TVU – A team of Tra Vinh University students wins second place at the Vietnam Sunny Impact Startup (VSIS) 2024 Demo Day with their S2M project, which creates leather from mango peels. The event takes place on May 10, 2025, at the National Innovation Center in Hanoi.
VSIS 2024, a partnership between Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and The Happiness Foundation (SK Group, South Korea), runs from December 2024 to May 2025 with implementation by the Institute for Innovation and Development. During the six-month program, student teams receive ten online training courses, two pitch sessions, and attend an intensive bootcamp in Hanoi. Each team works with an advisor and a buddy throughout their project development.
At the Demo Day, nine university teams from across Vietnam present their products and business plans. The S2M team from Tra Vinh University finishes among the top five, securing second place and 40 million VND in seed funding. Their project creates environmentally friendly, biodegradable, plant-based leather using a “three zeros” process that eliminates waste, air emissions, and wastewater.
The successful team includes Nguyen Thi Thanh Van (2019 Banking and Finance) as project leader, with team members Nguyen Thanh Hanh Nguyen (2020 English), Nguyen Viet Khanh Hung (2022 Biotechnology), Nguyen Nhat Minh (2022 Information Technology), and Nguyen Thanh Nguyen (2022 Dentistry).
Nguyen Xuan An Viet, Deputy Director of the Department of Students at the Ministry of Education and Training, acknowledges the funding challenges student entrepreneurs typically face.
Associate Professor Truong Thi Nam Thang from National Economics University, who leads the program’s research, describes VSIS as a practical learning environment where students function as real entrepreneurs and innovators with a clear societal and market focus.
Team member Nguyen Thanh Nguyen expresses pride in their achievement, noting that despite their dentistry background, the supportive and creative environment at Tra Vinh University empowers them to pursue sustainable entrepreneurship. She expresses gratitude for the support and affirms the team’s dedication to promoting sustainable living.
The S2M team’s success demonstrates Tra Vinh University students’ innovation and hard work while advancing social impact entrepreneurship within the university and across the Vietnamese student community. This achievement highlights higher education’s vital role in fostering socially beneficial innovation.
Lan Anh
