Incubating the Seeds of Innovation: Deep Technology Taking Root in Vietnam

Learnings from the Awarding Ceremony of Tech Planter in Vietnam 2022

Culminating the Tech Planter in Vietnam 2022, Leave a Nest Philippines visited Ho Chi Minh City to present awards to the winners. The Awarding Ceremony took place in the BLOCK71 Saigon Building at 72 Nguyễn Cơ Thạch, P, District 2, Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam on August 7, 2022 from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening. 

Several Judges and partners were also present including Hermes Management Founder, Ms. Ana Le My Nga and BLOCK71 Saigon Programme Manager Ms. Khanh Nguyen. Ms Ana spoke in her native Vietnamese to inspire the participants to pursue their chosen undertakings. Meanwhile, Ms. Khanh explained how BLOCK71 is helping the start-up community in Vietnam and invited the participants to connect with them to further grow both theirs and Leave a Nest’s ecosystem in Vietnam. Representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) also attended. Team mentors, Dr. Quan and Dr. Vo Thanh Hang, were present to support their teams and discuss the next steps of collaborations with them.

Leading to the event, visits to several universities and partners were also made to explore immediate and future collaborations, including for the 1st Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference Vietnam to be held in February 2023 (tentative). Leave a Nest met with key officials of HCMUT and Vietnam National University – International University (VNU-IU) and representatives of Rohto and Quest Ventures. The partners were not just receptive to proposals but were also very active in pursuing actual projects with Leave a Nest, post-Tech Planter. Through these meetings, Leave a Nest dove deeper to understand the current state of science and technology and its implementation in Vietnamese society. The challenges they are facing include the lack of funding in contrast to the demands of innovation and a lack of support especially to more deep-tech startups. Nonetheless, the potential there is limitless and Tech Planter in Vietnam 2022 just goes to show that the seeds of innovation are taking deep roots in the community. Leave a Nest, with its partners, is now taking action to incubate these seeds to grow and bear fruit for the development of Vietnam.

The Philippines’ and Vietnam’s startup ecosystems are similar, with the still inadequate support to deep tech innovators. However, one thing was made clear in this visit: cooperation can go along way to solve both countries' deep issues. This emphasizes the need to bridge the Philippines, Vietnam and the Leave a Nest Group’s other subsidiaries to further the goal of Advancing Science and Technology for Global Happiness.

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