Hoa Nang Organic Receives New Funding From Beacon Fund
Hoa Nang Organic, a sustainable organic agriculture company, announced that it has received an investment from the Beacon Fund – a gender-lens investment fund focused on supporting women-led/women-owned businesses in the Southeast Asia market.
Hoa Nang Organic’s strong fit with the Beacon Fund’s mission to promote the growth of women-led and owned companies, as well as the support of Hoa Nang Organic’s existing investor Louis Nguyen, led to both parties concluding the due diligence and disbursement process quickly.
While there were multiple reasons for why Beacon decided to back Hoa Nang Organic, the main factors that stood out were: first, the passion and knowledge the founders have for organic farming in Vietnam; second, the company’s ability to secure a major contract with one of the largest dairy companies in Vietnam, a testament to the company’s professionalism and strong execution; and ‘and finally, a rare female CEO in the agriculture sector with a demonstrated commitment to gender diversity at the team and farmer level’.
“We are excited to make an investment in Hoa Nang Organic. They have demonstrated a deep level of knowledge and passion for organic farming in Vietnam and making a difference to the lives of ordinary farmers. In addition to supporting Hoa Nang Organic’s capital needs, we are equally excited about working with them via providing technical support to help improve their management capacity and bring about their next phase of growth”, said Shuyin Tang, CEO of the Beacon Fund.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic affected the overall economy negatively, Hoa Nang Organic quickly took steps to adjust to the new reality, including modifying its supply chain structure, and developing and implementing an online sales and product delivery strategy. This allowed the company to capture new sales and increase revenues by 30% in 2021.
With this investment from Beacon Fund, Hoa Nang Organic will have additional resources to reach its goal of expanding operations to growing areas in the Mekong Delta region. This will help position the company in the long term, to develop additional organic product lines of even higher value and to serve more customers.
On the collaboration with the Beacon Fund, Ms. Dang Thi Truong An – CEO of Hoa Nang Organic said: “The Beacon Fund is the first institutional foreign investor to invest in Hoa Nang. This recognition from an independent institutional investor is a testament to Hoa Nang Organic’s track record and their faith in our future direction. This is an important milestone in our continuous efforts to bring more value to the community and positively impact society”.
Hoa Nang Organic became widely known after appearing on Shark Tank Vietnam Season 2, 2018, and receiving a seed investment of US$500k from Shark Louis Nguyen, a prominent investor in Vietnam and the Chairman & CEO of Saigon Asset Management (SAM).
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About Hoa Nang Organic
Hoa Nang Organic (HNO) is a company producing organic rice as its main product. The company is proudly certified organic by the Control Union (a Dutch certification company) in line with USDA and European organic standards, including the non-usage of pesticides or herbicides, and the usage of only organic fertilizers that are Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI)-certified. Hoa Nang Organic also applies integrated pest control practices with natural methods.
With a safe cultivation process, together with indigenous purebred organic rice varieties, Hoa Nang Organic is proud to bring natural nutrition and genuine quality to the table of every Vietnamese family.
About Beacon Fund
Seeded by Patamar Capital, the Beacon Fund is the culmination of many years of engaging with and investing in female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia through a number of impact investing funds. This led the Beacon team to identify a significant opportunity amongst the “missing middle” of firms which are too small for private equity, too big for micro-finance, do not fit the growth profile of venture capital and are underserved by banks. The Beacon Fund’s initial focus will be on debt and mezzanine products, which tend to be a better fit for the moderate-growth, cash-flow positive businesses that the fund targets. Through its strategy, Beacon hopes to shine a light on alternative models of investing and entrepreneurial success.
About Saigon Asset Management (SAM)
Established in 2007, Saigon Asset Management (SAM) is a fund management and capital advisory firm based in Saigon and Hanoi, Vietnam. The fund has invested over $185 million in 65 Vietnamese companies and projects, and has one of the best investment track records among Vietnam-focused fund managers.
SAM has been managing funds that outperformed their peers as well as the Vietnam Index and the MSCI EM Index, focusing on sustainable and innovative companies with better ESG performance which provide solutions to Food Security, Healthcare, and Inclusion.
