€19 million for stable coins, 40 under 40 + entering "the arctic century: greenland as kingmaker"
*TGI(m)F. edition 130 i’m kay, and this is your 360-view of the nordic startup ecosystem. covering culture + growth on a weekly basis, delivered to your screen for easy reading every sunday 💌
notices
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🍋 what’s your problem? (I want to hear from you!)
“It's probably true that Gen Z is more demanding. That applies in general as a generation. But I don't think they are more difficult to lead, if you are a good leader. The problem is leaders who are not good at leading.” (quote translated from norwegian to english).
~ Malin Moe Neeraa, on gen-z + leadership for VG.
nordic pov
🇩🇰 Denmark
Eleanor O'Neill joins Monta as their new Chief Revenue Officer.
Gamerpay, a marketplace for trading gaming skins and assets, crosses 1 million trades on their platform
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded a grant of €66 million to establish a national PhD academy for talent development and researcher education at Syddansk Universitet (SDU).
MyBelly Aps, the maternity activewear + swimwear company is now on Faire, a marketplace for retailers.
Nordic Health Lab have hired Sidsel Winther Vincentz as their new Head of Partnerships and Development.
Aryze, the Web3 and digital assets company have raised €19 million from Rollman Management Digital, to strengthen their position as a leader in stablecoin services.
The circular and sustainable coffee company, Damn Good Coffee Company, announces they have sold the business to ØNSK - a competing coffee brand. All 3 co-founders will be involved in the new journey, in some shape or form.
Lars Seier Christensen’s Entravel - a platform for booking discounted hotels using Crypto and FIAT payments - becomes Bybit’s official hotel partner.
Tryp.com, the travel-platform simplfying multi-destination trips, announces a €3.1 million funding round led by Iberis Capital
Female Invest far exceeds its goal to improve financial literacy (at 50%), with 86% of members now more confident and literate about money.
Oliver Simon Jarvis joins the Halfspace - an AI company as a Data Scientist.
Last week, Zetland - the danish digital media company, launched their Finnish newspaper, Uusi Juttu. There are already 11,000 paying members.
Danish founded LABFRESH close a €1m crowdfunding campaign after 1 week, for the launch of their womenswear collection (updates to funding are in comments).
Kasim Hussain on Børsen’s “25 Future Leaders” list, and it’s lack of greater diversity.
Copenhagen Fashion Week has established a strategic partnership with The Soulfuls, an award-winning community offering personal and professional growth for women.
Landfolk acquires, Danitalia.com, a player in the Italian holiday home market - their first acquisition ever.
Andreas Cleve, the co-founder of Corti on how Trump’s AI moves could create ripple effects throughout Europe.
Aalborg based, Blue PLM (a leading SaaS provider) is bought by pan-European B2B venture fund, Volpi Capital.
Jesper Møller Sørensen (Ambassador of Denmark to the U.S) and Kenneth Høegh (Representation of Greenland to the U.S + Canada) have been meeting with Congress to talk about Arctic security.
Gavmild, a new ‘fair-price’ insurances company is on the cusp of launching - follow for updates.
Kim Rants, co-founder + CEO of Alice.Tech will be sharing his insights with TechSavvy every 2 weeks on his experiences in Y-Combinator.
EY Denmark has donated €40.000 to Kvindeøkonomien, a non-profit movement supporting women's financial competences in DK.
Flimmer, the child-friendly social media platform, announces a new partnership with Save the Children Denmark
Visma has successfully acquired more than 90% of shares in Penneo - the signing and KYC workflow platform.
🇸🇪 Sweden
Emigreat, have created a PDF with the rules and requirements for changing jobs as a work permit holder in Sweden.
Innoscentia, the food labelling technology company, secures €500.000.
Normain has been nominated in the “Startup of the Year” category for the regional round of the Global Startup Awards.
Sightic, the software that detects alcohol and drug impairment through eye analysis, have raised €2.1 million.
Open platform for energy data, Eliq, announces an investment from Volvo Car’s venture arm, the Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
Carla, the platform for buying or leasing electric vehicles, has secured €3.3 million in funding from existing investors.
Retein, the startup turning water into a source for clean water and valuable materials, is selected to be one of the 7 finalists in the ‘Industrial Biotech & New Materials’ track at Hello Tomorrow.
SaaS platform for hair salons, Digmi, announces a collaboration with Wella Company Professionals, one of the world’s leading salon brands.
Secure, high-end transcription tool, Klang.ai has raised €260.000 in a funding round led by list of business angels.
Female founded lifestyle brand, Sisterly Tribe, is written about in a Forbes article.
Neko Health, the preventive health-tech company offering non-invasive medical scans, raises a €250 million round led by Lightspeed Ventures.
Sana, the AI company for next-gen of knowledge tools, is eyeing up a U.S IPO in a few years time 💸
Reach for Change’s new 3-year initiative to promote social innovation + boost youth employment in Södertörn.
Gesynta Pharma, the pharma company developing treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases, has raised €26.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Innovestor Life Science.
CEO + Co-founder of TaxwizeAI, the “AI wizard for tax advisors” announces they are closing the company after not being able to find product-market-fit.
Open banking solution, Open Payments, raises €3 million in a funding round led by Alfvén & Didrikson
Marshall Group, the audio brand formed by Zound Industries and Marshall, is sold to Hongshun for €1.1 billion, with Tommy Jacobson’s Zenith making a €57 million exit.
Wingbits, the community-driven flight data company has raised raised €5.3 million in a round led by Borderless Capital, Bullish Capital + more
Charlotta Tönsgård on Sweden moving forward with Chat Control proposals that undermine end-to-end encryption platforms like Signal + Whatsapp.
