NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Vietnam is emerging as a technology market of note in Asia. Weeks after U.S. VC firm 500 Startups announced a fund for the country, Vietnam-based fintech company Momo has landed a $28 million investment round from banking giants Standard Chartered (SCB) and Goldman Sachs.

Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), the PE arm of SCB, put in $25 million to lead the round, while Goldman, which invested $5.7 million back in 2013, added a further $3 million.

Momo offers two services in Vietnam: a mobile wallet and payment app, launched in tandem with SCB last year, and a “branch-less” banking service for those without a traditional bank account. The company claims to have 2.5 million customers, one million of whom use the e-wallet.

Vietnam is picking up attention as tech market. Smartphone ownership is growing briskly among its population of 90 million while, with one-quarter of the population aged under 25, there’s real potential for disruptive technology to gain mainstream attention.