VTI Pays $88 Million For A Bigger Slice Of Highlands
Viet Thai International (VTI), the company founded by David Thai, has paid US$88.4 million (VND2.3 trillion) to buy an 11% stake in SF Vung Tau, the entity that operates Highlands Coffee, from Philippine group Jollibee. The purchase lifts VTI's holding from 40% to 51%, while Jollibee's falls from 60% to 49%.
Jollibee first invested in Highlands Coffee in 2012, paying $25 million for a 49% stake, then raised its holding further to become the chain's controlling shareholder.
Fourteen years on, the business looks nothing like it did then. From 56 outlets at the time of Jollibee's entry, Highlands Coffee now runs 1,062 stores across Vietnam and several overseas markets, serving more than 100 million customer visits a year. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, it posted EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — of roughly $17 million, up 70% year on year.
At the transaction price, Highlands Coffee is valued at about $800 million (more than VND21 trillion), many times its worth when Jollibee first bought in.
The deal also lands as Highlands Coffee prepares to go public in Vietnam, with a listing planned for the first quarter of 2027 and a target of $300-400 million in proceeds.
By lifting its stake to 51% ahead of that listing, VTI returns to majority control of Highlands Coffee. Jollibee keeps 49% and remains a major shareholder as the chain heads into its IPO.
GenAI Fund and Tasco Put $500,000 Into Car-Care Platform Bonbon
GenAI Fund and Tasco have invested $500,000 (about VND13 billion) in Bonbon Mobility in a pre-seed round — the earliest stage of startup fundraising — with Tasco as lead investor. Bonbon will use the money to complete its technology platform and widen its network of garages and car-care outlets.
Bonbon Mobility runs an online-to-offline (O2O) platform connecting car owners with service providers. Drivers can find a car wash or book maintenance directly on the platform, while the outlets themselves gain an online channel to reach customers.
Rather than opening sites of its own, Bonbon built the model on capacity that already exists. Vietnam has more than 12,500 car wash and care facilities, though most operate independently and to varying standards. Bonbon saw that opening and is pulling those scattered outlets into a single system.
For now the company is focused on washing and car care, with periodic maintenance and other services to follow.
Bonbon was the winning project in Tasco Foundry Wash3000, a venture-builder program run jointly by Tasco and GenAI Fund. It is now moving from testing into commercial expansion.
EQuest and Standard Chartered to Mobilize $325 Million for Vietnamese Education
EQuest Education Group has signed an agreement with Standard Chartered to raise $325 million (about VND8.45 trillion) for education projects in Vietnam. The capital will be arranged through the Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Centre (VIFC-HCMC), with the city among the priority locations in the investment plan.
EQuest plans to channel the funds into five groups of projects: a technology university campus teaching AI, cybersecurity, data science and semiconductors; expanded partnerships with international universities; new international schools; upgrades to its private K-12 system; and investment in education technology platforms.
Under the agreement, Standard Chartered will help EQuest raise the $325 million and connect the group with capital providers, while EQuest Capital, a member of VIFC-HCMC, will receive the funds and allocate them across individual projects. Raising the money through VIFC-HCMC allows both sides to use the mechanisms available to an international financial centre, including foreign exchange and tax policies as well as the legal framework governing financial transactions there.
EQuest currently operates more than 25 educational institutions serving close to 20,000 school students and 10,000 university students. Beyond those enrolled on its campuses, a further 180,000 learners use its programs and technology platforms.
The agreement follows a run of fundraising in recent years. EQuest has taken investment from KKR, TAEL Partners and Vietnam Oman Investment, and mid-way through this year it closed a $115.5 million syndicated loan from nine banks co-led by Standard Chartered and CTBC Bank, with a five-year tenor. Management says the group is targeting an IPO within the next few years.
Vietnam Moves to Clear the Path From Lab to Market
Vietnam's national innovation and entrepreneurship program for 2026-2035 will shift its focus from broad-based support to clearing specific bottlenecks in the ecosystem.
One obstacle is the creation of spin-offs, companies carved out of a research institute or university to take technology and research results to market. The process still runs into difficulties in valuing intellectual property and in administrative procedures, compounded by a lack of sufficiently attractive incentives on tax, land and training.
By 2030, the program aims to support 200 startups at the incubation and acceleration stages, at least 30% of them in high-tech or strategic technology fields. It also plans to help 150 companies finish products for production, put 30 companies through controlled product testing and build a pool of 500 experts supporting the ecosystem. Results will be judged on measurable outcomes — whether products reach the market, how fast companies grow, their economic and social impact and their innovation capacity — rather than on how many startups receive support or how many activities are held.
Vietnam currently has around 4,000 startups, 208 investment funds and 84 incubators, ranking 50th in the 2026 Global Startup Ecosystem Index.
TECHFEST 2026 Brings Startups Into the Open Around Hoan Kiem Lake
TECHFEST Vietnam 2026, the country's national innovation and entrepreneurship festival, will run from November 13 to 15 in the open-air area around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, drawing an expected 50,000 to 60,000 visitors. Held annually since 2015, this year's edition is led by the National Startup Support Centre (NSSC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Across the three main days, startups from 34 provinces and cities will present solutions in fields including AI, IoT, the metaverse and agricultural technology, alongside technology demonstrations, pitching sessions in front of investors and business matchmaking.
Under the theme From Tech to Life, organizers will stage 22 activities before, during and after the main event, and will launch the techfest.vn platform so that startups, companies and investors can keep registering, connecting and tracking activity through the year. According to the organizers, the format is designed to improve the odds of matching technology solutions with the real needs of companies, research institutes and regulators.
Genesia Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm operating in Japan and Southeast Asia, with a strong belief in the long-term potential of Vietnam’s digital economy. Beyond providing capital, the fund actively supports startups through strategic guidance and connections to a broader regional network.