VNG Profit Hits VND937 Billion, Targets Its First Full-Year of Profitability
Vietnamese tech unicorn VNG posted adjusted operating profit (AOP) of VND937 billion for the first half of 2026, up 115% year on year. AOP margin also rose sharply, from 10% to 16%, showing that profit growth is outpacing revenue growth by a wide margin. Consolidated net revenue grew 29% to VND5.87 trillion, and net profit after tax reached VND592 billion.
The growth came from nearly every core business line. With 61.3 million quarterly active users and a paying user ratio of 4.6%, online games continued to generate massive revenue for the company. International game bookings also grew 19% to VND779 billion, a sign that the company's push into overseas markets is paying off.
Zalo and its AI products brought in VND1.15 trillion in revenue. Zalo now has 81.3 million monthly active users, 38% of whom use the AI features built into the app.
Zalopay was the fastest-growing segment, with revenue doubling to VND457 billion, while active users and total transaction value grew 39% and 74%, respectively. Cloud infrastructure arm GreenNode brought in VND314 billion ($12 million), with AI Cloud revenue alone tripling year on year.
Riding this momentum, VNG is targeting full-year 2026 revenue of VND12.5 to 13.5 trillion, representing growth of 15% to 25%, and is aiming for its first full year of profitability across all operations since VNZ shares began trading on UPCoM.
CPF Spends VND235 Billion To Acquire 76.57% Of A Vietnamese Beverage Company
Thai food conglomerate CPF has signed an agreement to acquire 76.57% of Les Vergers Du Mekong (LVDM), the company behind juice brand Le Fruit and coffee brand Folliet, for roughly VND235 billion. CPF isn't acquiring the stake directly, however; the deal is being carried out through C.P. Vietnam Corporation, its subsidiary in Vietnam. The deal is expected to close within two months, pending regulatory approval.
LVDM produces premium juices, jams, and coffee for five-star hotel chains in Vietnam and exports to multiple markets worldwide. The company's revenue grew from VND127 billion in 2023 to VND199.3 billion in 2025, while net profit nearly doubled to VND20.4 billion over the same period.
Vietnam is now CPF's largest overseas market, contributing around 18% of the group's total revenue in the second quarter of 2026, with local revenue reaching THB28.21 billion, up 7.8% year on year. The group is also planning to spin off and list C.P. Vietnam via IPO by late 2026 or the first half of 2027.
The LVDM deal isn't an isolated move. Just 18 days later, CPF signed an agreement to acquire 51% of a bottled water company in Thailand. This shows CPF is actively using M&A to expand into beverages across both markets, rather than relying solely on livestock and traditional food products, which still account for most of its revenue in Vietnam.
Japan-Vietnam M&A Holds Steady as Global Activity Falls 8%
In the first half of 2026, Japanese companies announced nine M&A deals in Vietnam, a slight decline from 11 deals in the same period of 2025. Even so, deal activity stayed relatively stable amid global geopolitical uncertainty and rising oil prices. Notably, while the number of deals in Vietnam saw only a slight dip, Japanese companies' outbound M&A activity worldwide fell 8% over the same period.
In Vietnam, notable deals included Sharp Energy Solutions acquiring full ownership of Sharp NSN Energy Solution, and Kamigumi acquiring a 50% stake in CLK Cold Storage. In the financial sector, Amova Asset Management and BIDV Securities (BSC) signed a cooperation agreement toward establishing an asset management joint venture, though the venture has not yet officially launched operations.
While no large-scale deal has been recorded so far in 2026, Vietnam remains a destination of interest for major Japanese groups such as KDDI, Sumitomo Corporation, Nishitetsu, and Hakuhodo. With its focus on high technology, the digital economy, and advanced manufacturing, Resolution 10-NQ/TW is expected to further boost the flow of Japanese capital going forward. Cooperation between the two countries is also gradually shifting from straightforward M&A toward joint ventures and longer-term strategic partnerships.
Ho Chi Minh City Proposes A 25% Increase In Startup Support Starting From The Idea Stage
Ho Chi Minh City is seeking public input on a new draft resolution proposing a 25% increase in non-refundable support for innovative startups, while also expanding its scope to cover the entire startup journey, from idea formation and product development to market validation and scaling. The draft updates the current Resolution 20/2023/NQ-HĐND.
Maximum support levels are divided across three stages. At the pre-incubation stage (before a product exists), support rises from VND40 million to VND50 million per project. At the incubation stage, it rises from VND80 million to VND100 million. At the acceleration stage, it rises from VND400 million to VND500 million. However, at this final stage, only startups with a market-validated product and existing customers or revenue are eligible for support to expand into new markets, scale up, strengthen governance, and raise capital. Projects with co-funding from investors or other legitimate matching capital may be prioritized for approval.
The support won't be paid directly to startups in cash. Instead, it will cover services such as expert consulting, training, technology, legal, financial, and intellectual property support, marketing, investor connections, product testing, market development, and incubation facilities.
Between 2024 and 2025, Ho Chi Minh City supported 179 innovative startup projects through 35 programs, with total funding of over VND18.3 billion. Under the new draft, estimated annual funding needs are around VND60 billion, more than triple the average annual spending of the previous period.
Why Vietnamese Startups Still Need A Parent Company In Singapore
Some investors require Vietnamese startups in newer tech sectors to set up a parent company in Singapore before they'll invest. It isn't because they doubt the capabilities of Vietnamese teams; it's because Singapore already has an internationally standard set of financial tools that Vietnamese corporate law still lacks, such as preferred shares, liquidation preference, anti-dilution protection, ESOP, and drag-along rights. As a result, capital and intellectual property from many Vietnamese startups shift overseas from an early stage, simply because the domestic legal environment doesn't yet offer the tools they need to raise capital at home.
Experts point to two main reasons behind this. The first is a fear of legal liability. Concerns about failure and the risk of being held accountable make both investors and regulators cautious about business models without precedent.
The second is that many new technologies, such as AI, data, and digital assets, sit at the intersection of multiple regulatory domains. Without a single authority empowered to coordinate across them, caution and slow decision-making become almost inevitable.
Whatever the underlying cause, the outcome is clear: newer business models such as Web3, digital assets, specialized AI, and embedded finance, financial services built directly into platforms outside the financial sector, still lack an appropriate legal framework in Vietnam.
Vietnam currently only has a handful of pilot mechanisms for fintech and cashless payments, and their scope remains too limited to cover these newer business models.
A regulatory sandbox, a controlled testing framework, is seen as the best solution to both problems at once. It gives startups legal room to test new models within set limits on time, number of users, geographic scope, and transaction value, while also allowing regulators to manage risk and gather real-world data before drafting formal rules.
However, for a sandbox to actually work, regulators need to clearly distinguish between two types of failure. Failures that occur within the bounds of testing should be treated as data to improve policy, while fraud or deliberate abuse of the mechanism still needs to be dealt with strictly.
Expanding the sandbox, then, isn't just about giving startups more room to experiment. It's also about keeping startups and intellectual property in Vietnam, rather than letting Singapore remain the default destination every time a Vietnamese startup needs to raise international capital.
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.