In this paper, Bi3+- and Eu3+-co-doped ScVO4 had been investigated as an alternative red-emitting phosphor under near-ultraviolet excitation. Structural and spectroscopic characterizations were carried out. The results show that the samples can efficiently absorb near-ultraviolet light and produce very bright red emission. In particular, the optimized sample shows much stronger emission intensity than the commercial phosphor Y2O2S: 5% Eu3+ in the excitation range of 365-395 nm, and can reach a strength 5.4 times of the latter under 385 nm excitation. It also has better CIE chromaticity coordinates. These suggest ScVO4: Bi3+, Eu3+ as a promising red-emitting phosphor for white light-emitting diodes based on near-ultraviolet light-emitting diode chips.