M. Capital: deals, investors and funding programmes

This appendix sets out the money side of Vietnamese alternative protein: the deals that have happened, the investors with a relevant track record, the size of the local venture and private equity (PE) market, development finance institutions (DFIs), the state venture framework created in 2025 and 2026, grants and philanthropy, accelerators, and exit routes. It focuses on money for supply: ingredient, feed and processing plants, pilot facilities and research.

Coverage warning. The web-search cap for the capital research was reached early; after that only direct reads of known pages were possible. DFIs beyond IFC, Proparco and ADB Ventures, regional strategic venture arms, Vietnamese food M&A, aquaculture-tech and feed-tech deals, and H1 2026 Vietnam venture totals are therefore incomplete. Absence of a deal here means "not found", not "does not exist".

Currency. Amounts are given as reported. Where we convert VND to USD, we use VND 26,000 per USD (our calculation); the capital research used about VND 25,380 per USD, implied by a March 2026 press report ¹ VN-directTrung bình, so some source USD figures differ slightly from ours.

#M.1 Key findings

1. Disclosed venture money into Vietnam-based alternative protein is small and concentrated in one insect company. Entobel's USD 32.5 million project financing (2022 to 2023) is the only disclosed round above USD 5 million we found from 2015 to September 2026 ^2,3,4 VN-directTrung bình.
2. We found no disclosed venture round for any Vietnam-based plant-based meat, plant-based dairy, precision fermentation, microalgae or cultivated-meat company. The only plant-protein fundraising found is Emmay's: about USD 250,000 from three angel rounds plus grants by 2021 (company claim) ⁵ VN-directThấp.
3. Vietnamese strategic money has gone outward. Vinh Hoan invested in Shiok Meats and Avant Meats (cultivated seafood, 2021); VinaCapital Ventures invested in Korea's INNOHAS (plant-based meat, 2024) ^6,7,8 VN-directThấp.
4. Vietnamese venture capital was USD 509 million in 103 deals in 2025; agriculture got USD 1 million, about 0.2% (our calculation: 1 / 509) ⁹ VN-directTrung bình. Private equity reached a record USD 3.96 billion in 46 deals ^9,10 VN-directTrung bình.
5. There were no technology IPOs in 2025 or the four years before, so a realistic exit for a food or ingredient company is a trade sale or a PE buyout ^9,10 VN-directTrung bình.
6. A state venture framework now exists. Decree 264/2025/ND-CP (in force 14 October 2025) allows national and provincial venture funds to accept up to 50% portfolio loss per investment cycle. Ho Chi Minh City's fund (VND 500 bn) plans its first investments in Q4 2026; Hanoi's (VND 230 bn) caps each investment at 5% of the fund, about USD 0.44 million (our calculation at VND 26,000 per USD) ^11,12,13 VN-directTrung bình.
7. Global alternative-protein investment is at a cyclical low and has shifted towards fermentation: USD 881 million in 2025 and USD 359 million in H1 2026 ¹⁴ generalCao.
8. IFC is the only DFI with a direct Vietnamese alternative-protein ticket (Entobel, USD 2.5 million). Its Vietnamese agribusiness tickets are otherwise USD 20 million to 90 million ^15,16,17 VN-directTrung bình.
9. The largest alternative-protein R&D grant open to Vietnamese applicants in 2026 has closed. Coefficient Giving's RFP (up to USD 30 million) closed its two rounds on 10 August and 15 September 2026 ¹⁸ generalCao.

#M.2 Deal log

All rows from deals.csv (19 rows). "Undisclosed" means no amount was published. Sources are given per row.

