On the morning of November 28, 2025, the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Creative Entrepreneurship organized the Announcement and Certification Ceremony for projects selected for the 2025 Startup Incubation and Acceleration Program. The event is the opening activity in a series of programs to promote the city's creative startup ecosystem in the pivotal year of 2025.
Attending the event were representatives of departments, branches, experts, jury, and leaders of startup support organizations. In particular, the presence of Mr. Le Hoa Nha - General Director of HVA Investment Joint Stock Company (Code: HVA) - showed a clear message: domestic investment enterprises are ready to accompany startups in a substantial way, not only with financial resources but also with the ability to connect, create programs and operational discipline.
The numbers speak for themselves – and the value underneath
This year's selection program recorded 462 applications in 6 key areas, from Fintech, GIC 2025, Innovation Quest 2025, Innoculture 2025, Ednovation 2025 to Gov.Star 2025. After rigorous screening, 287 eligible projects entered the competition round and 108 excellent projects were awarded certificates to officially receive support. The stage structure is designed realistically: 39 pre-incubation projects, 64 incubation projects and 5 acceleration projects, corresponding to different needs of product mentoring, market testing and scaling.
Behind the numbers is a “serious but warm” working method: a transparent selection process, specific feedback for each team, and clear requirements on progress milestones. This is the environment that HVA pursues when participating in the ecosystem: considering startups as “seeds”, the program as “land”, and the entire ecosystem from state agencies, incubators, investment funds, and partner businesses as “rains” that help the seeds sprout in the right season and in the right way.
Companionship role: from certification to implementation capacity
Not only stopping at the certificate, the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City affirmed that it will continue to support potential startups to access resources according to Resolution 20/2023/NQ-HDND on supporting innovative startups, while also playing the role of connecting investments. This is the key point: Vietnamese startups do not lack ideas, but need a mechanism to extend support from ideas to the market with the right people, the right job, and the right time.
In the role of a companion, HVA sees more clearly the importance of “growth discipline”: knowing how to choose a big enough problem, designing a sustainable revenue model, building a team with “muscle” to operate, and daring to try, dare to fail, dare to do it again. At HVA, teams with execution capacity and data thinking; technology only truly has meaning when packaged into a product that solves a specific problem, with customers willing to pay.
Fintech 2025: From Vision to Capacity
Fintech is not a random field with a high density of records and outstanding quality. Vietnam's digital financial system is shifting rapidly: digital payments are becoming more popular, the legal corridor is becoming clearer, and the need to integrate financial services into life contexts (commerce, education, healthcare, smart cities) is exploding. This is also the trend that HVA pursues: instead of following "trends", we look for teams that know how to quantify value, know how to apply data to reduce risks, improve experiences and expand profit margins over time.
The common destination of the ecosystem
Ho Chi Minh City aims to become an international innovation center by 2025-2030, with the digital economy accounting for 30-401T3T of GRDP, R&D spending reaching 2-31T3T of GRDP, and at least 4-51T3T of annual budget spending on science, technology, and digital transformation. This is not just a target, but a policy commitment to create traction for Vietnamese technology enterprises to reach out to the region.
Today’s certification ceremony is therefore a starting point: recognizing efforts, unlocking resources, and initiating a new development trajectory. HVA is proud to accompany this journey—as an investor, strategic partner, and “travel companion” of creative teams.
Conclusion
We would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, SIHUB and the Organizing Committee for trusting us and creating conditions for us to contribute a small part in a great journey. Thank you to the projects—for daring to go, daring to do, daring to try, daring to fail and daring to succeed.
HVA congratulates all the honored teams. Keep moving forward. Vietnam needs young people who know how to dream and dare to act. HVA will continue to accompany you to turn vision into capacity, turn products into businesses, and turn businesses into sustainable values for the community.
