AVV Ascend Vietnam Ventures

What is AVV Ascend Vietnam Ventures?

AVV Ascend Vietnam Ventures is a venture capital firm headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, VN, focusing on empowering internationally iconic companies emerging from Vietnam. They aim to be the first institutional investor in tech or tech-enabled startups, with a keen interest in a range of sectors including fintech, edtech, future of work, enterprise SaaS, health tech, and logistics.

The firm is known for leveraging technology advancements such as AI and blockchain, considering it a beneficial attribute in potential investments. The firm's investment range lies between $500,000 and $2,000,000, targeting early-stage, seed, and Series A funding rounds.

The investor profile boasts a robust portfolio with notable seed investments such as Axie Infinity, a blockchain gaming and NFT pioneer, ApplyBoard, an edtech unicorn, ELSA, which received backing from Google's AI-focused fund, and Trusting Social, Sequoia's first investment in a Vietnamese startup.

AVV Ascend Vietnam Ventures prides itself on being not only investors but also builders, strategists, and respectful partners in the founder's journey. Their team is diverse, with a mix of locals and foreigners, introverts and extroverts, all united by a common belief in the potential of Vietnamese startups. On their website, they emphasize their commitment to helping founders 'ascend to great heights' and feature success stories and educational content on the tech funding landscape in Vietnam.

The website also introduces the AVV team, showcases their portfolio, and provides insights on topics such as remote work, venture capital, and AI. Finally, AVV has a presence in thought leadership with publications such as 'The Ascent' and a podcast series 'Founders & Friends', highlighting their engagement with the startup ecosystem.

What they say:

We invest in internationally iconic companies arising from Vietnam. We are particularly interested in fintech, edtech, future of work, enterprise SaaS, health tech, and logistics, but are happy to look at any tech or tech-enabled startup. Leveraging AI or blockchain technology is a plus. We want to be your first institutional investor. Our team has done seed investments in Axie Infinity (blockchain gaming and NFT pioneer), ApplyBoard (edtech unicorn), ELSA (later backed by Google's AI-focused fund), Trusting Social (Sequoia's first investment in a Vietnamese startup), and dozens of other companies.