Zunzun 2026 — Just Keep Fighting!

As we step into the beginning of 2026 and leave 2025 behind, I find myself pausing to reflect—not just on milestones achieved, but on the journey, the people, and the convictions that have shaped Genesia Ventures Vietnam over the past year. For us, 2025 was a year of resilience, quiet breakthroughs, and meaningful progress, made possible by founders who kept moving forward despite uncertainty, and a team that stayed disciplined and committed to our long-term Big Goal in Vietnam.

2025 in Review: A Year of Meaningful Milestones

2025 marked several important milestones for Genesia Ventures Vietnam—milestones that reflect not only execution, but trust and conviction.

Alongside the launch of Genesia Ventures Fund IV, we continued to actively invest in a new startup in Vietnam. At the same time, our existing portfolio companies made remarkable progress: some reached rare levels of EBITDA in the local startup ecosystem; others achieved profitability and market leadership in their core markets; and several secured strategic partnerships that will define their next phase of growth. Despite market volatility, our founders stood firm—grounded in strong fundamentals, internal resilience, and a long-term determination to keep building. Toward the end of the year, we came together for the Genesia Extended Family Year-End Dinner. That evening, founders openly shared the challenges they had overcome, the lessons learned through hardship, and their preparations for 2026. These moments of honesty reminded me deeply why community matters—because no meaningful journey is meant to be walked alone.

We successfully co-hosted with OCB, the Banking Innovation for Startups Conference, marking one year of strategic collaboration between Genesia Ventures and OCB. In the context of Vietnam’s Resolution 68 and an evolving regulatory environment, this partnership represents a shift in how startups can access capital—moving beyond pure equity toward more sustainable financing structures. Through our structured bank–VC collaboration, we helped unlock non-collateralized debt financing for technology startups—something that was once considered nearly impossible in Vietnam. A defining example is M Village, one of our portfolio companies, which became the first startup in Vietnam’s banking history to secure a five-year unsecured medium-term loan from OCB, with a total credit line of VND 100 billion. This was more than a single transaction. It was a signal—to founders, banks, and the ecosystem—that discipline, transparency, and long-term thinking can truly expand what is possible.

In 2025, we also hosted the Genesia Global Founders Gathering in Ho Chi Minh City, bringing together startup founders from our four core Genesia markets—Japan, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam—for the first time. Over an intense day and a half of connection and learning, one moment left a particularly deep impression: the sharing session by Le Hong Minh, Founder of VNG. Listening to his journey, many founders in the room felt the true meaning of Keep Fighting—the quiet perseverance, patience, and belief that helped shape Vietnam’s internet ecosystem over more than two decades. It was a reminder that behind every lasting company is a long road filled with unseen effort and difficult choices.

2025 was also a year of consistency and contribution through our monthly Orbit Workshops, held on the last Friday of every month. By inviting founders and experts in finance, legal, and corporate governance to share practical knowledge, we aimed to contribute meaningfully to the broader Vietnamese startup ecosystem. What encouraged us most was seeing founders proactively reach out—not only to join, but to suggest future topics themselves. That is when we know our effort has truly compounded.

Furthermore, 2025 was also the year I experimented with a new way of sharing through the launch of Zunzun Founder Playbook video series. These short, under-five-minute videos distill core principles and lessons learned along the way—for founders who are building for the long term. I hope founders find these reflections helpful, especially in moments of doubt, uncertainty, or difficult decision-making.

After all the consistent, disciplined effort, I was deeply honored to be recognized by our GPs and the Genesia team as Best Genesian 2025. I received this recognition with gratitude and humility. To me, it is not a reward for short-term outcomes, but an acknowledgment of persistence, disciplined thinking and action, and a long-term commitment to building something sustainable for Genesia Ventures in Vietnam. In a profession that often celebrates speed and visible wins, this recognition reaffirmed my belief that consistency and a long-term growth mindset truly matter.

2026 Forward Looking: Just Keep Fighting

Building on the foundation we laid in 2025 and aligned with our long-term mission in Vietnam, 2026 will be a year of focused, accelerated execution.

We will continue to actively seek and support the best startups with the potential to become Market Winners in their respective segments—founded by resilient, capable, and ambitious entrepreneurs. Beyond capital, we aim to contribute as an Excellent Capital Stack Engineer, combining equity, bank debt, and structured capital, and as a Strategic Value Creator, helping startups access meaningful partnerships and growth opportunities in Vietnam and beyond.

At the same time, we remain deeply committed to building Vietnam’s startup ecosystem. We will continue organizing monthly Orbit Workshops to share practical, founder-relevant knowledge. We also aim to grow the Orbit Partners Community, connecting strategic partners with our portfolio companies, and the Orbit Alpha Founders Community—a group of founders with action-driven mindsets and generosity to share resources and experiences as they grow into Vietnam’s next generation of industrialists.

Our aspiration is to further realize the vision of Genesia Orbit HCMC as a true destination for startup growth—not just a comfortable working space, but a launchpad that helps founders move into real orbit.

These reflections capture my gratitude for the journey of 2025 and my excitement for what lies ahead in 2026. I sincerely hope to continue walking this long road together with founders and partners who share the same conviction—for our startups, and for Vietnam’s startup ecosystem as a whole.

Yeah — let’s just keep fighting for it! Together.