After successfully leading the Series D funding round of e-wallet app Momo in January, Goodwater said the Fund considers Vietnam a core market for investment in Southeast Asia.

US-based VC firm Goodwater Capital was established in 2014 and is currently worth up to $ 733.5 million (according to Crunchbase). The VC focuses on tech startups, including Facebook, Coupang and Kakao.

In January 2021, Goodwater led the Series D funding round with an estimated value of over $100 million for the Momo e-wallet application. Goodwater Capital recently participated in a $3 million seed round for Vietnam-based startup Nano Technologies, which is backed by the Y Combinator startup program.

Besides Momo and Nano Technologies, Goodwater Capital also invested an undisclosed amount in Kilo, a B2B e-commerce startup, in a seed round.

These deals prove Goodwater is betting big on Vietnam’s burgeoning fintech startup ecosystem.

What factors make Vietnam attractive for investment?

When it entered the Asian market, Goodwater had a successful start in Korea. Kakao and Coupang have grown into public companies worth $45 billion and $80 billion, respectively. Since then, the VC has found that the startup ecosystem outside of Silicon Valley is as dynamic, strong and developed as the startup ecosystem in the US.

Regarding Vietnam, Mr. Eric Kim, co-founder and manager at Goodwater Capital, said that the first potential for Vietnam to be noticed by the Fund is a market of 100 million people with a rapidly growing middle class and strong penetration of mobile phones.

“Vietnam is a unique market,” commented Eric Kim in an interview with DealStreetAsia.

In addition, the VC is also impressed with the business global spirit in Southeast Asia and Vietnam entrepreneurs. Therefore, the investment activities in Vietnam take place very naturally.

 “What we appreciate about Vietnam and companies like Momo is that they really serve their end customers in a unique way – and are solving multiple needs. We’re impressed with the entrepreneurs who lead these businesses – after all – good entrepreneurs make great products. That’s why we invest more and more in Vietnam,” Kim said.

Opportunities for technology startups to find foreign investors 

According to Mr. Kim, the Fund is very interested in the vision of the entrepreneurs. Creativity and difference will bring a lot of potential.

“As investors, when we look at companies like Kilo, Nano or Momo, we value the long-term vision of the business founder. That vision is groundbreaking. As traditional companies [retailers, FMCG businesses] focus on profits and day-to-day operations, there is an opportunity for startups to add their solution to the ecosystem and serve consumers according to their needs. Differently,” said Eric Kim about the opportunity for tech startups.

According to Mr. Kim, in the field of e-payment, Momo is really pursuing a super-app strategy for financial services in Vietnam. They are innovating to bring more services to both end customers and merchants, from peer-to-peer payments, merchant review, booking services, ticketing or e-commerce transactions.

In particular, Mr. Eric Kim believes that if a company applies technology, they will have a way to grow and come up with a profitable business model in the long run.

Investment direction of Goodwater Capital in Vietnam

Going forward, Kim said the VC will also open opportunities in the areas of healthtech, edtech, social networking, transportation and housing.

He believes that the successful Coupang IPO in Korea is a positive sign for the entire Southeast Asian market, demonstrating the strength of capital markets in the region.

“An important lesson I gradually learned while working with companies like Kakao and Coupang in Korea, Xendit in Indonesia and Momo in Vietnam, is that you cannot underestimate the power of countries in the East. Asia and Southeast Asia”, Mr. Kim is optimistic about the market power of the countries in the world’s fastest growing region today.

Source: Deal Street Asia