ITI Fund Invests in Startup Wheel 2022 Champion, Forges Strategic Partnership with Benkon

Saturday, 18/03/2023 09:00 (GTM +7)

Ho Chi Minh City, on March 16, 2023, there was an agreement signing ceremony between ITI Fund (ITI Startup Innovation Fund) and BenKon (Benkon Joint Stock Company), a Vietnam startup climate tech. This cooperation finalized the Benkon USD 500K seeding round lead by ITI Fund.

The signing ceremony of the investment contract and strategic cooperation between ITI Fund and BenKon was honoured to welcome:

On behalf of ITI Fund, there were:

Mr. Ngo Dinh Dat (Muller Ngo) – ITI Fund Managing Director
Ms. Dang Thi Kieu My (Kimmy Dang) – Head of Investments ITI Fund

On behalf of Benkon, there were:

Mr. Truong Minh Dat (Taddy Truong) – Benkon Co-founder
Mr. Bui Tien Dung (Dung Bui) – Benkon Co-founder

Benkon is a Vietnamese start-up co-founded in 2020 to enable business and consumers to optimize and reduce their energy consumption from their air conditioning based on collected data and the Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The solution accurately notifies when it needs maintenance and repair, avoiding unnecessary damage and waste, thereby reducing energy consumption by up to 40%.

Meanwhile, Benkon is also one of the exemplary startup businesses in Vietnam, passing more than 1800 teams, winning prestigious awards as Winner of the Startup Wheel 2022 competition, and being one of 25 selected companies for the Google for Startups program.

As a dynamic venture fund in Vietnam’s startup ecosystem interested in startups creating sustainable community, ITI Fund highly appreciates the potential for positive impact, especially in climate tech, based on Benkon technology solutions. As a co-action and strategic partnership investment, ITI Fund successfully led Benkon’s funding round with USD 500,000 and other investors’ participation.

Mr. Ngo Dinh Dat – CEO at ITI Fund, shared: “Benkon’s business model consists of ITI Fund’s investment strategy. With main impacts in positive economic, environmental and climate change,… ITI Fund commits to supporting Benkon in its journey towards growth and development, not only through financial means but also by closely aligning with the company’s strategic objectives”.

“Benkon has developed a unique, hard to replicate solution that provides both positive economic and environmental impact. Advanced technology investment and adoption, like the Benkon Solution is critical as we all play a part to align ourselves with the Vietnamese government strategy of NetZero by 2050”, Kimmy Dang, Head of Investments ITI Fund said.

Meanwhiles, Taddy Truong – cofounder of BenKon said “BenKon is scaling its solution amongst many larger retailers, universities and factories in Vietnam. Given the amazing results we are seeing, we truly believe that Benkon will be a common enterprise wide brand in cost and energy control over the next 12 months”.

The infusion of capital and partnership with ITI Fund will provide a significant infusion of capital to support its Research and Development (R&D) and market penetration activities. “With this cooperation, I believe that Benkon will enrich experience in strategic and operational management to expand other markets, enhance the user’s experience, and contribute sustainable development solutions” – Taddy Truong expressed.