AI breakthroughs originate from connecting startups and businesses
On August 8, GenAI Fund announced the outstanding results of the GenAI Open Innovation Vietnam 2025 event, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City in early July. The event created 88 matches between startups and businesses, of which 43.8% proceeded to discuss Proof of Concept (PoC) on GenAI solutions, opening up new potential directions in promoting the application of GenAI technology in Vietnam.
Sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and supported by Renova Cloud, the program exceeded initial expectations with over 400 registrations and nearly 300 live event attendees.
Ms. Laura Nguyen, CEO of GenAI Fund shared: “Our mission is to exploit and promote the transformational power of GenAI to bring practical value to businesses. Vietnam is entering a breakthrough period in innovation, and this event is a clear demonstration of the need for deep cooperation in the field of GenAI."
She said that with the support of AWS and Renova Cloud, GenAI Fund contributes to promoting this wave by creating a platform to support startups to scale in a oriented manner, while helping businesses confidently apply GenAI into practice.
GenAI Open Innovation is a quarterly initiative that started in Vietnam in 2024. After successfully expanding to Singapore in April 2025, the program returned to Ho Chi Minh City in July 2025 with stronger participation from both sides of the ecosystem – businesses and startups.
Businesses sent the organizers practical problems and needs for applying GenAI, while GenAI Fund selected and supported startups to prepare thoroughly to effectively connect businesses.
Promoting GenAI application in Vietnam
According to the GenAI ASEAN 2024 Startup Report published by GenAI Fund, Vietnam (27%) ranks second in the ASEAN region in terms of the number of GenAI startups, just behind Singapore (44%).
The report highlights that GenAI startups are creating unprecedented breakthroughs in many areas such as Performance and Business Solutions, Health and Healthcare, Financial Services, and Technology and AI Solutions.
In Vietnam, GenAI is considered a fundamental tool of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, contributing to improving national productivity and competitiveness.
However, the report also pointed out that startups in the GenAI field are facing many significant challenges, such as slow integration into the business ecosystem, difficulties in effectively implementing pilot projects (PoC), the problem of finding the right fit between products/solutions and the market is still open, not to mention competitive pressure from SaaS providers as well as well-known technology corporations in the market.
Aiming to promote innovation in the GenAI field by connecting practical needs of businesses with technological capabilities from pioneering startups, the GenAI Open Innovation Program Vietnam 2025 is implemented in a three-phase model, gathering 233 GenAI startups from Vietnam and the region, with the participation of 11 leading enterprises in the fields of finance, manufacturing, healthcare and consumer services.
Some typical participating units include HDBank , MBBank, Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam, KFC Vietnam, VNG Games, Tasco Group, VNDirect, Globe, Dong Tam Group and many other enterprises.
At the program, experts shared many insights on Vietnam’s increasing readiness to apply GenAI. Many businesses are proactively promoting innovation by allocating separate budgets for AI, shortening pilot approval times, and providing “sandbox” testing environments for startups to test solutions on real data.
A key highlight is the pivotal role played by leading cloud providers such as AWS. Enterprises express a clear preference for end-to-end AI solutions, and value startups in the AWS ecosystem for their access to PoC funding and reliable deployment processes.
Out of a total of 88 startup-enterprise pairings, 31 GenAI PoC projects have been launched, opening up opportunities for startups to directly approach customers, while supporting businesses to accelerate the innovation process in a more flexible and effective way.
A key factor contributing to the success of the program was the close and synchronized coordination between AWS, Renova Cloud and GenAI Fund, ensuring efficiency throughout the implementation process. The program also received many positive responses from both startups and businesses, thanks to the opportunity to exchange ideas and in-depth discussions after the event.
Following this success, the GenAI Open Innovation program will be expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, aiming to extend its positive impact across the entire Asia region.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/viet-nam-xep-thu-hai-asean-ve-so-luong-khoi-nghiep-tri-tue-nhan-tao-tao-sinh-post899509.html
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