The Umbalena app has won the top prize at the Viet Nam Startup Wheel 2020.

Ms Le Thi Cam Trinh (front row, 2nd left), the founder of the Umbalena project, receiving the top prize at the awards ceremony

Developed by Da Nang-based VOOC Technology company in mid-2019, the app aims to cultivate a love of reading amongst children.

Umbalena serves as a large online bookstore showing off thousands of highly-inviting books in Vietnamese and English, targeting children aged 2 to 8 years, and their parents.

Poems and stories on the app feature attractive content, eye-catching images, expressive voices, and interesting questions.

Apart from its members who are in charge of technologies and content, Umbalena has developed a network of freelancers nationwide, including 6 to 7-year-old kids.

This app certainly can't completely replace printed books, but it's a wonderful option for children during their off-school time instead of playing video games or watching useless videos on Youtube.

Earlier, in mid-October, this app won the first prize in the category of pioneering in technology and digital transformation in the National Women’s Startup Competition 2020. 

The annual Startup Wheel is now the largest and most prestigious annual startup competition in Viet Nam.

Co-hosted by the Viet Nam Business Startup Support Centre (BSSC) and the Ho Chi Minh City Young Entrepreneurs Association, this year’s competition attracted nearly 2,000 startups from 20 countries on 5 continents.

By KHANG NINH - Translated by M.D