Ascend Vietnam Ventures’ fund exceeds $50m target

Ascend Vietnam Ventures, a Vietnam-based VC firm that focuses on early-stage startups, has gone over its US$50 million fundraising target for AVV Alpha, its flagship fund.

Ascend Vietnam Ventures general partners Binh Tran (left) and Eddie Thai / Photo credit: Ascend Vietnam Ventures

The VC firm plans to invest from US$500,000 to US$2 million into each of 25 early-stage startups through AVV Alpha by 2023 and follow on with checks of up to US$5 million per company, according to a media announcement.

Ascend Vietnam is led by Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, who have invested in various firms, including NFT gaming unicorn Axie Infinity, edtech platform Elsa, and fintech firm Trusting Social.

So far, AVV Alpha has invested in 10 startups, including B2B ecommerce startup Kilo, ecommerce fulfillment platform T&C Logistics, and social commerce firm Mandu.

What attracts many founders to Vietnam is the country’s dynamism, accessibility, low cost of living, and quality engineering talent, according to Tran. “The likes of Axie Infinity, Elsa, and Trusting Social are by no means isolated successes,” he said.

See also: The pitfalls of Vietnam’s GameFi sensation

In addition, Ascend Vietnam has also launched women-founder initiative Shine in partnership with the Australian Government’s Investing in Women program.

Since its inception in early 2021, Shine has helped over 60 women entrepreneurs and executives advance their growth, develop their strategies for dealing with people, leadership, and capital, as well as expand their support network.