On 7th November 2017, Faculty of International Business and Economics, UEB successfully organized the conference on "Attracting Angel Investment for Start-up Development: International experiences and Vietnam" with funding from Friedrich Naumann Freiburg Fur Freiheit Foundation (FNF), Germany.
The conference is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Establishment of the UEB, toward 45 year of tradition. The conference is held to enhance academic exchanges and practical experiences, provide a discussion forum for national and international scholars, experts, entrepreneurs and angel investors.
Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu gives the opening remarks at the conference
2016 marks the year of Vietnamese start-up with special attention from the government and society. Although the start-up in Vietnam has achieved some initial positive results, it still faces many difficulties in calling for and attracting investment, especially angel investment. Therefore, studying the international experiences in attracting angel investment and lessons for Vietnam is of great importance both theoretically and practically. This is also the theme of the conference "Attracting angel investment for start-up development: International experiences and Vietnam".
Prof. William Scheela gives the presentation at the conferenceAttending the conference, there were Dr. Pham Hung Tien - Representatives of FNF, Prof. William Scheela from Bemidji State University (US), Dr. Nguyen Trung Dung - General Director of BK-Holdings, Mr. Nguyen Quan - Founder and CEO of Goofoo Ice Cream JSC. From the UEB, there were Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu - Vice Rector, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ha Van Hoi - Dean of Faculty of International Business and Economics. The conference also attracted interest from businesses, angel investors, researchers, lecturers and students.
In the first presentation on "Formal and informal venture capital investing in emerging economies in Southeast Asia", Prof. William Scheela has provided useful information on angel investments in some Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The study of Prof. Scheela focuses on answering the question of how angel investors can invest effectively and help start-up entrepreneurs in an unfinished institutional environment. By interviewing 80 angel investors, the study has identified the characteristics of angel investment in the four countries of the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, including the investment strategy, the criteria that investors consider when investing, such as financial strength, management capacity, market opportunities, technology etc.
Overview of the conference
After that, the conference listened to practical experiences of enterprises. Dr. Nguyen Trung Dung shares the experiences of BK-Holdings in developing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hanoi University of Science and Technology. This is the system of enterprises aiming at mobilizing resources from government, organizations, individuals and enterprises to develop science and technology products of the university. He also presented some other related issues such as reasons why angel investment in Vietnamese start-up is still small, entrepreneurial ecosystem, characteristics of angel investment in Vietnam and market, cultural tradition and supporting system for enterprises in Vietnam.
Dr. Nguyen Trung Dung speaks at the conference
The conference is of great theoretical and practical significance, which attracted interest from scholars and businesses. It gave the participants useful knowledge in attracting angel capital for start-up projects as well as practical experiences of investors and businessmen in calling for and attracting the capital. Meanwhile, the conference is a meaningful activity in proving capacity of staffs, lecturers and students of VNU University of Economics and Business.