Reflecting on the Demo Day 2025 Journey: A Milestone in the Growth of the UEH Startup Community

25 Dec, 2025

On December 19, 2025, Demo Day 2025 was successfully held at the Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB). With the partnership of Expara Ventures Investment Fund, the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Startup Center (SIHUB), the Innovation Services Center (ISC), and the Vietnam Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Universities and Colleges (VNEI), this year's event saw a significant expansion in scale, attracting keen interest from a wide range of experts, investors, and startup support organizations within the ecosystem.

The event was honored by the presence of 10 leading regional venture capital (VC) funds, including Earth Venture Capital, ITI Fund, VinaCapital Ventures, Gobi Partners, Zone Startup Vietnam, Expara Ventures, 6igma Ventures, Taiwania Hive, Primus Spark Capital, and JDI Group. Additionally, the presence of 3 startup accelerators and 6 angel investors created a comprehensive support network, offering multidimensional perspectives on the market and growth opportunities for the projects.

Speaking on the significance of the event, a representative from the Organizing Committee shared: "Demo Day was initiated by the Institute of Innovation with the aim of creating a space for the UEH startup community to connect more deeply with the Ho Chi Minh City innovation ecosystem. Each year, Demo Day brings a 'fresh breeze'—whether it's a new venue, new partners, or new ways of connecting. In 2025, we are honored to partner with SIHUB, Expara Ventures, the Innovation Services Center ISC, and the Vietnam University and College Startup and Innovation Network (VNEI). This collaboration not only enriches the program but also sends a strong message about the collaborative spirit of Ho Chi Minh City's startup ecosystem, especially as the event is held at an iconic location for the city's innovation activities—123 Truong Dinh Building."

One of the event's highlights was the Startup Pitching & Showcase session, featuring 13 outstanding startup projects from the UII community, including BioWraps, Ecombox, Onto, Rebo Education, FTES, Apie, X-Profile, Gemsocial, Hypersona, Hololab, Airr Mattress, Emergeniz, and Rang Ro Viet Nam. The founding teams professionally presented their business models, backed by data and practical implementation capabilities, demonstrating their growth potential and scalability. The projects focused on fields such as sustainable materials technology, ed-tech, digital solutions for businesses, mar-tech, and health-tech, reflecting the quality and depth of the UEH innovation ecosystem through their development.

Not stopping at just potential ideas, the professionalism of this year's startups participating in DEMO Day 2025 was evident in their data-driven presentations. Founders confidently showcased metrics on user growth, actual revenue, and their go-to-market strategies in a concise and professional manner.

A representative from Ecombox during the pitching session

A representative from BioWraps during the pitching session

Having gone through the 2025 incubation journey with its five operational pillars—the Essential Training Program, SIP & SHARE, Office Hours & Mentorship Program, Shared Services, and Growth Sessions - the participating startups in the Incubation Program were well-prepared to grow and commercialize. Over 20 in-depth training sessions and 100 consulting sessions, connecting with the USI team and experts, helped the projects validate their capabilities with real data and practical results. Standouts included Ecombox, a startup providing comprehensive logistics management solutions for e-commerce, now processing over 150,000 orders per month and recognized in the Top 5 of the Tuoi Tre Startup Awards. In the sustainable development sector, BioWraps, with its packaging solution from agricultural by-products, has finalized its product and is expanding into major markets in Europe and North America. The maturity of Ecombox, BioWraps, and all the startups present at Demo Day 2025 is clear evidence of the effectiveness of the coaching and business model validation roadmap that the Innovation Institute has persistently built over the past 5+ years.

Investor's Perspective: The Early-Stage Startup Investment Landscape in Vietnam

At the program, Mr. Le Nguyen, Investment Manager at Taiwania Hive Fund, provided a concise and data-rich overview of the early-stage investment landscape in Vietnam. By analyzing capital flow trends in recent years, he noted that while total investment in Vietnam's tech ecosystem saw a decline in 2024, the number of deals remained resilient, especially for smaller-scale transactions, indicating long-term investor confidence in the market. He also highlighted the sectors attracting investor interest, including business automation, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Furthermore, he shared the core criteria early-stage investors use to evaluate startups, including problem-solution fit, product-market fit, as well as the project's scalability and growth potential.

Mr. Le Nguyen, Investment Manager at Taiwania Hive Fund, presenting on "The Early-Stage Startup Investment Landscape in Vietnam"

In-Depth Connections and Honoring Community Values

While the pitching stage was where startups showcased their market potential, the Investor Office Hours session was where they demonstrated their execution capabilities. Moving away from time-limited presentations, the 1:1 meetings provided an opportunity for founders to engage in frank, in-depth dialogues with the investment council. Over 20 meetings were held, where representatives from prestigious funds like VinaCapital, Earth Venture Capital, Gobi Partners, ITI Fund... directly assessed the financial metrics and strategic vision of each project. Here, handshakes exchanged signified not just capital flows but also established strategic partnerships, helping startups complete the missing pieces in their growth picture.

An overview of the Investor Office Hours session

A startup in discussion with an investor

UII Startup Awards 2025: Honoring the Sustainable Values of the UII Startup Community

A highlight of this year's Demo Day was the UII Startup Awards 2025. Unlike other awards, the UII awards focus on honoring tangible value and sustained contributions to the ecosystem. The winners were selected through direct voting by startups and investors at the event, representing the highest recognition from the USI community. The four prestigious award categories were:

The Sustainable Business Model Award for the project demonstrating outstanding capability in forming and perfecting a sustainable business model: Ecombox
The Social Impact Maker Award or the project creating positive value for society alongside business effectiveness, through innovation and sustainable solutions: Survival Skills Vietnam (SSVN)
The Community Catalyst Award for the individual actively connecting, sharing, and supporting members, contributing to fostering a spirit of companionship within the USI community: Mr. Nguyen Dang Trung, CEO & Founder of TagEdu
The People & Culture Excellence Award for the collective that has been building a professional, efficient working environment, spreading positive work culture within UII's Co-working space: STEAMax

The People & Culture Excellence Award

The Sustainable Business Model Award

A Launchpad for Future Opportunities

As one of the region's reputable innovation support organizations, UEH is progressively building an international-standard ecosystem where models for training, incubation, connection and commercialization are in a methodical, professional, and impact-oriented manner. Demo Day 2025 also clearly demonstrated the 4P (Public–Private–People–Partnership) co-creation platform that UEH is implementing. Through this model, UEH fosters a harmonious and sustainable development ecosystem based on the synergy of multiple stakeholders, while enhancing the effectiveness of incubation, piloting, commercialization, and social impact creation activities. The event was not just a culmination of a year's efforts but also the beginning of a deeper phase of collaboration, where UEH is ready to expand its regional and international connections, promote knowledge transfer, co-create solutions, and accompany startups on their journey to regional stature.