Readings:

• Only insects have attracted disclosed venture money in Vietnam. Cricket One's three rounds were each described only as "seven-figure" or less ^19,20,22 VN-directTrung bình.
• The adjacent rows show DFI ticket sizes and appetite in feed and agribusiness, not alternative-protein deals. Techcoop alone explains most of the 2024 "agritech" and "climate tech" figures in two different reports (section M.3).
• Vietnamese food and feed M&A is poorly documented: the CJ purchase of Cau Tre (year unverified; field notes say 2006, an analyst recollection 2016) and the Masan feed divestment are leads only ³¹ VN-directThấp. The one verified feed M&A in the period is Royal De Heus's purchase of CJ Feed & Care (announced 1 October 2025, completed 3 March 2026, 17 mills across five countries, price not disclosed) ^32,33 VN-directCao.

We found no disclosed deals for Vietnamese aquaculture-tech, feed-tech (other than insects), microalgae, plant-based dairy or agrifood biotech startups. This is a coverage gap, not evidence of absence.

#M.3 Vietnam venture capital and private equity, 2023 to 2025

Agriculture's share of venture capital (our calculation from the same sources): about 1.5% in 2023 (8 / 529), 18.6% in 2024 (74 / 398, driven by one deal) and 0.2% in 2025 (1 / 509) VN-directTrung bình.

Other 2025 facts ^9,10,35 VN-directTrung bình:

• Consumer-staples private equity reached a ten-year high of USD 1.2 billion.
• AI took USD 130 million (23 deals) and healthcare USD 170 million of venture capital.
• 119 active VC investors and 48 active PE investors, the most in nearly a decade; Singapore was the largest source of venture capital.
• Funds named among the most active include Do Ventures and Ascend Vietnam Ventures.

Disagreements (logged in R. Disagreements):

• 2024 deal count: 118 in the 2025 report, 122 in the 2026 report; we use 122 (later revision); the total stays at USD 398 million ^26,10 VN-directTrung bình.
• Climate-tech VC in 2024: USD 23 million in 10 deals (Do Ventures) against about USD 98 million to 100 million in 55 deals (the CT-FE 2025 report by New Energy Nexus Vietnam, RMIT and the AGILE project, in which Techcoop is 71% of the total). The difference is definitional: CT-FE counts Techcoop as climate, Do Ventures as agriculture. Always name the source ^26,27,36 VN-directTrung bình. CT-FE also finds that only 11% of climate-tech startups get past the post-seed stage, against 32% for technology overall ²⁷ VN-directTrung bình.
• Techcoop year: announced 28 February 2025 but counted in 2024 data; it probably closed late in 2024 ^25,26 VN-directTrung bình. The swing in agriculture VC from USD 74 million to USD 1 million reflects this one deal.
• 2026 year to date: Tracxn shows USD 13.7 million in 4 rounds to March 2026; a blog citing StartupBlink gives "above USD 273.78 million". Both are low-reliability aggregators and we take no position ^37,38 VN-directThấp.

#M.4 The Entobel financing template

Entobel is Vietnam's first industrial alternative-protein asset and the only proven financing template. It was a feed play built with local private equity plus DFI support, not venture capital ^39,40 VN-directTrung bình.

What the template implies for a Vietnamese feed or ingredient plant (our reading):

• a local PE lead able to write USD 5 million to 25 million (Mekong's typical range), with a local co-investor ^2,3 VN-directTrung bình;
• a small DFI "upstream" ticket that de-risks the first plant;
• a strategic offtake with a seafood exporter or feed major signed before or alongside the plant;
• a Singapore holding company, as Entobel used;
• a path to USD 20 million or more of capex, the capital research's judgement from Entobel's USD 32.5 million project cost ⁴ VN-directThấp. Few Vietnamese alternative-protein companies can show that today.

#M.5 Outward and strategic investments

Strategic investors, not VCs, are the most active Vietnam-linked alternative-protein investors ^6,7,8 VN-directThấp. Vinh Hoan's investor page shows no 2024 to 2026 update on these stakes ⁴⁷ VN-directThấp.

