{"id":9973,"date":"2017-08-31T13:59:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T06:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/?p=9973"},"modified":"2026-10-01T01:28:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:28:33","slug":"bi-quyet-goi-von-cua-website-day-nau-an-cooky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/bi-quyet-goi-von-cua-website-day-nau-an-cooky\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cooky cooking website's fundraising secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>It began with free cooking classes for more than a dozen students. Learners enjoyed studying for free, and teachers enjoyed \u201cleading a class.\u201d Gradually, the classes became more structured, began charging tuition, and were organized more professionally. They gradually became Cooky's main business, generating revenue to sustain its operations.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Founded in 2015 with around 6 content managers, the cooking website was envisioned as a community space for sharing recipes and supplying ingredients\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">After 2 years of operation, Cooky.vn had made several unsuccessful attempts to raise investment. Recently, however, luck smiled on Cooky.vn when it successfully raised capital from ESP Capital, a fund investing in early-stage technology startups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">To date, Cooky is the 5th startup funded by ESP Capital; depending on the business model, this investment fund provides companies with between USD 50,000 \u2013 300,000 in capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">With USD 20 million, the Fund focuses on opportunities in early-stage technology startups at the pre-seed and seed rounds. Previously, it invested in Canavi, a job search platform for women; Jamja.vn, a professional promotions aggregator in Vietnam and Southeast Asia; Homedy.vn, a Vietnamese real estate portal; and Luxstay.net, a startup offering premium, luxurious short-term serviced apartments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Mr. Nguy\u1ec5n L\u01b0\u01a1ng Minh V\u01b0\u01a1ng, CEO of Cooky Joint Stock Company (which operates Cooky.vn), said: \u201cFailing to raise funding is not necessarily due to your ability. Often, you do not fit the investor's direction, or the 2 sides do not share similar goals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Accordingly, the founder of this cooking website said that some parties focused on revenue targets while Cooky was only just taking shape, while others wanted to steer Cooky's development in a different direction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cWe and ESP Capital share the same vision of developing greater depth of content rather than focusing on revenue,\u201d V\u01b0\u01a1ng observed.<\/span><\/p>\n<table class=\"ar-image-center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a class=\"lightbox-zoom\" href=\"http:\/\/www.doanhnhansaigon.vn\/files\/articles\/2017\/1204901\/cooky-doanhnhansaigon-2-large.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" data-fancybox-group=\"all\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ar-photo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.doanhnhansaigon.vn\/files\/articles\/2017\/1204901\/cooky-doanhnhansaigon-2-1.JPG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ar-image-desc\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Website Cooky.vn<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Cooky currently still offers weekly cooking and baking classes with fees of VND 150,000\u2013200,000 per student per dish. It holds one class of 20 students each week. This is its main revenue-generating activity; additional advertising revenue will come from partnerships with cooking oil and seasoning brands used in its cooking tutorial videos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Statistics show that Cooky now has more than 60.000 members and nearly 21.000 cooking and baking recipes. The website has more than 130.000 images, 4.000 articles on European and Asian cuisine\u2026 and hundreds of different videos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cRecipes submitted by members are verified by Cooky before being shared with everyone. The workload is therefore enormous,\u201d V\u01b0\u01a1ng said. Cooky's team currently consists of 12 people who divide the work among themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Businesses naturally encounter many difficulties during startup, and receiving investment brings additional challenges, particularly in reaching agreement on development direction or the targets set by the funding organization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">ESP