Ho Chi Minh City Proposes Raising Startup Support to 500 Million Dong per Project

Ho Chi Minh City wants to raise support for innovative startups by 25%, offering as much as 500 million dong per project during the acceleration stage. The proposal appears in a draft regulation now being circulated for public comment by the city government.

Under the draft, pre-incubation projects would receive 50 million dong for up to six months. Incubation projects would receive 100 million dong, while acceleration projects could receive 500 million dong, with each stage lasting no more than 12 months.

The city provided 40 million, 80 million and 400 million dong respectively during the 2024-25 pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration stages. It supported 35 initiatives involving 179 projects, with total funding of 18.3 billion dong. Officials said implementation showed a need to improve project quality, define expected results more clearly and strengthen accountability among incubators.

The proposed amounts would cover both direct labor and incubator costs. The 50 million dong pre-incubation grant would allocate 20 million dong to direct labor and 30 million dong to the incubator. The 100 million dong incubation grant would split 40 million and 60 million dong between those categories. For acceleration projects, 185 million dong would go to direct labor and 315 million dong to the incubator.

The drafting authority estimates annual demand at about 60 billion dong, to be included in the city’s yearly budget for science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. The draft would not create separate administrative procedures for individual applicants. Incubators would register support initiatives, select projects, identify their funding stage and specify implementation plans and results. Projects could not receive state funding twice for the same content, outcome or stage.