#M.6 Global and regional investment trends

Alternative protein (GFI data) ¹⁴ generalCao:

The GFI page calls USD 197 million both "H1 2026" and, implicitly, Q2; the Q2 pillar figures add up to USD 198 million, so we read USD 359 million as H1 and USD 197 million as Q2 ¹⁴ generalTrung bình. The funding climate is "fundamentally different" from before 2022 ¹⁴ generalCao, and Synthesis Capital says valuations "have reset" ⁴⁸ generalTrung bình.

Agrifood technology (AgFunder) ^49,50,51 generalTrung bình:

• global agrifood-tech funding was USD 16 billion in 2024 (down 4%) and USD 16.2 billion in 2025 (down 3%);
• upstream categories (farm, food production, biological systems) took USD 9 billion in 2025 (up 7%) while deal count fell 12%;
• Asia-Pacific raised USD 4.2 billion from January to October 2024, up 38% and 31% of the global total ⁵⁰ VN-adjacentTrung bình;
• funding in developing markets rose 63% from 2023 to 2024, with Vietnam named among markets where the leading ecosystem grew (no Vietnamese figure) ⁵¹ VN-adjacentThấp.

GFI APAC's regional totals for 2024 and 2025 could not be extracted (the report is behind a download form) ⁵² VN-adjacentThấp. The direction is clear: fermentation (biomass and precision) and upstream ingredients still get funded; consumer plant-based brands and cultivated meat get much less. In Vietnam, that "feed and ingredients first" logic has so far been funded only for insects.

Regional and global investors with an alternative-protein thesis

Not verified: Thai Union Ventures, CPF, Wilmar, ADM Ventures, Cargill, Rabo Food and Agri Innovation Fund, AgFunder GROW, Blue Horizon, Unovis, Siddhi.

#M.7 Development finance institutions

DFIs reach Vietnamese alternative protein in three ways (our reading of the table): small "upstream" tickets that prove a model (IFC and Entobel); LP stakes in local PE funds (Proparco in Mekong Enterprise Fund IV); and bank intermediaries, such as the SeABank blue bond, whose proceeds can be on-lent to aquaculture ²⁸ VN-directTrung bình. Direct DFI tickets for food and feed incumbents (USD 20 million to 90 million) are far above what a Vietnamese alternative-protein startup can absorb today.

#M.8 State venture framework and state finance

Decree 264/2025/ND-CP on national and local venture funds (signed and in force 14 October 2025) ^11,64 VN-directCao:

• National fund: MOST represents the state's capital; at least VND 500 bn from the development budget at the start (about USD 19 million); at least VND 2,000 bn within five years including mobilised capital (about USD 77 million) (USD figures: our calculation).
• Investment forms: direct equity, fund-of-funds, co-investment.
• Loss threshold: 50% of charter capital across the portfolio per investment cycle (Art. 10.4.a).
• Cycle: 10 years, or 15 for strategic or dual-use technology (Art. 10.1.c).
• Managers are exempt from liability for losses from "objective risks" (Art. 14).
• Priority sectors include the green and circular economy (Art. 5.3).
• Local funds invest only in Vietnam; the provincial People's Committee sets the state share.
• Status: in June 2026 MOST was still preparing the national fund proposal and preferred a fund-of-funds model ⁶⁵ VN-directTrung bình.

Ho Chi Minh City hosts over half of Vietnam's startups and about half of its VC funds ⁶⁷ VN-directTrung bình.

NATIF (National Technology Innovation Fund, under MOST). Reorganised under Decree 77/2026/ND-CP (17 March 2026); it funds technology innovation, intellectual property, startups and interest subsidies ⁶⁸ VN-directTrung bình. The 2026 Round 1 interest subsidy had a VND 50 bn budget (about USD 1.9 million, our calculation); it covered 50% of loan interest, capped at 6% a year, for up to five years; borrowers needed a bank loan with at least 12 months left, a profit in the last year and no bad debt in 24 months; partner banks included VPBank and BIDV; the deadline was 20 September 2026 ⁶⁹ VN-directTrung bình. It suits established manufacturers adding a line, not pre-revenue startups.

