(VOVWORLD) - In recent years, tech startups have attracted a lot of attention from the startup community. But digital startups are a trend that has appeared just in the past 1 or 2 years. These enterprises use new technologies - artificial intelligence, machine learning, the internet of things, blockchain, and cloud computing - to create new products or services or to deliver services in a new way. We will look at digital startups in Vietnam, their opportunities and challenges, through the story of ZSolution.
 (Photo credit: ZSolution) |
Tech startup ZSolution just won the 2023 Sao Khue Award, Vietnam’s most prestigious software and IT services award, for its flagship product Z One. Z One is a set of sales and revenue growth solutions that support businesses in digital transformation from production to online sales and distribution in both Vietnam and foreign markets.
ZSolution Founder and CEO Tran Quang Chau says many ZSolution customers have used Z One to distribute their products to Southeast Asian, Taiwan (China), Japan, South Korea, Europe, Russia and the US.
“The most outstanding feature of Z One is its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) functions to exploit customer data by applying AI and machine learning to increase employee performance and make the most of the company's customers," said Chau.
Nguyen Tu Quang, Chairman and CEO of the technology and network security group BKAV, praised Z One for its great potential for making Vietnamese products better known in the international market.
He insisted that ZSolution is an innovative startup model, using technology and creating a new type of service business in Vietnam.
In addition, Quang said it will likely become a cross-border trade platform to help Vietnamese companies complete the stages of production, customer care, and selling goods in regional markets by gathering and analyzing customer data.
“Its data analysis function makes Z One more competitive than other available products because it helps businesses understand who their customers are. It should be considered a platform rather than simply CRM software," said Quang.
ZSolution demonstrates the digital startup model, one of the models recently seen in Vietnam (including innovative startups, digital tech startups, and AI technology startups).
According to Quang, a business is considered an innovative startup when it creates a breakthrough, new, innovative product or service that changes the market.
Therefore, a digital technology startup is an innovative startup that uses digital technologies, said Quang, adding, “An AI startup is also an innovative company but it uses AI technology to stand out from traditional technologies in the way it can imitate humans. When ChatGPT was launched, it created a super breakthrough and got people talking about AI startups."
Digital startups in Vietnam enjoy many advantages. After the pandemic, many multinational companies moved their production to Vietnam. In the first 9 months of 2023 registered foreign investment capital in Vietnam totaled more than 20 billion USD, up 7.7% from last year.
Other advantages are Vietnam’s abundant human resources with rapidly improving qualifications, a great interest in technology transfer and innovation, and increased investment in tech startups by the government and domestic investors.
Digital tech startups use the resources and data created by the digitization going on in different fields to develop smarter and more efficient products.
According to Chau, the digital technology startup model opens up new opportunities for the entire Vietnamese startup community.
“Digitization in multiple sectors creates an endless demand for new technology solutions. We need the Government to open a national data center, because we lack data for analysis for ourselves and our customers,” said Chau.
He noted as it’s often difficult for a company to turn out a new product, they often want his company to speed up the analysis process.
“The sooner a national data center is put into operation the better,” Chau concluded.
Digital technology is the core of the digital economy and the current digital transformation.
Although Vietnamese digital tech startups have good prospects for growth, they face big challenges: competition from other ASEAN businesses, a heavy dependence on the international market, the possibility of being usurped by foreign investors, and a constant anxiety about brain-drain and unreliable data sources.
Chau says that, once these challenges are met, it will be easier for Vietnam to make a name for itself in the world of digital technology.