Beacon Fund has joined other leading Southeast Asian investors as part of a $US3 million, Series A funding round for MindX, an EdTech startup is based in Vietnam. The company provides technology education training and facilities, helping students develop coding skills, and equipping young adults with the right skills to land jobs in tech companies in Vietnam and Singapore.
The company was founded by Tung Nguyen and Ha Nguyen with a mission to help other students discover coding and technology at a young age. Vietnam’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, but there’s a huge lack of IT skills in the country.
“MindX’s value proposition is to teach our students, regardless of their backgrounds or
ages, career-ready skills that enable them to become well-rounded professionals at global tech companies.” said Ha Nguyen.
The company is a strong advocate for gender equality, emphasising the need to make high-quality education available to all, no matter their gender or social background. Almost 70% of the company’s employees are women, as well as 66% of the board.
They offer scholarships to female students, host girl-only hackathons, and work to shift the stigma about technology being only for boys.
Beacon Fund offered debt-financing for the round, impressed by the firm’s early profitability, and clear dedication to improving the region’s education capacity. The Fund recognises there’s a missing middle of investment capital targeting female-led and female-focussed businesses. The fund was seeded by Pattamar Capital, and is managed by Patamar partner, Shuyin Tang.
“We are very delighted to welcome MindX as our first portfolio company. Along the investment process and afterwards, we have been continuously inspired by the team’s tenacity, dedication, and commitment to bring about quality, practical, multidisciplinary technology education to students across Vietnam. MindX’s strong commitment to boost gender equality in the technology space and livelihood impact to the students strongly aligns with our mission at Beacon Fund.” Says Shuyin Tang,
The company plans to use the funding to expand their footprint into other cities, complete the build-out of their online platform, and create more content options. They also have ambitions to develop a fee-share model, where students can have their tuition fees deferred until they land a job, and can then pay back the costs.
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