IDG Blockchain invested in 3 Vietnamese startups

The IDG Capital Vietnam Blockchain investment fund announces investment in 3 promising startups.

Just two months after its launch, the IDG Capital Vietnam Blockchain investment fund has selected promising startups in the blockchain field to invest in.

With a mission to become a solid launchpad for potential startup enterprises, the IDG Capital Vietnam Blockchain (IDGCVB) fund recently announced its initial investment in 3 startup projects.

Launched on March 24, 2023, in Ho Chi Minh City, IDGCVB has a scale of $40 million USD and plans to invest in 30 startups, with a maximum investment of $2 million USD for each project.

Mr. David Tran, General Partner of IDGCVB, stated that they prioritize investing in early-stage startups; even startups that do not yet have a complete product, only having an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The fund will support startups in terms of strategic consulting, legal matters, corporate governance, and seeking further funding opportunities.

The startups that IDGCVB has invested in this round include:

First, Oxalus: An integrated NFT platform aimed at addressing issues faced by NFT exchange platforms, such as fragmentation of NFT marketplaces or excessively high gas fees. In addition, Oxalus also integrates analysis tools to help users make more accurate buying and investing decisions. With just under a year of operation, Oxalus has attracted over 600,000 Web3 users.

Second, Next Vision Capital (NVC): A startup operating in the financial technology (Fintech) sector. NVC provides bridge loan solutions, helping individual customers and businesses access necessary capital quickly while waiting for long-term funding or other financial sources. In the initial stage, NVC focuses on solving bridge financial problems for real estate transactions, facilitating successful and speedy transactions.

Third, Centic: A startup focusing on data analysis and AI to create a scoring and ranking system for wallets, similar to credit rating accounts in banking. Additionally, Centic analyzes data to rank protocols or applications. Centic’s credit scoring system has significant potential for application by financial institutions, and credit agencies to obtain more customer information in the Web3 environment, making more accurate decisions by combining with traditional ranking data.

Speaking further about IDGCVB’s startup selection criteria, Mr. David Tran explained that in traditional startups, investors mainly focus on business models, market factors, customers, cash flow generation, etc., and technology is just a tool. However, with blockchain startups, blockchain itself is already an important part of the business model. If investors misjudge the blockchain factor, the entire business model will be affected.

“Therefore, our criteria are whether the startup is strong in blockchain technology, whether the team can grasp the essence of this technology to create breakthroughs in the market or not. In the world, blockchain technology is still in the development stage rather than mature like artificial intelligence (AI) technology, so the founding team must have extremely good knowledge of blockchain” emphasized Mr. David Tran.

Regarding the issue of startup ownership after investment, representatives of IDGCVB stated that the fund does not have the idea of ​​owning a high percentage of shares to “control” startups according to the investor’s wishes. Once the capital is invested, the fund does not deeply interfere with the operation of startups because it trusts the founding team it has chosen.

In the difficult economic period and the trend of tightening investment capital as it is today, representatives of IDGCVB affirmed that they have mobilized enough capital to be ready for disbursement, even if difficulties persist. “The issue is that we have to make investment decisions cautiously to protect the growth of the fund as well as the capital that investors have entrusted,” they said.