SURF 2025 promotes networking activities with experts, technological dialogues, solution showcases, investment seeking, and market expansion, contributing to the development of a deep-tech startup community in areas such as Blockchain, Fintech, Web3, and digital assets in Da Nang city.
Certificate of “Vietnam’s Fastest-Growing Ecosystem” awarded to Da Nang City.
On July 30, the People’s Committee of Da Nang City and the Department of Science and Technology of Da Nang organized the opening ceremony of the Da Nang Innovation Startup Festival – SURF 2025, under the theme: Policy Launchpad – Nurturing Unicorns.
Da Nang selected to establish a National Innovation Center
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh stated that, to ensure policy consistency and synchronization, the Ministry of Science and Technology is urgently coordinating with other central ministries and agencies to develop guiding documents for the Law and related decrees, which are expected to be submitted to the Government by October 2025.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh speaking at SURF 2025.
Accordingly, there are several key new initiatives to boost innovation and startup activities: a system of national, ministerial, and local-level innovation centers will be established; for the first time, Vietnam will create a venture capital fund financed by the state; a professional stock market dedicated to innovative startups will also be launched for the first time; the National Technology Innovation Fund has been restructured, and local-level science and technology development and innovation funds will be allowed to directly support businesses in technological innovation.
Deputy Minister Hoang Minh also shared that Da Nang has been selected as the location for a National Innovation Center, which will provide technological solutions and support services to the business community and the public.
Opening of the Danang Innovation Startup Festival
The city of Danang has been actively implementing a comprehensive range of mechanisms, policies, and concrete actions to foster the development of its innovative startup ecosystem. These include tax exemptions and reductions for startups, support for co-working spaces and technology incubators, investor networking, assistance with product testing, and the establishment of research and innovation centers as well as high-tech zones… The network of startup support organizations in Danang is expanding and operating effectively.
The Deputy Minister of Science and Technology commended Danang’s efforts in supporting innovative entrepreneurship.He proposed that, in the near future, Danang should establish a venture capital fund, as well as a science, technology, and innovation fund specific to the city. He also emphasized the need to invest in innovation infrastructure to attract leading technology enterprises, and to develop a controlled testing mechanism (sandbox) that allows the trial of new technologies in some of Da Nang’s prioritized and high-potential sectors.
Startups introduced their projects at the Innovation Startup Exhibition.
Empowering the Startup Community
SURF 2025 featured a wide range of activities: The final round of the Danang Innovative Startup Competition, where the LocalLife.Asia project – a sustainable community-based tourism platform – won first prize; city leaders met with experts, speakers, investors, and the startup community; an Innovation Startup Exhibition; the launch of the Innovation Network among universities and colleges; a panel discussion titled “Danang – A Launchpad for Blockchain Unicorns”; The International Innovation Investment Connection Forum themed “Blockchain and Digital Assets: Innovation in Urban Digital Transformation and Economic Development in Danang”…
The festival served as a platform for connecting knowledge, policies, technologies, and investment capital—creating a multilateral cooperation network to jointly promote innovation and entrepreneurship. At the same time, it also acted as an incubator for promising startups.
The People’s Committee of Da Nang City signed a cooperation agreement with CT Group
Mr. Ngo Tan Tien brought his project Skoolib – a smart library management platform to SURF 2025 and shared: “As a new startup, I hope to connect with the startup ecosystem, meet software and hardware partners in library management, and have the opportunity to reach potential customers and investment funds.”
The journey of “Policy Launchpad – Nurturing Unicorns” at SURF 2025 is writing a new chapter, marking the strong rise of Da Nang’s startup ecosystem on the global map. Da Nang has made a remarkable breakthrough, climbing 130 places in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025.
On this occasion, Da Nang was recognized by StartupBlink as one of the 12 most dynamic ecosystems worldwide and awarded the certificate of “Fastest-Growing Ecosystem in Vietnam” in 2025.
Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Da Nang City, Mr. Ho Quang Buu, delivered remarks at SURF 2025
Within the framework of SURF 2025, the Da Nang People’s Committee signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CT Group to promote the sustainable and comprehensive development of Da Nang through breakthrough initiatives and the application of advanced technologies.
Vice Chairman Ho Quang Buu emphasized: “We are committed to continuously improving the investment environment, completing the innovation startup ecosystem, and creating favorable conditions for businesses, organizations, and individuals to scale up and develop sustainably.”
