Business incubators in Da Nang are making every effort to offer support in many ways, including critical services that help local start-ups increase their chances of success, and move their projects forward.

Employees at Song Han Startup Incubation Center are working. Photo: M.Q

The Da Nang Hi-Tech Park General Service Center (DSC) continues its efforts to support graduation projects by helping their developers connect with domestic and foreign investors plus investment funds at both home and abroad, strengthening support for their projects, as well as safeguarding their businesses with legal essentials, stabilizing their products to grow their businesses after three years of its implementation of the city’s high-tech business incubation program for 5 graduation projects.

In particular, DSC has helped the ‘Treatment and recycling of solar batteries’ project receive USD 200,000 in funding from the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership (USASCP) and hire an financial advisor to help it make effective use of this funding.

In its post-incubation period in 2023, DSC will continue to support this project to provide workspace access to its developers in efforts to facilitate them to produce their first sample, as well as provide consulting for them to establish their own science and technology company.

Besides, DSC helped developers of the two selected projects namely "Developing nutritional products from Ngoc Linh ginseng" and "Nympha - The blue water lily" to connect with investors, as well as bring investors to visit and conduct surveys on the growing areas of the blue water lily and the tissue culture laboratory to develop products from Ngoc Linh ginseng. As a result, some investors expressed keen interest to invest in the two projects.

DSC’s Director Tu Thanh Thuy said that the center will give advice to the Authority of the Da Nang High-tech Parks and Industrial Parks to ask the municipal government to promulgate necessary mechanisms and policies in an attempt to improve the start-up environment and encourage hi-tech enterprises, thereby creating favorable conditions for the city to attract financing and resources for start-ups to ensure their stable development. In addition, heed will be paid to making adjustments and supplements to the city’s rules and regulations for incubation along with incubator framework for a new start-up in order to help business incubation to be viewed as a standardized and effective process to maximize available resourses.

Song Han Incubator (SHi) has till date completed 6 incubation programs and 8 startup accelerator programs over recent years. In the coming time, SHi will continue its efforts to boost accelerator programs for start-ups to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, especially those in Da Nang and elsewhere in Central Viet Nam and Central Highlands, as well as help startups build their well-functioning and effective operating system and have the ability to call for funding. Recently, SHi has offered accelerator programs for 2 medicine and jewelry start-up projects in the central region.

Besides, SHi will work with the municipal Department of Science and Technology to offer a 6- month accelerator program for 5 selected enterprises without appropriate development strategies to help them build their own effective business strategies, thereby branding for their businesses.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong, the Director of the Da Nang Business Incubator (DNES) said that in 2023, DNES will work with the Dariu Foundation (TDF) which is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization working in Viet Nam since 2003, to offer an incubation program for startup projects of college students and school pupils. Accordingly, each of three winning projects will receive a cash prize of USD 30,000 USD to complete it in the next 2-3 years. Furthermore, DNES will focus on digitizing its training programs and incubation programs for start-ups. Moreover, heed will be paid to bringing DNES’s digital curriculum designed for incubation program to universities and junior colleges. Importance will be attached to providing training courses for university students and lecturers in a bid to help establish innovation hubs in their schools. At the same time, DNES plans to establish an angel investor club and design the angel investor’s handbook in order to help connect startups with investors.

It can be seen that the general purpose of the incubators is to enhance connection between startups and investors in order to successfully select quality projects, thereby helping them grow their businesses. In addition, special attention will be paid to coordinating with government agencies, organizations and individuals, businesses, universities, domestic and foreign experts to provide legal support, professional knowledge, facilities and infrastructure for their developers in order to promote the development of high technology, new technologies and maximize local available resources.

Reporting by MAI QUE – Translating by H.L