Domestic AI startups strive to clinch more market share

March 28, 2025 | 13:00

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Several domestic AI startups are endeavouring to gain market share in a booming industry.

Vietnamese startup Filum AI in mid-March announced mobilisation of $1 million from funds such as Nextrans, VinVentures, TheVentures, and several strategic investors.

Domestic AI startups strive to clinch more market share

More young people are using AI for learning purposes, Photo: Shutterstock

“The investment will serve as a powerful catalyst to further accelerate the development of advanced AI products, particularly AI Agents, to help businesses optimise costs, improve customer experience quality, and operate more efficiently,” said Tran Van Vien, CEO of Filum AI.

“We hope that this deal will unlock more collaboration opportunities not only in terms of financial investment but also in strategy and technology, helping Vietnam gradually become a leading AI hub in the region,” said Vien.

The new funding will enable the startup to expand its research and development team, accelerate product development, enhance customer support capabilities, and enter the Southeast Asian market.

“The success of a Vietnamese AI startup in securing capital clearly demonstrates strong confidence and high expectations from investors. This is one of the rare startups with robust technological capabilities, strategic vision, and the ability to create practical value for businesses,” a representative from the VinVentures technology investment fund shared. “This is also one of our first investments following launch in October 2024.”

Meanwhile, at the AISC 2025 conference on March 12-16, co-hosted by US technology company Aitomatic, the National Innovation Centre, and knowledge discovery platform AI Hay, opportunities were provided to meet 1,000 leaders and experts from tech corporations including Google, Nvidia, IBM, Meta, Intel, and Samsung.

“At the AISC, Vietnamese tech companies had an opportunity to pitch their projects to top venture capital firms, secure strategic partnerships, and expand their global market presence,” Nguyen Tho Chuong, chief technology officer at AI Hay, told VIR at the conference. “This initiative is expected to be a significant stepping stone for Vietnamese enterprises to access cutting-edge technologies and further integrate into the global supply chain.”

Since last year, AI Hay has been taking advantage of the support of AWS GenAI Accelerator, Nvidia Inception, and Google Startups Cloud to complete a knowledge discovery platform to seamlessly integrates conversational search, social, and AI to transform how users across Asia access collective intelligence, beginning in Vietnam.

As per the ASEAN Gen AI Startup Report 2024 by Gen AI Fund, released last September, Vietnam ranks second among six Southeast Asian countries in AI startup potential. While Singapore leads with 44 per cent of the region’s AI startups, Vietnam follows with 27 per cent, far outpacing Indonesia and Thailand.

“I think that Vietnam has tremendous potential for AI. According to our study, in education, the young population accounts for a high proportion, and in reality, more than half of current AI Hay users are students. Initially, they used it to read news, but later they realised its most important application was solving homework - a very distinctly Vietnamese approach,” said Chuong.

According to AI Hay’s leaders, the number of startups raising seed-stage funding in Vietnam was fewer than 15, illustrating the complexities of attaining big sums.

“In fact, one of the reasons why raising capital has been difficult for us isn’t just the market, but because we need to find investors willing to play the long game with us. We have to convince them that we’re building a company for the era and that five years from now, AI Hay will become a household name,” said Chuong.

Vietnam is prioritising policies to develop its AI ecosystem, with a focus on fostering personnel and AI platforms. The former Ministry of Planning and Investment collaborated with Google to establish the AI Space platform, providing startups with free access to cloud services and other digital tools. This initiative could save startups up to $350,000 over two years, offering significant financial backing to help them confidently invest and grow in Vietnam.

Additionally, the Vietnamese government has implemented numerous policies to accelerate digital technology adoption in recent times.

“The fact that AI has been included as one of the key pillars of national technology development is a positive signal. It feels like this is our moment there’s interest from higher levels, it motivates us to work harder and deliver products that truly add value,” Chuong added.