After taking on Facebook, Vietnam’s VNG sets its sights on world

Bloomberg

A Vietnamese internet startup that’s successfully defended its home market of 100 million people against global giants like Facebook is now going into attack mode.
VNG Corp, Vietnam’s answer to Tencent Holdings Ltd with games, messaging, videos and music among its services, is accelerating its international expansion, co-founder Le Hong Minh said in an interview at its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. Games will be its spearhead, and VNG also seeks to add global revenue from artificial intelligence and cloud computing products.
The tech startup’s success abroad would be a milestone for Vietnam, a Communist country better known for textiles and agriculture.
As part of its growth plans, VNG has taken steps towards being included on a local exchange for unlisted firms, often a precursor for a listing on an official exchange. The company is also reportedly eyeing a US listing — something Minh wouldn’t directly confirm.
“We want to be a global technology company,” said Minh, also the company’s chief executive officer. “So we have to play in the same playground, and access the best and obviously most demanding investor base in the world.”
VNG has emerged as one of the country’s most watched startups and a US IPO would make it the first Vietnamese tech company to list in America. Its stock-market debut could follow on the heels of Vietnamese electric-car maker Vinfast, which is targeting an IPO on the US stock market as soon as January.
VNGGames, the company’s gaming arm, is key to its international expansion, Minh said. It has users in more than 130 countries and expects to have 320 million customers globally in 2023, according to the unit’s website. VNG has seven offices abroad, including in Beijing, Taipei and Bangkok.
Formerly known as Vinagame, VNG had its start as a game publisher in 2004. It develops and publishes its own titles as well as local versions of international hits, and has gradually expanded to a wide range of services, such as music sharing, video streaming, messaging, a news portal and mobile payments.