Credit programmes.

• A bank-funded preferential programme of VND 500 trillion (2025 to 2030; VND 100 trillion in 2025 to 2026) covers strategic infrastructure, high technology and innovation through 21 banks; no agriculture-specific window was found ⁷⁰ VN-directTrung bình.
• Decree 156/2025 (in force 1 July 2025) raises unsecured lending limits for agriculture (for example up to VND 5 bn for cooperatives) and gives organic and circular agriculture the same credit treatment as high-tech agriculture ⁷¹ VN-directTrung bình. A side-stream protein plant framed as circular agriculture might qualify; this has not been tested.

Other state instruments covered elsewhere: the Investment Support Fund under Decree 182/2024 (high thresholds; see G. Regulation); specialised science funds with state capital under Law 93/2025/QH15 (K. Research landscape); and interest subsidies of up to 70% in hi-tech agriculture zones under Decree 263/2026 ⁷² VN-directTrung bình (L. Labs and talent).

#M.9 Grants and philanthropy, with 2026 status

National research grants (NAFOSTED, VINIF) and bilateral research programmes are in K. Research landscape, section K.10.

Two practical points (our reading): the Coefficient Giving topics (off-flavours, fat alternatives, egg replacement, fish-flavour characterisation) fit Vietnamese seafood science, so Vietnamese groups should prepare now for any 2027 round with an international co-applicant; and ACIAR's commissioned model needs an Australian partner before a window opens ^18,78 generalTrung bình.

#M.10 Accelerators and incubators

Not verified: Vietnam Silicon Valley, BK Holdings, university incubators and corporate open-innovation programmes (Masan, Nestle, Unilever).

#M.11 Exit landscape

• IPO route: closed for technology. Vietnam had three IPOs in 2025, all in financial services (USD 1.35 billion), and no technology IPOs in the last five years; the IPO pipeline is expected to reach USD 3 billion to 5 billion in 2026 to 2027 ^9,10 VN-directTrung bình.
• Revealed strategic interest (verified): Vinh Hoan (cultivated seafood stakes; insect meal buyer), CJ CheilJedang (co-investor in Shiok; large Vietnamese food footprint), VinaCapital (market-entry partner for INNOHAS) ^6,7,8 VN-directThấp.
• Plausible acquirers by fit (not verified as interested): Masan (consumer foods, meat), Vinamilk, TH, Nutifood and Vinasoy/QNS (plant milks), KIDO (edible oils and fats), C.P. Vietnam, De Heus and other feed majors (feed ingredients), Thai Union, Minh Phu and Vinh Hoan (aquafeed and seafood), Ajinomoto and Vedan (fermentation). This list comes from sector logic, not deal evidence.
• Multiples: M&A multiples for Vietnamese food deals were not established. No Vietnamese alternative-protein company has had a disclosed exit.
• Consolidation among buyers: De Heus Vietnam lists 21 plants (September 2026) and completed its purchase of CJ Feed & Care in March 2026, which concentrates feed buying power in one strategic; whether the 21 plants include the former CJ mills is not known ^85,33 VN-directTrung bình.

#M.12 Where the capital gaps are

Our reading of sections M.2 to M.11:

#Gaps and how to close them

See also Q. Open questions.

#Related data files

• deals.csv: 19 deals and financing events linked to Vietnam.
• investors.csv: 30 investors (VC, PE, DFI, corporate, government funds, accelerators) with thesis, example deals and ticket size.
• funding_programs.csv: 20 grants, prizes, funds and credit programmes with 2026 status.
• research_funding.csv: national and international research funding (K. Research landscape).
• companies.csv: the companies behind the deals (E. Directory).
• Working papers: working-papers/wave1/capital/ and working-papers/wave2/verify_co/ (Entobel and IFC details).