Rounds: Launching an App Acquisition Giant in Vietnam’s Tech Hub

Rounds is a technology company and mobile asset aggregator that acquires, operates, and scales mobile apps. By leveraging AI and data-driven strategies, they transform promising apps into sustainable businesses, offering developers a lucrative exit and growth partnership.

At a Glance

• Client: Rounds
• Industry: Fintech / Mobile App Aggregation
• Services: Market Entry, Media Relations, Community Engagement, Event Management

Rounds and PRecious Communications Case Study Highlights

1. Successfully launching a mobile asset acquisition platform in Vietnam by engaging high-potential developers through targeted events and media relations.
2. Securing 50 media placements and 100,000+ impressions to position Rounds as the premier growth partner for Vietnamese Android developers.
3. Connecting a global app aggregator with its target market via a "Developer Day" strategy that led to immediate deal closures.

Breaking into a Tight-Knit Developer Community

Rounds identified Vietnam as a high-potential market due to its thriving community of Android developers. However, as a new entrant, they lacked the necessary trust and network to acquire high-quality apps. The challenge was two-fold: they needed to introduce their "acquisition and growth" business model to a market unfamiliar with it, and they needed to verify their credibility to skeptical developers who are protective of their intellectual property.

The Strategic Insight: Building Trust via Direct Community Engagement

We recognised that developers trust peers and tech leaders more than corporate ads. Our strategy focused on "Boots on the Ground" engagement.

• Credibility Launch: We organised a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City, inviting 15 Tier-1 tech journalists to announce Rounds’ commitment to the market. This established the "corporate face" of the brand.
• The "Developer Day" Activation: To reach the "product creators," we hosted an intimate Developer Day in Hanoi. This wasn't a sales pitch but a value-add networking session, connecting Rounds directly with 16 high-potential developers, CEOs, and project leads.
• Social Amplification: We partnered with selected Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and developer communities on Facebook and TikTok to scale the message digitally, ensuring the brand was visible where developers spent their downtime.

Immediate Deal Flow and Market Validation

The campaign successfully transitioned Rounds from an unknown entity to a sought-after partner in Vietnam’s tech ecosystem.

• Rapid Media Visibility: Secured nearly 50 media coverages within just three months, including features in top-tier tech publications and TV channels.
• Direct Business Impact: The "Developer Day" proved highly effective, connecting Rounds with key decision-makers. Several acquisition deals were initially closed immediately following the event, proving the ROI of the engagement.
• Community Buzz: Generated 100,000+ impressions and 2,000+ engagements across active developer communities, ensuring sustained interest in Rounds’ offers.

The PRecious Perspective: Abandon Broad Awareness for Hyper Targeted Acquisition

The Diagnostic: If your ultimate commercial goal is immediate mergers and acquisitions or securing high value partnerships, a generic communications approach will actively harm your conversion rates. The Strategic Pivot: To shorten the B2B sales cycle from months to days, you must completely abandon broad awareness campaigns and bypass the usual corporate noise. The Commercial Engine:

• Aggressively narrow your focus to specific geographical hubs and exact decision maker personas.
• Combine strategic media relations with highly curated, boots on the ground physical engagements.
• Build immediate trust with skeptical product creators by offering value add networking rather than sales pitches.

The Bottom Line: Hyper targeting your communications ensures you are actively engineering direct deal flow and establishing your business as the premier strategic exit partner.