * E27

Vietnam is fast emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) most compelling startup markets, but what’s driving investor conviction beyond the headlines?

In this interview, e27 speaks with Genping Liu, General Partner at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, to unpack how Vietnam is increasingly aligning with the firm’s long-standing investment thesis. From a strong STEM talent base and rising entrepreneurial ambition to a fragmented market ripe for disruption, the country presents unique opportunities for startups aiming to scale regionally and globally.

Liu also shares insights on sector trends, the shift from outsourcing to product innovation, evolving exit pathways, and the structural challenges founders must navigate. As Vietnam’s ecosystem matures, the conversation highlights both its growing strengths and the risks that could shape its next phase of growth.

How has Vertex’s investment thesis for SEA evolved to accommodate Vietnam’s rapid growth? What specific signals prompted you to increase focus on the market?

Our thesis has not changed much; we back businesses that can be regional champions or global leaders, with great founders. What has happened is that Vietnam fits our thesis increasingly well. The population here has a distinct profile: strong STEM education, an entrepreneurial hunger, and a domestic-first but increasingly export-oriented mindset that is embedded in the culture.

The economy is also still more fragmented than those of Indonesia or the Philippines, with many gaps to fill, unlike those countries, where large family-owned conglomerates dominate. That fragmentation creates more room for startups to build and compete. Vietnam did not change our thesis. It matched it more closely, especially as the economy continues

Which subsectors (e.g. fintech, enterprise SaaS, AI, logistics, healthcare) are showing the most sustainable traction? Which of them are currently overhyped?

Our focus has been on consumer and technology, with a growing interest in AI. Both of our current Vietnam investments reflect that. Metub sits at the intersection of consumer and live commerce. Vietnam’s cultural and geographic proximity to China means the country adopted live commerce faster than most of its regional peers, and that tailwind has been real. Coolmate is a consumer brand thesis anchored in Vietnam’s vibrant textile manufacturing value chain, with a new generation of apparel products and a genuine global brand-building ambition.

We are actively looking at enterprise and AI opportunities due to the strong enterprise interest in adopting tech and a strong local engineering talent pool.

From an investor’s perspective, what unique competitive advantages do Vietnamese founders bring compared with peers in Indonesia, Singapore and India?

Two things stand out: the STEM education base and the entrepreneurial hunger.

Vietnamese culture resonates more with East Asian culture, with a strong focus on education, especially STEM education, as a practical choice. It is striking that Vietnamese families rank among the highest in the world for education spending, and Vietnam ranked 9th out of over 110 countries at the 66th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2025.

Vietnam underwent some of the most dramatic changes in the last 30 years of modern human history. Many of this generation of founders grew up in genuinely humble circumstances. They have experienced real material scarcity and built their ambition from it. The psychological momentum created is different from that of founders from more comfortable backgrounds. They tend to be hungrier, more resilient, and more ambitious.

How are local regulatory changes – particularly in payments, e-KYC and data protection – altering the opportunity and execution risk for fintech startups in Vietnam?

Compared to other markets in the region, fintech regulation in Vietnam is quite strict. That makes it a more challenging operating environment for fintech startups, even where the underlying market opportunity is large. Founders in that space need to be patient and work closely with regulators rather than move fast and hope for alignment later.

Capital is flowing in, but talent remains a constraint. How would you assess Vietnam’s talent pipeline for scaling software and AI companies, and what practical steps can founders take to close the gap?

Vietnam has enough engineering talent. The challenge is that the dominant mindset has historically been outsourcing or serving as an R&D hub for other international tech companies, building other people’s products rather than for your own. The transition from that to building original products for global markets takes time. India went through the same arc. IT outsourcing was known for decades before becoming a serious product and startup ecosystem. Vietnam is on that same trajectory, just earlier in the journey.

The seeds are already there. A new generation of Vietnamese founders is building gaming products, SaaS tools, and AI applications for the world. The ecosystem just needs time and patience.

For founders planning cross-border expansion, what common mistakes do Vietnamese startups make when moving into other Southeast Asian markets? What playbook has proven most effective?

Honestly, it is too early to draw firm conclusions. Across Southeast Asia, outside of Singapore, we have not yet seen enough examples of startups successfully building regional or global companies to identify a clear pattern of common mistakes. Our own Vietnam portfolio reflects that. Metub has not gone regional yet, and Coolmate is only just beginning that journey.

Regionally, there are also only a few successful regional winners like Grab. When we have more case studies, we will have a more grounded answer. We are still looking for pioneers who are building the playbook for the startup ecosystem.

How do you evaluate unit economics and monetisation paths in Vietnam, where consumer behaviours and ARPU can differ significantly from developed markets?

Vietnamese consumers are highly educated and calculative. They look hard for value and the best deal. Beyond that, the dynamics are not dramatically different from other markets in the region. Local consumers are very trendy and follow global consumption trends closely. The main adjustment compared to developed markets is spending power, which is lower, so the numbers look smaller in absolute terms, but the underlying consumer behaviour and decision-making logic is not fundamentally alien.

We evaluate unit economics the same way we do elsewhere. We just calibrate expectations to the local price points and cost structures that are realistic for the market.

Are there financing or exit structures (e.g. SPACs, strategic M&A, IPOs) that you believe will become more prominent for Vietnamese startups over the next three to five years? Why?

Over the next five years, M&A will likely remain the dominant exit route. Local regulators are actively working to develop the public markets, and we may start to see positive signals around IPO pathways in the coming years.

That story is not fully there yet, but it is moving in the right direction. We build our portfolio towards M&A and remain open-minded along the way.

What role should corporate venture capital firms, local conglomerates and government-backed programmes play in supporting Vietnam’s startup ecosystem without crowding out independent early-stage investors?

Singapore is a useful reference point. What built a vibrant early-stage ecosystem here was ensuring that early-stage investing remained a specialised, professional activity. Corporate VCs, conglomerates, and government programmes are better positioned as LPs or co-investors rather than leading early-stage rounds themselves, a model demonstrated by successful ecosystems worldwide.

Which Vertex-backed Vietnamese portfolio companies have outperformed expectations? What operational or market factors contributed to that outperformance?

Both Metub and Coolmate have been encouraging investments, each for different reasons. Metub’s growth has been driven by market dynamics. Vietnam adopted live commerce culture faster and more deeply than most other countries in the region, and that tailwind accelerated the business.

Coolmate’s performance has come down to execution and benefiting from a strong local supply chain, which is increasingly becoming a country advantage for Vietnam. The team has been built with discipline, and that has shown up consistently in the results.

How has Vertex’s cheque sizing and stage focus in Vietnam changed over the past three to five years? What evidence from your portfolio informed that shift?

It has not changed significantly. We invest primarily at Series A but will go in anywhere from seed to Series B, with a sweet spot of roughly US$2 to 8 million and a concentration around US$4 million to US$6 million. Vietnam has consistently fit within that framework.

Looking ahead, what are the three biggest risks that could stall Vietnam’s startup momentum? What should investors and founders do today to mitigate them?

The biggest risk is macro, specifically geopolitical and macroeconomic
uncertainty. Vietnam is an export-driven economy, which makes it more exposed to global trade disruptions than some of its peers. That is largely outside the control of any individual founder or investor, but it is the most significant systemic risk on the horizon.

The practical implication is that most companies today are still building primarily for the domestic Vietnam market. That is understandable, but founders with growth ambitions should be thinking more regionally or globally earlier in their journey. Diversifying market exposure across Southeast Asia reduces concentration risk and makes the business more resilient to shocks that hit any single economy.

The writer is General Partner, Vertex Ventures South-east Asia & India

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