First-ever Startup Competition in the Field of Energy Efficiency Launched

On September 19 in Da Nang, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) officially launched the competition “Innovative Startups in Energy Efficiency.”

The organizing committee performed the ceremony to officially kick off the competition.

The competition is part of the project “Accelerating Innovation Startups in Energy Efficiency” (AIS4EE) under the Vietnam–EU Sustainable Energy Transition Programme (SETP), funded by the European Union for the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This is the first startup acceleration program dedicated specifically to the energy efficiency sector ever held in Vietnam. The initiative aims to attract investment into innovative solutions that promote efficient and economical energy use in industry, transportation, and construction.

Participants include startup enterprises and student teams. Startup teams must have business plans in Vietnam and a pilot product. Once selected, they will join a 9-week training program with experts to refine product-launch strategies, receive mentoring, and get one-on-one support.

For student teams aged 15–25, participants must propose ideas for energy-efficient solutions suited to the Vietnamese context. They will receive 9 weeks of training in market insights, practical experience from experts, business modeling, communication skills, and fundraising techniques.

The organizing committee officially accepts online applications from August 6 to September 25 at https://ais4ee.vn. Up to 30 teams (15 startup enterprises and 15 student groups) will be selected to participate in the training and mentoring sessions from October to December. The final round is scheduled for March 2025.

The competition offers total prizes of up to USD 35,000 for startup enterprises and USD 10,000 for student teams. Additionally, participating teams will have opportunities to pitch to domestic and international venture capital funds.