Da Nang’s innovative startup activities have made sustainable progress. In the new spring of 2025, the city will continue to promote the values it has already achieved and set a goal of attracting many international investment funds, making Da Nang a regional startup hub.

The launching ceremony of Da Nang - Singapore Innovation Space at the Da Nang Innovation Startup Festival 2024. Photo VAN HOANG

Taking advantages for the sake of development

Towards completing the goals of developing Da Nang into one of the major socio-economic centres of Viet Nam, and Southeast Asia at large, with the role of a hub for startups and innovation, with a vision toward 2045, becoming a large, ecological and smart city, a hub for startups, innovation and a livable coastal city reaching the level of the Asian region as Resolution No. 43-NQ/TW of the Politburo on developing Da Nang by 2030, with a vision toward 2045, in recent years, the Da Nang government and the components of the startup and innovation ecosystem have constantly made great efforts, boosted innovations and identified a clear orientation for developing the ecosystem with many policies, activities, events, support programmes, and effective investment connections.

According to the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology, in 2024, Da Nang was ‘named’ for the first time at the 896^th position in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024 Report by StartupBlink. This was not only an important milestone in the city's development journey but also a clear demonstration of Da Nang's remarkable progress in the field of innovative startups in Viet Nam, affirming its position alongside the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City and the capital city of Ha Noi in attracting startup projects, investors and international investment funds.

Da Nang has proactively organized the Da Nang Venture and Angel Summit 2024 (DAVAS 2024). This was the premise to position Da Nang as an attractive destination for investors and projects, startups with domestic and international capital needs; step by step form a community of angel investors and venture capital funds in the city. At the same time, it supported projects and startups to approach domestic and international investors, investment funds, and leading experts in the field of innovative startups.

With many years of experience in supporting the development of an innovative startup ecosystem in Viet Nam, Mr. Aaron Everhart, the country Lead of Draper House in Viet Nam, part of the startup ecosystem of Draper Startup House Ventures, believed that Da Nang’s connection with international startup organisations and investment funds is developing and attracting the attention of many organisations and individuals.

Compared to other innovative startup ecosystems in the world, and in Viet Nam in particular, Da Nang is still very young. However, Da Nang has special advantages and strengths. For startup innovators, Da Nang has a large specialised technology workforce, especially in emerging technologies.

At the ‘Da Nang’s Friday Socials meetup’ events regularly organised by DSH in Da Nang, many foreign investors and startups looked for partners and teams in the field of information technology (IT) and other fields because of the opportunities and growth potential here.

“There are many ecosystems in the world with the starting point of being a tourist attraction city like Da Nang. Through organising major events on technology, cuisine, music, large technology companies and corporations have expanded cooperation and investment there to benefit from preferential policies. This can help Da Nang become both a tourist destination, a university city, and a major tech hub. This is something Da Nang can learn from.”, Mr. Aaron Everhart suggested.

Da Nang has organised many investment connection activities, creating opportunities for local startups to meet and connect with investment funds and international investors. Photo: VAN HOANG

Focus on building a brand

Mr. Aaron Everhart also said that Da Nang has outstanding policies with strong resources and cooperation with prestigious startup organisations from the world's famous innovative startup ecosystem such as KILSA Global, Swiss Entrepreneurship Program and Quest Ventures.

In addition to events organised by the city, many units and elements in the ecosystem have held networking and meeting activities to increase cohesion and cooperation, sustainable development.

Furthermore, the number of co-working spaces in Da Nang is growing, and similarly, technical infrastructure is also developing strongly.

“Da Nang should build its own brand by organising larger, truly world-class events, focusing on combining tourism, culture and innovative technology to attract the attention of international investors; creating an impression of a startup city, an attractive destination for investors.”, Mr. Aaron Everhart advised.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong, the project manager of the SwissEP in Da Nang, Viet Nam, Da Nang is in a promising development phase in the field of startups with many outstanding advantages in terms of policy environment, dynamic startup community, developed digital infrastructure, success stories of some startups, international connections and cooperation. However, in order to position itself as a startup hub attracting investment funds and international investors, Da Nang needs to focus on clear solutions and strategies.

In particular, it is high time for the city to promulgate and drastically implement important projects to shape its future such as ‘Da Nang - Innovative Startup City’, AI and semiconductor industry development strategy by 2030 to form a complete ecosystem, including incubators, co-working spaces, acceleration programme, and support organisations with sufficient capacity to provide services for startups.

It is also necessary to creatively apply resolutions and policies to build a regulatory sandbox and free trade zones (FTZ), creating a flexible legal environment, encouraging innovation and attracting investment in new technologies.

Many science and technology events, connecting elements in the innovative startup ecosystem, have been organised in Da Nang Photo: VAN HOANG

Da Nang should continue to organise events such as DAVAS, SURF, Web3 Builders Summit with the Da Nang brand to create a forum connecting startups, investors and experts in the field of dynamic innovative startups; build the brand ‘Da Nang - Innovative Startup City’ by focusing on developing technology fields in which Da Nang has advantages to differentiate itself from other cities, becoming an attractive destination for startups in new tech fields such as AI, blockchain, fintech, cross-border e-commerce, biotechnology and creative industries.

At the same time, it is a must-do to strengthen cooperation with international organisations and other cities in the world to learn from valuable experiences and attract resources. “Da Nang can absolutely become one of the leading innovation and startup hubs in Asia, a new symbol of innovation in the region.

To achieve this goal, Da Nang needs to continue to maintain policy stability, create a transparent and competitive business environment; focus on developing key industries, creating products and services with high added value,” Mr. Chuong said.

Reporting by VAN HOANG - Translating by A.THU