But the number of deals continued to fall, almost halving from 2019 to 16, according to a report by South Korean venture fund Nextrans.

Foreign investors outperformed their local counterparts with nine deals, it said.

Seed funding and series A investment, the first two stages, remained dominant, accounting for 70 percent of the deals.

Fintech once again led with four of the 16 deals, followed by logistics, hospitality and real estate.

Vietnam is expected to grow at the fastest rate in Southeast Asia in terms of digital financial services revenues in the next five years, reaching $3.8 billion by 2025, the report said.

Other sectors such as e-commerce and medtech are also expected to boom in the coming years, it added.

The most notable deals in the first quarter included an investment of $2.6-million from a group of investors led by Singapore venture capital firm Jungle Ventures in electric motorbike brand Dat Bike, and a $1 million by investment fund AppWorks in healthcare service booking platform Docosan.

A venture capital fund alliance comprising 17 investment companies are committed to investing $800 million in Vietnamese startups in 2021-25.

The government has also been making efforts to support startups, with former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approving the National Digital Transformation Program in June last year.

Startup events have been organized to help new companies promote their ideas and connect with potential investors, attracting thousands of participants.