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VNG

Gaming / social messaging / paymentsVietnam
New to Unitard
📉 Public < $1B
Peak $2.2 BillionRecorded estimate
~-71%
from peak
  1. 🦄
    Became a unicorn
    Mar 2019
  2. 📈
    Peak valuation
    $2.2 Billion ’19
  3. 💔
    Became a Unitard
    Sep 2023
  4. 💸
    Last valuation estimate
    ~$638M
Current status
Traded on Vietnam's UPCoM market (VNZ) since January 5, 2023; withdrew a planned Nasdaq IPO in January 2024; operates Zalo, ZaloPay and online games

The rise & fall

9 moments · 2004–2026

The key moments.

Sep 9 ’04
Founded in Ho Chi Minh City as VinaGame
VinaGame starts with online games; the Zalo messaging app follows in 2012 and ZaloPay in 2016.
The Investor
2014
Named Vietnam's first unicorn$1B
The World Startup Report puts VNG's value at $1B, a third-party estimate rather than a priced round.
The Investor
Mar 25 ’19
The peak: Temasek deal values VNG at about $2.2B$2.2B
VNG sells 355,820 treasury shares to Temasek's Seletar Investments at about VND1.86M each, raising about VND662B.
Báo Pháp Luật
Jan 5 ’23
Starts trading on UPCoM near $365M$365M
35.8M shares are registered at a VND240,000 reference price, about VND8.59T.
The Investor
Feb 13 ’23
First Vietnamese stock above VND1M a share$1.56B
On a free float of about 11M shares, VNZ hits VND1,027,400, briefly valuing VNG at about $1.56B.
Vietstock
Sep 2023
Falls back below $1B
The September 2023 month-end close of VND810,000 implies about $0.95B, and the shares keep sliding.
Vietstock
Jan 22 ’24
Withdraws its planned Nasdaq IPO
VNG had filed in August 2023 for a $100M offering under the symbol VNG. It said it intends to file again in the future.
Renaissance Capital
Apr 4 ’26
Fifth straight annual loss, a narrower one
VNG reports a 2025 net loss of VND326B (about $12.4M) on revenue up 17% to VND10.9T. Zalo revenue grows 38%.
TechNode Global
Oct 2026
Market value near VND16.6T$630M
About $630M on October 22, 2026, roughly 71% below the 2019 Temasek valuation.
Vietstock

How it happened

VNG, founded in Ho Chi Minh City in 2004 as VinaGame by Le Hong Minh and partners, grew from online games into a consumer internet group behind the Zalo messaging app and ZaloPay.

In March 2019 it sold treasury shares to Temasek's Seletar Investments, a deal that valued VNG at about $2.2B, The Investor and DealStreetAsia reported. Losses mounted from 2021. VNG began trading on Vietnam's UPCoM market on January 5, 2023, at a reference price valuing it near $365M.

Thin trading briefly pushed the market value above $1.5B that February, but it fell back under $1B by September 2023. VNG withdrew a planned Nasdaq IPO in January 2024. Its market value was about $630M in October 2026.

Source: The Investor (Jan 4, 2023): founded September 9, 2004 as VinaGame; valued at $1B in the 2014 World Startup Report. Báo Pháp Luật (Mar 25, 2019): VNG sold 355,820 treasury shares to Temasek's Seletar Investments at about VND1.86M each (about VND662B); the outlet put the implied value at VND64.3T (about $2.8B). The Investor (Sept 6, 2024) and TechNode Global (Apr 4, 2026): Temasek valued VNG at $2.2B in 2019. The Investor (Dec 30, 2022): 35.8M shares registered on UPCoM from January 5, 2023 at a VND240,000 reference price, about VND8.59T ($365M). Vietstock (Feb 14, 2023): VND1,027,400 on February 13, 2023, about VND36.8T ($1.56B) on the registered share count. Vietstock price history: month-end close VND810,000 in Sept 2023 (about $0.95B on 29.7M outstanding shares). Renaissance Capital (Jan 22, 2024): withdrew a $100M Nasdaq IPO filed in August 2023. Vietstock (Oct 22, 2026): VND560,000 × 29,726,465 shares, about VND16.6T ($630M at VND26,300).

Founders

  • Le Hong Minh
    founder, chairman & CEO (led at peak)
    Still there — Founder & Executive ChairmanLinkedIn ↗
  • Vuong Quang Khai
    co-founder; president of Zalo
    No public profile matched

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-22. See our methodology.

Disclosed investors (3)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round · Crunchbase ↗ · 2026-10-22 · Methodology · Leaderboard

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