PhaseOne AI has launched, “your partner for building AI solutions and automations”. They are giving away 5 AI audits celebrate the launch with you.
Elsa Hyland is going to be on the jury for the 2025 Startup Grind Global Pitch Battle Semi-Finals.
🇳🇴 Norway
Eline Stokstad Fjell joins Remora Robotics, the automated robotics solutions company targeting the aquaculture industry, as their new Chief Financial Officer.
Shifter writes about the connection between working at Cognite and going on to start or join a startup.
Aevy, the virtual asset manager for renewables, has raised €528.000 in a round led by Startuplab.
Madeleine Bjørnestad Røed, founder of Stackx.me, wants to be the first Norwegian female entrepreneur to list her company on the stock exchange in Norway. Crowdfunding will open on we will open at Folkeinvest soon.
Edgeir Aksnes, founder of Tibber, on Norway’s split over energy policy, struggling to balance electricity prices and power independence.
See Finance’s list of Norway’s 40 under 40.
Lucas Carstens, the founder of Modulize, shares he will now be joining Heimdall Power, but will remain on the board of the company.
SportAI, the AI-Driven technique analysis solutions company, have secured non-dilutive soft funding.
Investinor has hired Pål Breiland to be their new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), whilst their current CFO, Tor Helmersen, will now continue as Chief Investment Officer.
🇫🇮 Finland
EU Startups “The next wave of Finnish innovation: 10 promising startups to watch in 2025” including Flow Computing, In Parallel and Onego Bio.
Remod Oy, an IT and information management services company raises a total of €700,000 from Korpun Siemen Oy, Ääkköset Oy, and E Corp Oy.
Jack Van Batenburg joins Carbo Culture on the Agribusiness team as a Business Development and Supply Chain Lead.
Rocsole, the company monitoring and optimising production processes for industries like gas + oil, partners with EnerCorp and launches a €5 million share offering with Springvest.
Bob W., the alternative to hotels & short-stay apartments company, is the winner for Skift Awards for Sustainability
Rester Oy, the textile recycling company announces a €4.9 million round with Lindström Oy, Tesi and new investors taking part.
🇮🇸 Iceland
DTE, a real-time intelligence for the metals industry, announces Jakob Asmundsson as their new Chief Executive Officer.
Arctic Therapeutics, the company development AI-driven drug treatments secures €26.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by EIC Fund, Kaldbakur + more.
📚 stories, opinions + resources
Read, “What’s it like being a mom and an entrepreneur? Here’s my take” - Jenny-Ann Axson Johnson, CEO + founder of Tilly.
Listen: “Techtopia 353: Dansk startup vil beskytte dine fotos” (in Danish) with SASHA - Safe Share.
Read, “Freedom to Create: A Manifesto for the Next Era of Entrepreneurship” - Mikkel Steen’s manifesto for 2025.
Read: “How did Nordics become a hub for deep tech startups? Industry experts reveal the facts” - Tech Funding News
Read, “Deep tech funding landscape in Sweden” - Industrifonden
Watch, “How are startups transforming the way we work?” - Sarita Runeberg, Maria 01 (in Finnish).
Read, “Looking ahead to the Arctic Century: Greenland as kingmaker—commentary…politics, commerce and culture.”- Dwayne Ryan Menezes
Watch a snippet, “There is a ‘valley of death’ in European research and innovation, says CEO of Novo Nordisk Foundation” - CNBC
See Even Founders’ list of “Nordic women (co-)founded companies to Watch” in 2025.
spotlight
this weeks spotlight: Sweden’s Stockholm Wood City. a project to build the “the largest mass timber project in the world” with 2,000 homes, offices, and a school opening by 2027 is covered by Maddy Savage in TIME. From cutting construction emissions in half, healthier work environments for construction crews and the likelihood of better mental well-being for residents.
job-board
⚽️ Jeppe Chris, founder of Wrizz Travel is looking for a Chief Technology Officer (DK)
👾 Uniplay are hiring a Game Designer for their team (SE).
💡 Sunday Power are hiring a Client Executive (NO)
dates and action points
→ Applications close for the next batch of hardware startups as part of the Future Manufacturers program the 10th February. 75.000 DKK is up for grabs!
→ B Lab Nordics: “Open Office Hours” in Helsinki, Feb 3rd, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
→ 💸 ♻️ THE UPCYCL, a B2B marketplace to connect and trade industrial waste are crowdfunding!
→ The Danish Antler Team are investing €4.5 million into idea-stage companies, over 15 investments. If you're building, write "stealth" in the comments and they’ll be in touch.
→ The Astrid Wild are looking for a new office space that can also function as a showroom. Ideally in these areas: Vasastan/Norrmalm/Södermalm/Kungsholmen in Stockholm.
→ Ungetopmøde på Christiansborg om ansvarlig kunstig intelligens (youth meeting about AI responsibility). Feb 1st, 12-15 in CPH. More here.
→ Eric André, founder of Kiku will be in Stockholm 4-8 February and is looking to meet people to chat AI and high-volume recruitment over a coffee!
→ Vote for Sweden's most important female entrepreneur in 2025, Di Digital’s yearly award (winner announced on the 30th Jan).
→ GIN & CROQUIS - A naked conversation about founder life and tech startups. Hosted by PSV + Startup Aarhus. February 6th, 4pm - 6 pm, in Aarhus.
🥛 mondayfriday news drop 💌 feedback
Thank you for tuning in! i’m always on the hunt for newsworthy content to bring to the mondayfriday audience. and, if you ask me, the best place is from the community itself. so, please drop your updates above and fill me in on any startup related news in the nordics. additionally, please leave me some feedback so i can keep improving ✨
yours weekly,
kay
* thank god it's (monday)friday
