Just one month after going IPO, 500 Startups Vietnam shares its plan to bring 500 Startups’ Silicon Valley accelerator curriculum to the country

500 Startups’ flagship accelerator 500 Startups Vietnam announces its accelerator program for 2019 called The Saola Accelerator, brought to the country in partnership with Korean multimedia retailer GS Shop that also operates an internationally active corporate venture capital team.

This announcement is made just one month after the accelerator had a final close’s oversubscription.

The Saola Accelerator is named after rare species of Vietnamese deer, commonly known as the “Asian unicorn”. It seeks to support three batches of Vietnam-connected startups with US$100,000 investment and a Silicon Valley accelerator curriculum.

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The participating companies will receive access to more than US$500,000 worth of free perks and discounts from twenty 500 Startups partners including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft.

In addition to capital, the Saola Accelerator will offer enhanced programming including 500’s signature Growth Hell Week plus hands-on support for growth. The program will conclude with a Demo Day, where the companies will share about their products and progress to an invite-only audience of regional venture investors.

“We’ve learned a lot from working with 1,000 companies in more than 40 growth program batches around the world. We’re excited to bring that experience to Vietnam,” said Marvin Liao, Partner at 500 Startups and head of its flagship accelerator program in San Francisco.

There are three criteria to enter the accelerator:

• Tech or tech-enabled
• Vietnam-connected: serving the Vietnam market, having a Vietnamese co-founder, and/or having a meaningful portion of the team in Vietnam
• Have meaningful traction

The registration opens now and interested startups can apply to the program here.

The Early Bird application deadline is January 2, 2019, and regular deadline is January 20, 2019.

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“Our program is aimed at companies ready to break out and become Asian unicorns – saolas,” closed Eddie Thai, a lead partner of 500 Startups Vietnam.
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Image Credit: 500 Startups

The post 500 Startups Vietnam to launch The Saola Accelerator, known locally as “Asian Unicorn” appeared first on e27.

Source: E27