Jointly organized by the National Innovation Centre (NIC), the Vietnam Private Capital Agency, and DO Ventures, the VIPC Summit 2026 succeeds the long-running Vietnam Venture Summit, established in 2019 and mainly focused on attracting capital for startups in IT-related fields.This year’s event, scheduled for May 28 in HCM city, marks a pivotal shift following institutional and regulatory reforms introduced in 2025, focusing on mobilizing private capital to drive the nation’s strategic tech and innovation agenda. Among the major international billion-dollar investment funds set to attend the VIPC Summit 2026 are Mekong Capital, VinaCapital, DBS Bank, and Argor Capital. The summit will open broader capital market access for Vietnam’s development ambitions, particularly in the technology-driven sectors.
Bao Tram: Thank you, Max, for joining us on VOV24/7’s Q&A. As the forum has rebranded from the Vietnam Venture Summit to the 'Vietnam Innovations and Private Capital Summit', does this mean we are seeing a shift this time?
Max Scheichenost: There is a shift. Sector-wise, there is much more investment now in education and healthcare, alongside semiconductors and AI. On the private equity side, we see more firms investing in traditional businesses and helping them digitize. We are actively looking at traditional businesses and how we can infuse AI into them.
Bao Tram: The summit’s theme is “Policy to Capital: Mobilizing Private Capital for Vietnam's Strategic Industries”. How does it connect the different segments of the ecosystem, from early-stage startups to IPO-ready companies, to embody this theme?
Max Scheichenost: My view is that we have to connect all the dots. We have had events that are only startup-related, SME-related, or innovation-related. We want to bring the whole ecosystem together so we can support each other. It’s intentional that we have everyone from early-stage to venture capital, growth, and late-stage IPO companies. Up until recently, these dots were not connected. The VC industry did their own thing, the government did theirs, but now we’re all working toward the common goal of creating more success stories for Vietnam.
Bao Tram: One common concern is that many Vietnamese startups choose to operate from Singapore to attract investment. How will this forum help encourage those companies to remain in Vietnam?
Max Scheichenost: We truly hope that through this partnership with policymakers, we can not only attract but also keep startups here. Five years ago, companies went to Singapore just to attract global capital, but with recent policy reforms, there’s a great opportunity to attract global capital directly through the regulatory environment in Vietnam. Now, we need to move from policy to implementation.
Bao Tram: You’ve observed the market for a decade. How healthy is Vietnam’s startup ecosystem today?
Max Scheichenost: Ten years ago, if someone asked where the most vibrant ecosystem was, I would have said Singapore. Now, I say it’s Vietnam. You can feel it when you’re on the ground. The next stage of growth is ensuring we move from a startup to a growth company, and then to a local champion. We need to create multiple success stories, not just one VNG or one Momo. With the reclassification of Vietnam as an emerging market, more capital is coming, but we must work with the government to find a repeatable formula to get growth companies to IPO.
Bao Tram: Beyond the deals to be signed at the event, what does success look like for you after this event?
Max Scheichenost: My goal is to put Vietnam on the global map as an innovation and private capital ecosystem. I’m focusing on getting regional and global investors here to experience Vietnam—you have to be on the ground to feel it.
As for my own investments, I’m a little outside the norm. I look at SMEs—there are tens of thousands of them in Vietnam. I focus on three sectors: B2B services, consumer FMCG, and specialty healthcare. I look for established businesses that have been stable for 10 to 20 years but haven’t leveraged technology yet, and help them scale.
Bao Tram: That was Max-F Scheichenost, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor with a track record of co-founding and investing in 15 companies globally, sharing his vision for the future of Vietnam’s investment landscape. Thank you for joining us on VOV24/7’s Q&A edition. We look forward to bringing you updates from the summit in Ho Chi Minh City later this month.
