The US Embassy in Hanoi, in partnership with Hatch! and Swiss EP, on August 24 launched the “Vietnam Challenge for Our Environment” to create practical solutions for agricultural, industrial, and household waste, and solve plastic, carbon, and chemical pollution problems. This competition is part of the US Embassy’s ongoing campaign to #EndPlasticPollution and #KeepVietnamClean. Matching researchers with entrepreneurs through this campaign encourages collaboration between universities, the startup community, and the private sector to create sustainable solutions.  

“Through this challenge, the US Embassy is committed to helping nurture more viable, sustainable and scalable solutions to address Vietnam’s biggest environmental problems,” said US Department of State’s Regional Public Engagement Officer Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Fenghua Wang.

Support from Hatch!, Swiss EP, BK Holdings, and Startup Vietnam Foundation helped rapidly launch this initiative. Kova Paint, Vietnam Oman Investment (VOI) and VIC Partners also pledged support by providing one cash prize each to the winners.  

The competition will be held from August to November 2018. On August 24, researchers and entrepreneurs presented their ideas and explore the open networking space to form high-performance teams.

From September 1 to November 7, which is the project incubation period, teams will regularly meet with their mentors and attend workshops to refine their business models to achieve fundable stages by investors.

On November 8, or Demo Day, six teams will receive seed funds, publicity and exposure, and pitch to investors. New teams/startups can receive US$$1,000, US$2,000, and US$3,000 while pre-existing startups are eligible to receive from US$2,000 to US$4,000.