At our recent Theory of Next event in Ho Chi Minh City, a packed room of founders, operators, and investors came together around one big question:
Can Vietnam leapfrog traditional tech hubs—and if so, how?
At Antler, this isn’t just a thought exercise. It’s our investment thesis in action. We’re backing the most driven founders at day zero, and we believe Vietnam is sitting on a breakout moment—one powered by raw talent, regional opportunity, and the right kind of urgency.
Moderated by Erik Jonsson (General Partner, Antler Vietnam), the event featured bold insights from Linh Thai (Skills Bridge), Binh Tran (Ascend Vietnam Ventures), and Calvin Lam (American Fashion & Indo-Pacific Investors). Together, the panel mapped out a pragmatic but deeply optimistic path forward—one where Vietnam moves beyond execution into global innovation leadership.
🧠 From Factory to Frontier: The Knowledge Economy Is Vietnam’s Next Chapter
Vietnam’s economic transformation is already underway. In the last 30 years, the country’s GDP has grown 8.7x—outpacing every Southeast Asian peer, and nearly matching China’s 9.1x growth over the same period.
It’s a staggering trajectory—and one driven in large part by Vietnam’s rise as a manufacturing and export powerhouse. In 2024 alone, Vietnam recorded its highest-ever export value: $403 billion, including a 27% YoY increase in electronics exports and 23.4% growth in U.S.-bound shipments.
But as Binh Tran said:
“Manufacturing gave us the foundation. It can’t be the future.”
To become a high-income country, Vietnam must evolve beyond low-cost labor and toward value creation—from exporting goods to exporting ideas. That shift requires investment in human capital, ecosystem clusters, and a cultural mindset that values creativity and risk.
💡 AI Levels the Playing Field—and Vietnam Is Poised to Win
Few tools are as game-changing for emerging markets as AI.
Vietnam’s advantage? A rising generation of engineers who combine cost-effectiveness with relentless drive.
“You can find a retrieval-augmented generation engineer here for $5,000/month, coding at 2 a.m.—versus $300K a year in the U.S.,”
- said Binh Tran. That delta is more than economic—it's strategic.
Add to that the fact that 43% of Vietnam’s manufactured exports are now in high-tech categories like smartphones, circuits, and computer components—and you have a country moving up the value chain fast.
AI is already slashing the cost of launching and scaling startups.
“You used to need 10,000 paying customers to break even. With AI, you might only need ten,”
- said Linh Thai.
That’s opening the door for solo founders and small teams to ship, test, and grow without waiting for perfection—or funding.
At Antler, we’re seeing this in real time: early-stage founders building working AI prototypes within weeks of joining our Vietnam residency. The infrastructure is catching up. What’s needed now is boldness—and belief.
🏗️ Manufacturing Still Matters—But It’s Evolving Fast
Vietnam’s strength in manufacturing is real—and still growing. But the next chapter is about integration, not imitation.
Calvin Lam explained:
“What China had was clustering—fast fashion in one city, robotics in another. If Vietnam can build clusters and plug SaaS into the management layer, we’ll close the gap much faster.”
From HR to marketing automation to smart factory analytics, SaaS tools are becoming more accessible—and Vietnamese operators are starting to adopt them at scale. The opportunity isn’t just to compete on cost, but to leapfrog productivity by adopting digital tools early.
Still, challenges remain. Infrastructure shortfalls are estimated at $60 billion, and talent shortages are slowing growth across high-demand sectors. But these gaps also present whitespace for startups—with builders now stepping up to solve problems that once felt out of reach.
🚀 Talent Is Here—But Culture Must Catch Up
The raw material is undeniable. Vietnam has one of the youngest, most technically literate populations in the region. As of 2025, it’s also producing some of the most competitive AI engineering talent in Southeast Asia, with researchers and practitioners already contributing to open-source LLMs and fine-tuning custom models for regional deployment.
But as Calvin observed, “Vietnam still rewards marketing and finance more than engineering.” That cultural mismatch must change.
Michael Liebmann shared a telling story: in a recent middle school AI workshop, one gifted student built four games in 15 minutes—on an iPad—while others barely finished one. “Creative confidence is not optional—it’s essential,” he said.
Vietnam’s education system, still grounded in rote learning, must now empower curiosity, experimentation, and product thinking. And employers must reinforce that shift by valuing engineers not just as implementers—but as innovators.
📊 What We’re Seeing on the Ground
Amid a global funding winter, we’re seeing several tailwinds converging: a fast-growing, technically skilled workforce; deeper integration into global supply chains; and a rising appetite among founders to build globally relevant, capital-efficient solutions.
At Antler, we continue to see strong inbound interest from regional and global funds looking to co-invest across stages in Vietnam.
We’re backing that momentum. In 2024, we deployed $2.2 million across 21 early-stage investments in Vietnam. For H1 2025, Antler SEA Fund II is targeting $20 million across Southeast Asia, with Vietnam as a strategic priority.
To support this growth, we launched the Antler SEA Venture Launchpad—a rolling-entry program offering up to $600,000 in pre-seed and follow-on capital within the first 6–9 months. It’s built on our ARC (Agreement for Rolling Capital) model, helping founders secure matched capital quickly and build with velocity.
We’re especially excited about emerging Vietnamese ventures in semiconductors, AI-driven fintech, and supply chain automation—spaces where local strengths meet global demand. In our portfolio today, we have:
- Founders building open-source chip design powered by LLMs
- Teams solving for MSME financial management and embedded supply chain finance
- Climate innovators building solar-powered sand batteries and bioplastics
Our approach is simple: find technical founders early, back them with conviction, and give them the space to build something enduring.
🇻🇳 Vietnam’s Moment Is Now
Antler’s Theory of Next identifies five frontier sectors—AI, enterprise, fintech, sustainability, and next-gen commerce—where Southeast Asia has breakout potential. Vietnam is uniquely positioned to lead across all five.
We’ve seen over 1,500 solo founder applications in our latest cohort. The teams we back aren’t just solving for local markets—they’re building with regional infrastructure, global relevance, and world-class ambition.
Vietnam has the growth, the grit. Now it needs more bold bets—and fewer excuses.
📘 Want to dive deeper into the ideas shaping Southeast Asia’s future?
Download The Theory of Next: Southeast Asia → https://content.antler.co/sea-theory-of-next-2025
For all press enquiries: press@antler.co
