Analysts say the ‘entrepreneurial movement’ consists of many investors who just follow the crowds to set up businesses, but have little understanding of what they need to do. 

There are many startups in technology

However, they noted that there is a new trend among youth – start ups in technology. Most of the projects are developed by well-trained young people with high ambitions.

Hung Tran, who won third prize at the 2014 Vietnam Talent Award for his Snap & See mobile app, has become a senior manager of Got IT, a leading startup in startup education overseas.

Truong Thanh Thuy, a young businesswoman, was featured in The Boss, a report broadcast on BBC World. Thuy is the developer of Whiteboard, a drawing app that helps users present their ideas on mobile devices, and Tappy, an app used for group interactions within a virtual community.

The majority of the units in the list of 18 most outstanding startups in 2016 were ones that developed and provided services on an internet platform.

The services are diverse, including healthcare (ViCare, Plasma Vietnam and mediThank), real estate, consumer, food service, home help, education, tourism and online sharing economy.

Some business models have caught the attention of the public. These include a made-in-Vietnam plasma technology machine that can heal wounds without antibiotics, the industrial robot system Robotics 3G by Truong Cong Toai, and Dobody, an app which points out difficult areas and shows what the areas need, so that donors can satisfy their needs

People also have been impressed by Perkfec, an app that helps connect workers and retain talent, developed by Nguyen Van Toan.

Perkfec has three major functions – recognizing, challenging and awarding. Every time a colleague fulfills a task well, the achievement is recorded and scores are given to encourage the colleague. Users can also give scores when receiving assistance from colleagues.

Analysts also noted a high number of startup ideas in the field of agriculture. Nguyen Phuong Nam has become well known for producing charcoal from rice husks, and making honeycomb coal, which is non-toxic and smoke-free.

At Techfest 2018, the national innovation day held in HCM City in late 2018, products featured included robot toys for children; ultra-light flying equipment used in agriculture to protect the environment and farmers’ health; functional prosthetic hands for the disabled and cosmetic prosthetics designed by Nguyen Trung Dung and group 4 freshmen in Hanoi.