The launch of Lotus in Ha Noi. Photo: Infonet

With the theme “Content is King”, the VND700 billion ($30.1 million) network, run by VCCorp, will attract users with diverse and quality content.

Nguyen The Tan, VCCorp’s general director, said Lotus was working with more than 500 content creators in various fields such as education, lifestyle, and economics to attract users to the network.

Lotus also asked celebrities in different fields to add more content and attract more users. There are nearly 100 commitments made for Lotus' content.

Tan said "On Lotus, everyone will be a content creator. We'll provide tools so that the users can easily make their own fresh and beautiful entries."

In response, the corporation will earn revenues from its advertisement company, Admicro. Tan said “there will be income within a month after Lotus starts working stably.”

VCCorp is calling for an additional VND500billion ($21.5 million) for the social network’s long-term development. In the first phase, VCCorp hopes to attract four million users, and 20 million users in the second phase and 60 million users in the last phase.

Earlier this year, Information and Communication Minister Nguyen Manh Hung called for the creation of a home-grown social media network and search engine to replace Facebook and Google.

Latest data shows there are more than 50 million Facebook users in Viet Nam.

On September 15, the first made-in-Viet Nam social network, Gapo, launched with two million users. 

Made-in-Vietnam social network Lotus to be launched this week

VCCorp has announced that the pilot version of its VND700 billion ($30.1 million) Lotus social network will officially be launched on September 16.  

Vietnam’s new social network to focus on content

Lotus is believed to be a direct rival to Facebook in Vietnam, but it is still too early to say if it can defeat the giant.