OnMic at the forefront of the digital audio wave in Vietnam

Nguyen Bao Khanh, CEO at OnMic

What is the story behind OnMic?

I and our CTO Lam Kim had the idea since 2019. We observed our colleagues who were both working and listening to audio content like radio or audiobooks. An idea flashed into our minds. Why not build a voice-streaming platform? However, the Vietnamese market was not ripe for such platform at that time.

Fast forward to 2021, digital audio like podcasts is booming around the world, including in Vietnam. Startups like Clubhouse have achieved success with their audio social media apps. We saw that this was the right time to turn our ideas into reality.

Therefore, we decided to develop OnMic with Trung Nguyen, who is now the CGO. After two and a half months, we have completed various tasks from designing to coding apps to launching our beta version. OnMic made its official debut on June 1. After six months, OnMic has raised a seed round from Touchstone Partners, marking an important milestone in our development journey.

At that time, OnMic was a fledgling startup with a very humble beginning. However, Touchstone Partners were enthusiastic to advise to adjust our platform. After three months, OnMic has started to record obvious growth results. Thus, Touchstone Partners has decided to invest in OnMic for its potential and its leadership.

How does OnMic capitalise on Vietnam’s creator economy?

The creator economy is on the rise. When users are on a social media platform like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, they are guaranteed to come across a creator and consume something directly from a creator.

There were around 50 million creators across the world in 2020. Content creators are also gaining popularity in Vietnam, which has 72 million social network users. More young people, particularly Gen Z, are pursuing careers as creators on various platforms.

OnMic develops our platform for digital audio creators because we aim to provide more options for Vietnamese creators. While video creators are under more pressure to make their appearance in front of viewers, audio creators will be free from that.

At OnMic, creators can easily create audio streaming content. They don’t need to worry about audio editing like making a podcast. Also, they don't have to worry about getting permission from the platform operator to livestream their singing to their friends and listeners.

OnMic is proud that we are on the right track to creating a new generation of audio content creators, thereby unlocking the full potential of Vietnam’s creator economy.

OnMic has just become a new hit in Vietnam’s content creator market

How do you see the potential of the audio content market in Vietnam?

The digital audio wave is picking up speed in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. A recent eMarketer report reveals that there are 325 million digital listeners across the region. They spend an average of 1.5 hours per day consuming audio content. In Vietnam, audio content like podcasts and audiobooks is also becoming more popular.

In addition, Vietnam has made great strides in infrastructure development, which leads to a rising number of privately-owned vehicles. At the same time, metro lines are underway in megacities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This will prompt Vietnamese users to consume more audio content.

OnMic is at the forefront of the digital audio wave in Vietnam. We don’t aim to compete with other platforms focusing on texting or videos. We see that most social media platforms appear to lack a very important factor, which is authenticity.

To make video content, creators need to care about their appearances such as makeups, outfits, acting, and lighting. With a lot of such filters, video content is losing authenticity. OnMic was born to tackle this issue by focusing on audio content only to facilitate an authentic socialising experience in Vietnam.

Vietnamese users are familiar with audiobooks and music streaming platforms. What is the unique selling point of OnMic?

OnMic is a platform that allows people to connect through talks about common interests like spirituality, travel, jobs, financial advice, and dating. It's the very replication of Vietnam's hustling coffee-chat scene, where young people engage in connections and conversations, only now they're doing it online.

OnMic focuses on authenticity, intimacy, and interaction. With regards to authenticity, audio content is less scripted than video content. Users can speak about different topics of their interest and can focus on delivering the most genuine and authentic conversations.

In terms of intimacy, users can feel free to talk about sensitive topics on OnMic such as mental health and sex education. We create a very safe space to discuss personal topics. These are just a few examples of how intimate we can get.

When it comes to interaction, users can easily engage with an unlimited number of listeners by opening virtual chat rooms in only a few clicks. On OnMic, the audience can interact directly with speakers by simply raising their hands to come on stage.

Overall, OnMic focuses solely on audio content, without visuals and only minimal text, allowing content creators and consumers alike to focus entirely on the spoken word. OnMic has nurtured a vision to become an audio-only universe. We will continue to explore new features to fulfil this vision.

The OnMic Co-founders (from left to right) Lam Kim (CTO), Trung Nguyen (CGO), and Khanh Nguyen (CEO)

How does OnMic educate Vietnamese users about its platform?

Since its inception, OnMic has recorded 17 million minutes of voice-streaming and 150,000 minutes of making friends via voice. There are around 32,000 shows with different topics on our platform. OnMic has achieved a healthy growth rate as well as built a loyal creator community. OnMic is poised to become Vietnam’s leading audio platform with high-quality content.

Among them, community building plays an important role in the development of OnMic. Our vision is to build a platform that brings the most benefits to the community. In the beginning, we targeted people working in the marketing and communication industry. They considered OnMic as an interesting platform to share their insights and experience with other listeners. After OnMic grew in popularity in the marketing community, the platform has attracted other communities from different industries.

Now, we still focuses on building strong communities on our platform. We try to make OnMic valuable in various professions like psychology, mental health, art, and science. Through the unique community bonding experience, OnMic can educate new users about the value of the platform and extend its reach to more Vietnamese creators.

Could you shed some light on your plans?

We aim to use the fresh funds from Touchstone Partners to develop our product. We not only expand our IT team but also add new features to improve user experience.

Next, we focus on community building programmes. We will also support student and non-profit organisations to produce audio content on OnMic, as these often face financial challenges to make such content. OnMic is willing to help spread their messages to the communities.

Lastly, we continue to build our creator-first programmes to help them flourish on the merit and quality of their ideas – without any need for visuals or content editing skills. Meanwhile, we will allocate the funds into our premium creator programme for experienced creators and our young creator programme for students and newbies. We hope that these efforts will help OnMic secure a stronger footprint in Vietnam.