This Vietnamese Browser & Search Engine Is Daring Google To Step-Up Its Game

Cốc Cốc's browser has gained significant market share in Vietnam This was the response I received when I started chatting with the only other customer at a restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam exactly four days into my journey traveling and meeting with startups around the world. I had been contemplating how best to break into the Vietnamese startup ecosystem, and this chance meeting proved to be the answer. It turned out the tall, friendly Russian I was speaking with was Victor Lavrenko, CEO of Cốc Cốc, Vietnam's leading local browser and search engine! Over the next few days, I got to visit Cốc Cốc's office and learn more from Lavrenko and CMO Kristina Melentieva about the company and why it's worth keeping an eye on. Only once I left the Cốc Cốc office--with its ping pong table, vibrant color scheme, and full-wall ideation whiteboard--and ventured back onto the street did I fully appreciate the obvious: this company is not operating (and flourishing) in any number of internationally recognized technology startup hubs, but in the chaotic and volatile center of Hanoi.