Future Founders Competition 2021 at RMIT Vietnam

For years, Western observers have talked about Asia's massive future potential. But the future arrived even faster than expected. The question is no longer how quickly Asia will rise; it is how Asia will lead.

- McKinsey and Company

And with that theme setting the scene, the Annual Future Founders Competition (FFC) came back in 2021 with our largest pool of participants to date, consisting of 212 students in 68 teams across the RMIT Vietnam campuses.

First launched in 2019, Future Founders Competition is RMIT Activator Vietnam’s highlight event of entrepreneurial activities across the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City campuses.

Usually, RMIT’s cross campus extra-curriculars encourage travel back and forth, with plenty of student exchanges and opportunities to take part in. Even with the pandemic grounding us in our home countries, initiatives like the Future Founders Competition are more important than ever, encouraging collaboration across the globe.

A group photo of some of the students at the Future Founders Competition 2021

The best way to experience the excitement of the competition is to watch the final pitch and announcement of the winners, which you can do here with a recording of the livestream:

Watch the livestream recording on Facebook

2021 Future Founders Competition Winners

Champion team and winner of $2k: Destiny’s Children

Delivering an engaging pitch and solution that truly captured the innovative spirit of the competition, Destiny’s Children was crowned the winner. We spoke to Phuoc Bui from the champion team to hear about the competition from his perspective:

"I have never imagined myself participating in any business competition. But this time, I'm glad that I accepted the offer and became a part of Destiny's Children. Even though everything was delivered online and I barely knew anyone in the team beforehand, we worked as if we were a well-oiled machine. The very special lesson that I learned from the competition is hard work will pay off."

First runner up and winner of $1k: Double Boba

Congratulations to Double Boba – so close to winning and very deserving runners up. From their team, Phuong commented,

"The best memories are probably the times when the whole team stayed up late to brainstorm and do homework together. Thus, this contest is very meaningful because it created an opportunity for me to connect with like-minded friends."

Second runner up and winner of $500: Bumblebee

"The Future Founders Competition is about start ups and entrepreneurs and it provides the soft skill and knowledge to open a real business. I keep coming back to RMIT Activator because I love tech!"

FFC 2021 | People’s Choice Award

From an audience of 538 people, the KAVAT team received 128 votes to secure the People’s Choice Award.

A huge thank you to our supporting partners and industry stakeholders.

RMIT Careers Mentoring Asia Program Lead, Hieu Phung, who provided mentors for the teams throughout the competition.
Shark Linh Thai, CEO and Founder of TVL Group, keynote speaker at the FFC21 Final Pitch Event.
Tuan Doan Van, Managing Director of Next100 Ventures, an investment organisation. Tuan was part of the judging panel at the Semi-final and Final Pitch Event.
Ms. Kimiko Doan Kieu, Founder at YellowBlocks, the trusted Vietnam tech gateway. Kimiko was part of the judging panel at the Final Pitch Event.

Reflecting on the competition with the participants revealed a common theme around what makes the Future Founder Competition special. Several noticed that their teammates were from different professional and socioeconomic backgrounds, which made the ideation process challenging but ultimately, rewarding.

It has been another successful year delivering the unique and fulfilling Future Founders Competition in Vietnam and we couldn’t be prouder of the teams and the results they delivered. Until 2022 – thanks for reading!

Find out more and express your interest for FFC 2022:

Apply for FFC 2022

Keep up to date by following us on social media:

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06 October 2021

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