Alibaba-backed fund bets $50m on Vietnam ‘new retail’ group

Ficus isn’t well-known in Southeast Asia. But the company, which holds interests across retail, logistics, and technology ventures, is set to become a major player in Vietnam and perhaps the wider region.

Its founders have impressive pedigrees. Ficus, which is registered in Singapore, is chaired by Dinh Anh Huan, who started Thegioididong (or Mobile World), Vietnam’s leading electronics retailer. Dinh sold his shares around the time the firm listed in 2014, making him a millionaire.

Since then, Mobile World’s revenue has multiplied, hitting US$2.1 billion for the first half of this year.

Dinh Anh Huan, founder of Seedcom and Ficus / Photo credit: Haravan

Ficus’ CEO, meanwhile, is Nguyen Hoanh Tien, the former vice president of operations and ecommerce at VNG, Vietnam’s first unicorn.

The team has attracted smart money, too. EWTP Capital, a US$600 million fund backed by Alibaba and Ant Financial, has recently pumped US$50 million into Ficus through its Singapore entity, Redefine Capital Fund, public filings seen by Tech in Asia and VentureCap Insights show.

The venture fund shares its name with an entity called eWTP, or electronic world trading platform. First proposed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma in 2016, eWTP aims to hasten the inclusion of small enterprises in digital cross-border trade, sort of like a World Trade Organization for ecommerce.

The head honchos at eWTP Capital are, of course, Alibaba veterans. Its chairman, Yongfu Yu, founded mobile internet browser company UCWeb, which was bought by Alibaba at a valuation of over US$3.8 billion.

Yu had been adamant that UCWeb was not for sale, but several meetings with Ma changed his mind. “We share the same vision and the same dream,” he said.

He then turned into a key figure within Alibaba, becoming the CEO of its digital advertising arm then the CEO of its digital media and entertainment business.

Yongfu Yu, founder of UCWeb

EWTP Capital’s chief financial officer – who is also a director at Ficus – is Dawei Jiang, who was the head of finance at Ant’s payment platform Alipay.

Neither eWTP Capital nor Ficus have responded to requests for comment.