On August 12 in Da Nang, city leaders held a working session with the innovative startup community to strengthen connections, listen and solve challenges that startups are facing in their journey to commercialize their products.
The dialogue was attended by Mr. Ho Quang Buu – Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee, and Mr. Pham Ngoc Sinh – Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, along with representatives of business incubators, investment funds, universities, colleges and many typical startups. The topic “Finding output for startup products” was considered the focus, reflecting the urgent needs of the Danang startup ecosystem in the current period.
Current situation and bottlenecks of startups in Da Nang
Da Nang is considered one of the localities with a vibrant startup ecosystem with young, creative human resources and investment interest from many sides. However, after the incubation and initial support phase, many startups still have difficulty determining their development roadmap, especially finding specific outputs for their products or business models.
The lack of connection with potential customers means that many solutions are not applied in practice, potential products cannot be brought to market, and investment funds are in a difficult position without a divestment mechanism. This leads to a situation where businesses are “stuck” between ideas and the market, investors have difficulty recovering capital, and the government has difficulty evaluating the effectiveness of policies supporting innovation.
Solution from HVA Group and FundGo: Three strategic output directions
Faced with this reality, HVA Group and FundGo Danang Creative Startup Investment Fund have proposed three main output directions for startups, which can be applied immediately in Danang if there is synchronous coordination between the government, investment funds, consulting units and the business community.
- Selling solutions: Directly provide local departments, branches and businesses with products and services that meet actual needs.
- Continue to raise capital: Mobilize more financial resources, expand market, increase scale to create sustainable cash flow
- M&A or divestment: Sell the company, merge, or spin-off to optimize benefits for founders and investors
This model is widely applied around the world and has proven effective in helping startups overcome the deadlock stage and move towards successful commercialization.
Promoting Danang's innovative startup ecosystem
Opinions at the meeting also focused on creating a stable consumption infrastructure for start-up products, including support for arranging display spaces in densely populated areas, reducing costs for participating in trade fairs and exhibitions, preferential land rental for factory construction, as well as expanding distribution channels into supermarket systems and large markets. OCOP products, handicrafts, green technology and environmentally friendly products need to be prioritized for promotion to increase recognition and revenue.
At the same time, forming a network of angel investors, investment fund alliances, expanding creative spaces both online and offline, developing a mentor network and building a mechanism to prioritize the use of startup products in state agencies are also emphasized as sustainable solutions.
New direction for Da Nang startup products
The meeting opened up an open and substantive dialogue space, creating a premise for Da Nang startup products to gradually conquer the domestic market, aiming for export and affirming their position on the regional startup map. The companionship of HVA Group and FundGo not only brings specific solutions to the output problem, but also contributes to creating motivation for the Da Nang innovative startup ecosystem to develop strongly, sustainably and integrate deeply with the global market.
Commitment to action from HVA Group and FundGo
HVA Group and FundGo affirmed their readiness to participate in the pilot implementation of the output mechanism for startups in Da Nang, with a commitment to provide comprehensive resources including investment capital, product consulting and domestic and foreign market connections. Both units will accompany with a spirit of transparency, responsibility, and connection to the common development goals of the city.
In addition, HVA Group and FundGo will coordinate with corporations, businesses and government agencies to periodically propose at least one practical ordering "problem" every month, with a mechanism to protect ideas and select suitable startups to implement the solution.
