Lester Chan, founder and chief executive of The GrowHub, told AgTechNavigator that the firm was anticipating a major demand for high-quality carbon credits from Vietnam.
“We’re moving very much into the [carbon credits] space in Vietnam because in South East Asia, Vietnam is one of the most forward-looking countries that invests heavily in carbon credits and carbon offsets even though ETS is only launching this year. We see a huge demand for carbon credits from Vietnam.”
Vietnam’s pilot ETS started in June this year and is set to fully implement the system by 2029.
The GrowHub is a Singapore-headquartered company specialising in enhancing product traceability and authenticity within supply chains through its proprietary blockchain technology platform.
It also offers anti-counterfeit measures, AI driven data analytics, and carbon management to promote transparency and sustainability.
The company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, and opened a new office in Vietnam last year.
Following its new office launch, The GrowHub is expanding in Vietnam through software and research development, focusing on R&D, tech capability building, and data analytics to drive tech-based agricultural solutions.
“Most people think of Vietnam as having normal mass commodity products. They do not realise there are a lot of prized commodities. The world’s best rice comes from Vietnam, it is the world’s second-largest producer of cashew nuts, and Vietnamese coffee is one of the best in the world,” said Chan.
A hub for learning
In May, the company announced that it was partnering with Why Ventures to deploy its traceability system across cacao and coffee farms in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
This joint inaugural project is set to launch at Why Ventures’ pilot site.
‘Why Ventures is all about immersive learning. They bring groups of adult learners into countries like Vietnam to explore and learn about entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, sustainability. By working with GrowHub, the learners can learn how technology plays a role in all of this,” said Chan.
He added that the firm can tap into Why Venture’s reach in the rural areas of Vietnam to help educate smallholder farmers about how the technology benefits them and deploy its tech.
Why Ventures will integrate The GrowHub’s traceability platform into its entrepreneurship learning journeys, allowing its students to experience how technology can create sustainable value across the agricultural supply chain.
“Vietnamese farmers are already producing world-class cacao and coffee, but they often lack the digital tools to compete in global markets. This partnership gives these farmers access to The GrowHub’s proprietary traceability solution that aims to help build trust with consumers, improve sustainability, and increase profits through better data and storytelling,” said Christine Ng, founder of Why Ventures.
Chan told us that this collaboration was at its “initial phase”. First, it aims to get farmers familiar with its tech before eventually introducing the concept of carbon credits so they can tap into and benefit from the huge market.
The partnership is set to expand beyond cacao and coffee, offering scalable learning and tech integration opportunities for other agricultural sectors in Vietnam in 2025 and beyond.
R&D expansion
The GrowHub also announced plans to expand its R&D team to further enhance its AI capabilities over the next six months as part of the firm’s next growth phase.
These investments are set to enhance the firm’s capabilities in product traceability, anti-counterfeit solutions, supply chain efficiency, carbon footprint tracking, and predictive data analysis.
According to the firm, its new team will complement its existing AI teams in Singapore and Vietnam as it starts to focus on the North Asia market.
Chan said: “AI has always been a component of our future growth strategy, and we believe AI will become integral to both daily life and business operations in the future. Our investment in our R&D team demonstrates our commitment, and we are actively exploring additional ways to support the development of AI-driven solutions. Our goal is to ensure we are technologically prepared to develop solutions today that our clients will rely on tomorrow.”
