VinaCapital launches third fund targeting IT, telecoms

DFJ's founder and managing director Tim Draper gives a speech at the press conference

VinaCapital has launched its third fund with initial capital of US$50 million for investing in companies in the fields of information technology and telecommunications.

The DFJ VinaCapital L.P. fund is a joint venture between VinaCapital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), an international venture capital firm based in the Silicon Valley with a network of offices and partners all over the world.

The DFJ VinaCapital L.P. will look into investment opportunities in State-owned telecoms companies to go public like VinaPhone and MobiFone, companies in the Internet and wireless connection, and software manufacturing and outsourcing, the fund’s managing director Louis Nguyen said.

The fund also targets newly established enterprises or companies run by overseas Vietnamese in the United States, especially successful businesspeople from the Silicon Valley, he added.

The maximum investment for a company is 20% of the fund, equivalent to US$10 million. Before its official launch, the fund has already invested US$2 million in the website www.TimNhanh.com with the aim of turning it into a leading Vietnamese portal on the web. It is evaluating the investment possibility in some 20 other projects, half of them are owned by overseas Vietnamese.

Speaking at a press conference in HCM City yesterday, Tim Draper, founder and managing partner of DFJ, expressed confidence in investment in Vietnam. “Vietnam is emerging as an attractive investment destination and it is the ripe time for DFJ’s venture capital investment.”

Apart from this fund, VinaCapital is managing the Vietnam Opportunity and VinaLand funds with total capital of nearly US$450 million. Vietnam Opportunity Fund invests in private, listed and equitized companies while VinaLand is for real estate projects. Both funds are operating well and have been listed on the London Stock Exchange.

(HCM City, October 19, 2006)