Capital's exact investment is unknown, but according to V\u01b0\u01a1ng it is not particularly large for running the project long term. The real value, however, is defining a long-term development plan for content and community rather than chasing Cooky's revenue and profit figures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The founder envisioned various directions for Cooky, such as supplying and advising on ingredients or developing a \u2018grocery shopping on your behalf\u2019 service for products not readily available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Vietnam has over 90 million people, around 65% under 35. Its middle class is growing, and, more importantly, eating out is becoming increasingly common among young people. Foreign-style foods such as pizza, burgers, and sushi\u2026 are no longer unfamiliar to them. In recent years, however, young people have become more interested in family meals, increasing demand for learning delicious and new dishes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The growing food and beverage business also increases chefs' need to learn and improve their skills. For example, nearly 50% of CBRE Vietnam's prospective tenants operate in food and beverage, mainly mid-range establishments rather than upscale restaurants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">There are currently dozens of foreign cooking apps, including Jamie\u2019s Recipes, Giada Daily Bit, Nigella Quick Collection and ChefsFeed\u2026 Vietnam also has well-known apps such as B\u1ebfp Vi\u1ec7t, C\u00f4ng th\u1ee9c n\u1ea5u \u0103n ngon, Y\u00eau \u1ea9m th\u1ef1c Vi\u1ec7t and M\u00f3n ngon m\u1ed7i ng\u00e0y\u2026 which compile thousands of recipes and tips with detailed instructions and clear presentation. Cooky.vn therefore faces fairly fierce competition from many different rivals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">However, Cooky's advantage is its integrated \u201cecosystem\u201d for cooking enthusiasts. Besides varied recipes and in-person classes, Cooky.vn sells cooking tools and ingredients, allowing people to order what they need immediately after finding a new recipe they like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"detail-content\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Collected<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"hfeed\">\n<div id=\"post-9775\" class=\"hentry post publish post-1 odd author-admin category-article\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/article\/\">&gt;&gt; Great Articles on Entrepreneurship<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/x-startup\/\">&gt;&gt; Business Startup Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/kich-hoat-nang-luong-thanh-cong\/\">&gt;&gt; Success Energy Activation Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/ceo-coach-chuong-trinh-tu-van-kinh-doanh\/\">&gt;&gt; Business Consulting Program<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"post-title entry-title\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/x-startup\/\">&gt;&gt; LEARN BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHI<\/a>H<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"jp-relatedposts\" class=\"jp-relatedposts\">\n<h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h3>\n<div class=\"jp-relatedposts-items jp-relatedposts-items-minimal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-seo=\"yup-program-link-20261001\"><strong>Ch\u01b0\u01a1ng tr\u00ecnh li\u00ean quan t\u1ea1i YUP Education:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/x3\/\">X-FundUp \u2013 kh\u00f3a h\u1ecdc g\u1ecdi v\u1ed1n \u00abGi\u1ea3i M\u00e3 C\u01a1 Ch\u1ebf V\u1ed1n\u00bb<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/journey\/\">The Journey \u2013 l\u1ed9 tr\u00ecnh ph\u00e1t tri\u1ec3n doanh nh\u00e2n<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>B\u1eaft \u0111\u1ea7u t\u1eeb nh\u1eefng l\u1edbp h\u1ecdc d\u1ea1y n\u1ea5u \u0103n mi\u1ec5n ph\u00ed v\u1edbi h\u01a1n ch\u1ee5c h\u1ecdc vi\u00ean, ng\u01b0\u1eddi h\u1ecdc th\u00edch th\u00fa v\u00ec \u0111\u01b0\u1ee3c h\u1ecdc mi\u1ec5n ph\u00ed, ng\u01b0\u1eddi d\u1ea1y th\u1ea5y vui v\u1ebb v\u00ec \u0111\u01b0\u1ee3c \u201c\u0111\u1ee9ng l\u1edbp\u201d. L\u1edbp h\u1ecdc d\u1ea7n \u0111\u01b0\u1ee3c t\u1ed5 ch\u1ee9c b\u00e0i b\u1ea3n h\u01a1n, c\u00f3 thu h\u1ecdc ph\u00ed v\u00e0 \u0111\u01b0\u1ee3c t\u1ed5 ch\u1ee9c chuy\u00ean nghi\u1ec7p h\u01a1n. C\u00e1c [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9973"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18260,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9973\/revisions\/18260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yup.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}