TL;DR Vanuatu is a country of about 335,000 people spread over many islands, where farming is a quarter of the economy and tourism earns most of the export income. The ideas that work here sell to visitors and the businesses that host them, make village farming and power cheaper, or help families recover faster after a storm.

The market in numbers

  • Population: about 335,000 in 2025[1].
  • GDP per capita: about US$4,040 in 2025[2].
  • Mobile phones: about 89 subscriptions per 100 people in 2023[3].
  • Farming: agriculture, forestry and fishing were about 27% of GDP in 2024[4].
  • Tourism: international tourism receipts were about 50% of exports in 2020[5].
  • Remittances: personal remittances received were about 17% of GDP in 2022[6].
  • Currency: the vatu (VUV), managed by the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu[7].

What founders here actually have to work with

Start with the money that comes from outside. Remittances worth about a sixth of GDP[6] mean plenty of households have cash that didn't come from a local wage, and tourism carries half of what the country earns abroad[5]. So your first customers are either a resort or a family with a relative working overseas.

Most people still live off the land, which is why farming is such a big share of GDP[4]. A product that makes a smallholder's pump, harvest or evening light cheaper has a real buyer, as long as the price fits a seasonal income.

Phones are common[3] but reliable home internet is another matter, so assume your app has to work on a patchy mobile connection. And plan for cyclones as a normal part of the year. Any hardware you ship to an outer island should be something a local person can fix with the parts on hand.

Ideas that fit Vanuatu

Every idea below was researched for India. Ignore the rupee figures and the Indian licences, and read each one as a starting brief.

Visitors and the businesses that serve them

  • Ratecove: Small bungalow operators on the outer islands juggle booking sites and paperwork with very little help. Rebuild the compliance side around Vanuatu's own tourism rules [Requires validation].
  • Hotelgreens: Resorts that fly in salad and herbs could buy them from a grower next door instead. The beds need to be tied down or easy to pack away before a storm.
  • Jettycharge: Day-trip boats around Port Vila burn fuel on short runs. Prove the numbers with one operator at one wharf before you talk about more.
  • Reeftally: Dive shops can turn their reef photos into a simple health score that guests and marine groups care about. Get a scientist to sign off on the method early.

Village farming and power

  • Frondline: Coconut is everywhere, and climbing trees for the harvest is slow and risky. Check whether the machines cope with the local palms before you buy a fleet.
  • Furrowlight: One loan repaid after harvest suits farmers who earn in lumps. You'd need a local lender or credit union as the partner, not a bank in another country.
  • Pumpwheel: Solar pumps booked by the hour make sense where few farmers can buy one outright. Start on one island where the roads can take a trailer.
  • Lathelamp: Pay-per-use solar machines for small village trades fit places off the main grid. Pick the one machine people already queue for.
  • Candlepay: Lock-until-paid meters for solar batteries need a payment rail. Swap UPI for whatever mobile money the local telcos offer [Requires validation].
  • Dusklog: Donor-funded solar streetlights fail quietly when nobody checks them. Funders and councils are the buyer here.

Storms and recovery

  • Stormcrate: Charged battery trailers waiting for the next cyclone fit a country that gets hit often. The revenue would come from standby deals with donors and government.
  • Reissuely: Families lose birth certificates and land papers when houses are flattened. Everything has to follow Vanuatu's own civil registry process [Requires validation].
  • Skyclinic: Drone runs carrying medicines and samples between islands match the map. Aviation approval and long sea crossings are the problems to solve first.

Clean water

  • Saltfree: Coastal villages with brackish wells need water they can drink. Keep it to parts a local technician can replace.
  • Pulpstrip: Cheap test cards read by a phone suit checks on village water after storms. Agree with health officials what a bad result should set off.

Rules to check before you start

Companies and business names are registered with the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, which also runs the registry search[8]. Foreign investors register with the Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and get a foreign investment certificate (FIRC), which can be done online[9]. Tax and customs sit with Vanuatu Customs and Inland Revenue, listed by the Department of Finance and Treasury[10]. The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu is the central bank[7]. Tourism, drones, health products and lending each have their own approvals [Requires validation].

This is a starting list, not legal advice. Check with a local lawyer or the agency itself.

Questions founders ask

Services sold to tourism operators cost the least to start, since the buyers are few, easy to find and already pay for outside help. Ratecove and Reeftally above mostly need time, a laptop and trust.

Do foreigners need a local partner to start a company in Vanuatu?

I couldn't find a general local partner rule. What I could confirm is that foreign investors register with the Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency for a FIRC[9]. Some activities may be reserved for citizens, so check with the agency before you commit.

Can a startup in Vanuatu sell beyond the islands?

Yes, and most will have to. Tourists, donors and the families sending money home are the outside buyers, and a product proven here can travel to neighbours with similar islands.

Talk to Yash

In Vanuatu the question is usually who pays, a resort, a donor or a family overseas, and I can help you work that out before you spend. If you need a hand, you know where to find me.

Talk to Yash →

Sources

  1. World Bank, "Population, total: Vanuatu", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&mrv=1
  2. World Bank, "GDP per capita (current US$): Vanuatu", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?format=json&mrv=1
  3. World Bank (ITU data), "Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people): Vanuatu", 2023. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?format=json&mrv=1
  4. World Bank, "Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP): Vanuatu", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  5. World Bank, "International tourism, receipts (% of total exports): Vanuatu", 2020. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/ST.INT.RCPT.XP.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  6. World Bank, "Personal remittances, received (% of GDP): Vanuatu", 2022. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VUT/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  7. Reserve Bank of Vanuatu, home page, 2026. https://www.rbv.gov.vu/
  8. Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, home page, 2026. https://www.vfsc.vu/
  9. Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, home page, 2026. https://investvanuatu.org/
  10. Government of Vanuatu, Department of Finance and Treasury, home page, 2026. https://doft.gov.vu/

For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.