Today, we are in the midst of a seismic shift in business models, powered by the Internet and a generation of connected users. This is possible because of a new business model, to fit — the platform.
The platform revolution is huge and growing. New platform companies are founded every day. In the 2nd CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019, 4 Vietnamese startups with 4 different platforms had presented their ideas to judges and audience to gain exposure, receive feedback and engage with the community.
Platform Revolution era
In the hotel industry, Airbnb poses a serious threat to the revenues of established players and is disrupting the housing market. So, platforms are a new way. With this model, a platform provides resources for a variety of producers and consumers can interact and transact with each other.
For example, Vietnam Factories – Vifary was one of 4 startups pitched in 2nd Crowdpitch, a platform to connect the SME Vietnamese manufacturers to the SME customers over the world. Vietnamese producers cannot connect with their customers in the world cause of geographical, cultural and communication difficulties, today they can easily connect with each other through Vifary.
The platform revolution is huge and growing. They’re taking over many markets and transforming the economy. Many platforms serve more than one purpose. According to the “Platform Revolution” book, there are many industries that will probably convert to platform industries in the coming years, which is healthcare, energy, finance and money, logistics and transportation industries, labor markets, government, and education. That may explain why all four startups pitching ideas at 2nd CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019 are platforms in diverse sectors.
In education industries, education platform which people can learn online instead of attending a physical classroom. Sociov is an example, which platforms to sharing knowledge through the mobile app. Two others are concentrated on flowers market and sports.
First marketplace flowers platform in VietNam
Xinh Tuoi Online, a winner chosen by judges of 2nd CrowdPitch, was the first marketplace platform to retail flowers in Vietnam as they claimed.
Explained about the decision, Mr Richard Han – Venture Capitalist Investing in startups said: “So we chose that startup specifically because we thought that, one, it was well positioned; two, it’s a marketplace consolidating on the existing, I guess, what you would call modern trade for flower shops in the urban area today that also have an online presence. We also believe that the market may look quite small today. But moving forward, it’ll continue to grow, especially with more and more online penetration in terms of purchasing expected to happen moving forward in the future.”
In 2030, Vietnam‘s flower gift market size is forecasted had 1 billion USD, realistically today, it’s probably around 280 million USD for urban. Out of that Vietnam is a very digitally connected country, 70% internet penetration, so online purchase is about to increase quite quickly over time.
Also, this is in line with the consumption store in Vietnam while the middle class accounts for about a third of the population by the end of next year. So the family household wallet will spend more cash for individuals on non-discretionary goods, such as flowers.
From investor’s standing, Mr Bui Hai An – Co-Founder & CEO of O2 Financial shared startup Xinh tuoi online was potential startup to invest in 2nd CrowdPitch VietNam 2019.
“Even though they are about to launch, but the model is very attractive, and we believe if you invest into them, we advise them, they can fix the thing that they’re doing really well right now, especially on the pitch on the product, but the potential is there. So we are betting on the most potential startups among four candidates today,” Hai An explained.
Attractive Social Sports Platform
WeSport was the most-voted startup in 2nd CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019, which was a social sports platform connecting sportsmen with each other and sports facility. The app allows sports lovers to create their own events, look for teammates, opponents, challenge other teams, join leagues and organize their game’s finances.
Mr Clemens Levert – Co-Founder of WeSport emphasized that it was a positive thing to grow their business as their startup rewarded by the crowd. He shared CrowdPitch was a nice platform to create awareness for the early startup with the fact that “getting feedback is a good way to interact and learn to grow.”
Mr. Hai An emphasized the prominence of CrowdPitch to startups in the ecosystem because it was a perfect platform for them to practice because the judges can revise questions, comments and among the audience, there would be potential customers, partners, and even some investors.
CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019 is a platform for early startups. 5 startups chosen to pitch each month will receive 1.000USD AWS credits, technical support, and free online training besides the voting cash.
The 3rd CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019 is going to present on July, 25th 2019.
The CrowdPitch Vietnam is powered by Innovation Lab.
