Ninja Accelerator selects 15 startups for accelerated fund-raising

VECA is one of 15 startups to be accelerated in the fund-raising process under JICA’s Ninja Accelerator Program

The teams will start the programme with the Acceleration Bootcamp – an intense training camp which equips the early-stage startups with the necessary skills and knowledge to define their development strategies as well as progress to successful fundraising.

In the Acceleration Bootcamp, each team will be assigned a dedicated mentor who will guide them on their business validation, go-to-market strategy, while building network and positioning them for fundraising.

Previously, through the Investment Game – a gamified simulation of the actual fundraising process held online in mid-November 2020 – 30 shortlisted startups from the Preliminary Round had the opportunity to pitch to investors on their businesses, experience the intensity of the virtual fundraising process and compete to be the best 15 to qualify for the Acceleration Program in 2021.

The 15 teams in “NINJA Accelerator in Ho Chi Minh City” are in the fields of education, environment, agriculture, health, user behaviour research, and AI to develop products in the digital economy.

They include prominent initiatives such as local economic social network SORA, which allows in-kind trading and promotes a money-free economy; scrap collecting application VECA where anyone can make money from scrap and contribute to environmental protection; or high-tech equipment for dermatology application AMED, a "Made in Vietnam" invention with international quality to support domestic dermatology.

Lim Boon Chow, deputy director of Entrepreneur Education of Nanyang Technical University – NTUitive Pte., Ltd. shared, "Vietnam is forecast to remain an economic 'spark' owing to her ability to maintain a positive economic growth in 2020 despite the challenges of the global pandemic. We hope that NINJA Accelerator in Ho Chi Minh City will have a positive impact on the startup community and will produce more successful and well-funded startups from our future programmes conducted by our Vietnam Program Partners starting from the second half of 2021."

NINJA Accelerator in Ho Chi Minh City is an online programme that lasts for 11 weeks from January 12 to April 9, 2021. Each team will have time to develop under the guidance of their own mentors, in addition to the general training programme on market research and idea evaluation. After three months, startups will have validated their customers and developed their growth paths, built strong teams, understood how investors work, and developed their own fundraising strategies. The capstone of the programme is the NTUit.io Investment Game on April 9, 2021 where the 15 teams will prepare to win over investors.