Vietnam’s startup KiotViet has secured a spot in Forbes Asia’s third annual ‘100 to Watch’ list, which highlights rapidly growing small companies and startups making waves across the Asia-Pacific region.

The companies on the list include those that are either targeting untapped markets or applying new technologies. 

The list comprises companies from 13 countries and territories which belong to 11 categories including biotechnology, healthcare, e-commerce as well as retail and finance. 

Singapore leads the pack with 20 of its companies on the list, followed by Hong Kong with 15 and mainland China with 11. 

The emerging innovation hubs of Indonesia and the Philippines contributed 11 and nine companies, respectively.

Only one Vietnamese startup, KiotViet, made it in the list, featured in the consumer technology category.

“Originally a subsidiary of software development company Citigo Software, Hanoi-based KiotViet struck out on its own in 2014 with a point-of-sale system for Vietnam’s small businesses,” Forbes Asia wrote in its introduction about the Vietnamese firm. 

“KiotViet aims to serve as a one-stop-shop for inventory management, CRM [customer relationship management], employee management services and more. 

“The startup says it reached over 200,000 customers by the end of 2022.”

KiotViet secured a US$45 million investment in its Series B round from Jungle Ventures and KKR in 2021.

Beacon Venture Capital, Cao Viet My Investment Development Technology, Jet Tech Innovation Ventures, and Kite Asia Holdings are also among its key backers.

For the selection of the ‘100 to Watch’ list, Forbes Asia opened an online submission process and extended invitations to accelerators, incubators, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) advocacy organizations, universities, venture capitalists, and other entities to nominate companies. 

From a pool of over 550 submissions, the final 100 were chosen. 

To be eligible for consideration, companies had to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, privately owned, for-profit, have annual revenue of no more than $50 million in their latest financial year, and have received no more than $100 million in total funding as of August 7. 

Forbes Asia said its team thoroughly evaluated each submission, taking into account factors such as the company’s positive impact on the region or industry, a history of robust revenue growth or the ability to attract funding, promising business models or markets, and a compelling narrative.

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