From 13 to 15 October 2026, Riverside Palace in Ho Chi Minh City became a meeting point for innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and business leaders at the fifth edition of Vietnam Innovation Summit (VIS) 2026. Organised by InnoLab Asia in collaboration with the city’s Department of Science and Technology, under the patronage of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the summit brought together a diverse community around a shared question: how can innovation translate into sustainable business growth and meaningful economic impact?
For Alliance Mount Group, the summit was more than an opportunity to explore new technologies or expand our professional network. It was a chance to engage directly with the people building businesses, the investors supporting their ambitions, and the partners helping connect Vietnam with the wider regional and international markets.
Represented by our Managing Director, Mr. Duc Pham, Alliance Mount participated in the summit’s ASEAN CrossConnect x InnoLab Asia programme, taking the stage on 15 October in the Reverse Pitching segment. It was a great opportunity to share Alliance Mount’s perspective on how founders can prepare for international investment, build stronger investor relationships, and develop businesses with the potential to scale beyond Vietnam.
Across the event, one message became increasingly clear: the next stage of innovation-led growth will depend not only on the quality of ideas or the availability of capital, but also on how effectively businesses connect technology, people, capital, governance, and market access.
An innovation ecosystem in motion
The summit’s theme, “Critical Mass – The New Currents of Innovation,” provided a useful lens through which to view the developments taking place across Vietnam’s innovation landscape.
Innovation does not happen in isolation. Research requires commercialisation; technology needs customers; founders need capital and experienced partners; and investors need businesses capable of turning opportunities into sustainable returns. When these elements begin to reinforce one another, an ecosystem can move beyond individual success stories towards broader, more sustained growth.
Over two days of visiting exhibitors and engaging with participants, we encountered a wide range of solutions, ideas, and business models. The exhibition brought together different parts of the operating economy, including education, banking, software, and international partnerships. Each sector offered a different perspective on how technology and innovation can improve existing operations, create new services, and unlock opportunities for collaboration.
The summit offered a snapshot of an ecosystem in which these connections are becoming increasingly important. Vietnam’s innovation agenda is no longer simply a domestic conversation. Its future development is also shaped by the country’s ability to connect local companies with international capital, technical expertise, strategic partners, and new markets.
Beyond the exhibition floor: Where collaboration takes shape
One of the most valuable aspects of Vietnam Innovation Summit was the opportunity to meet people beyond their company profiles, product demonstrations, or investment presentations.
Conversations with investors, co-founders, experts, and professionals from different industries provided insights into the challenges they are addressing, the opportunities they see, and the ambitions driving their businesses. Each discussion revealed a different part of the broader ecosystem and helped us better understand where practical collaboration could create value.
Equally important was observing how these interactions translated into action.
Business matching, partnership discussions, and the signing of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) demonstrated the different ways organisations can move from initial introductions towards more structured cooperation. These activities are central to what a summit of this kind can accomplish: bringing the right people into the same room, creating a basis for mutual understanding, and opening the door to opportunities that may otherwise take much longer to discover.
Nevertheless, creating the conditions for these relationships to begin is valuable in itself. When founders, investors, and potential partners can explore their objectives directly, they have a better opportunity to identify shared interests and assess whether there is a genuine basis for working together.
For Alliance Mount, these conversations are an important part of understanding the market. They allow us to listen to businesses at different stages of development, identify emerging needs, and explore how our network and advisory capabilities might support their next phase of growth.
ASEAN CrossConnect: Bringing regional capital closer to Vietnamese businesses
A particular highlight for Alliance Mount was participating in ASEAN CrossConnect x InnoLab Asia, a programme associated with Cradle Fund Malaysia and designed to facilitate direct engagement between Malaysian venture capital and corporate venture capital investors and ASEAN companies.
The Reverse Pitching format provided a different perspective from the conventional startup pitch. Rather than placing founders at the centre of the stage to compete for investor attention, the format gave investors the opportunity to present their investment perspectives, interests, and potential areas of engagement.
This change in perspective raised an important question for founders: when capital is available, what determines whether a company is ready to attract it and make productive use of it?
The answer extends well beyond a compelling pitch deck or an attractive growth forecast. Investors need to understand the business, its financial position, its management capabilities, the quality of its governance, and the potential for growth beyond its current market. They also need confidence that the company can communicate effectively, manage capital responsibly, and work within an appropriate framework for reporting and accountability.
For Alliance Mount, ASEAN CrossConnect was therefore a relevant platform to share our experience in supporting founders and businesses as they navigate the transition from domestic growth towards regional and international expansion.
The Alliance Mount perspective: Connecting the right pieces
Alliance Mount’s participation in Vietnam Innovation Summit 2026 reinforced our view that cross-border growth requires more than introducing a company to an investor.
The introduction may open the door, but the quality of the opportunity depends on what follows: whether the business is prepared, whether the investors are aligned with its objectives, whether the proposed structure makes sense, and whether the partnership can create value beyond the initial transaction.
Our work in investment advisory and corporate development sits at the intersection of these considerations. By connecting businesses with relevant investors, funds, family offices, and strategic partners, we seek to help companies explore opportunities that may otherwise remain outside their immediate networks.
Our international relationships, including those spanning Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, and the wider Asia-Pacific region, provide a basis for exploring how different sources of capital and expertise might complement the needs of Vietnamese businesses.
This does not mean that every company needs international investors or that cross-border expansion is the right next step for every founder. The appropriate strategy depends on the company’s stage, ambitions, business model, and readiness. In some cases, strengthening domestic operations may be the priority. In others, a carefully selected international partner could accelerate growth or provide capabilities that are difficult to develop independently.
The important task is to identify the right opportunity and prepare for it properly.
Platforms such as Vietnam Innovation Summit and ASEAN CrossConnect play a useful role in bringing these parties together. They create opportunities for founders to understand investor perspectives, for investors to discover new businesses, and for potential partners to assess where their interests overlap.
Turning those initial conversations into durable partnerships still requires preparation, due diligence, trust, and sustained execution on both sides of the table.