a €115M acquisition, peter sarlin invests in quantum startup, even founders' latest report is out.
*TGI(m)F. edition 136 i’m kay, and this is your 360º-view of the nordic startup ecosystem. covering culture + growth on a weekly basis, delivered to your screen for easy reading every sunday 💌
another mondayfriday, another week of nordic headlines. notably: EIFO has boots-on-the-ground in search for defensetech startups in silicon valley, Klarna's CEO opens up on the move away from using Salesforce. Norway is behind in the AI race whilst Sweden sits near the top of global ranking for private AI investments. On the leadership front, Onomondo's CEO steps down, and bclude’s CEO is shifting her focus back to product and brand. A tech-festival for kids is on the horizon, and even founders release their 70-page report on “The State of Nordic Women-Founded Startups 2024" (friends discount-code below 💸). A €115 million acquisition, €3.7 million raised by proptech startup, an extra €20 million secured for heat pump technology + many more €€€’s moving into startups across the board - read on for the full who/what/when.
notices
★ listen to the first episode of after the beep: your friendly ecosystem hotline, where me and our designated expert, Nico (VC and ex-founder) answer your dilemmas, q’s and opinions on all things startup world! add your dilemmas to the hotline here!
★ mondayfriday will be taking a 1-week hiatus! back on the 23rd March.
“Europe needs to stop calling it ‘risk-capital’. It’s ‘venture’”
~ Robert Falck, Einride.
nordic pov
‣ Denmark
Bo Koch-Christensen has joined the board of Capital 4 Impact Foundation.
CEO of bclude, Sara Schjemte Madsen, is stepping away from her position to focus more on product, brand and customers again.
OrderYOYO, the online ordering system for takeaway is acquired by Pollen Street Capital for €115 million.
PhaseTree, the collaborative online materials simulation platform for accelerated materials discovery, has raised €3 million from Heartcore Capital.
EIFO is eyeing up defensetech investments in Silicon Valley.
VVY, a nordic-focused growth agency launches to support companies in anything from initial traction to global scaling.
Human Bytes, the full solution provider of AI to healthcare, enters a strategic partnership with QUMEA to bring radar-based digital mobility monitoring to elderly care facilities.
See the 20 founders who join Cohort 1 of the pre-accelerator bootcamp, “Denmark as a Female Tech Founder Frontrunner - International Accelerator Programme” with Tech Nordic Advocates.
Fruity-AI raises a 7-figure sum of capital from the investment and IT company Arnsbo Group.
André Bergan joins Keypitt™, the company building a “digital wardrobe ticketing system”, as their new co-founder.
MyBelly, the company specialising in sports and swimwear for pregnant women and new mothers, secures 3 new investors.
Bootstrapping on why Trackunit’s recent unicorn status has gone ‘under the radar’ - paywall 😢
a:gain [again], the company transforming waste into scalable sustainable building solutions & products, raises a €4 million seed round led by Change Ventures.
Michael Freundt Karlsen, founder and CEO of Onomondo, is stepping away from his position as CEO as Rasmus Jensen takes over.
Previously am angel syndicate, Likeminded.vc is now formally a micro-VC having raised €3.6 million + with 23 investments under their belt.
Martin Møller Paarse will be stepping into the role of Interim CEO at Liva Healthcare.
‣ Sweden
Charlotta Tönsgård and the 398 other female board members shaping business (on breakit - paywall 😢) [on a side note: it would be really great if just once a year we could democratise access to lists like this to increase visibility + discovery - this week i have seen sooo many top women in tech lists on big media platforms for international women’s day that i can’t view unless i join their payment plans].
Linda Alexandersson, co-founder of Maybe Baby, wins the Future Female Entrepreneur 2025 award.
Sproud wins the "Environmental & Sustainable Development of the Year" award at Malmö Näringslivsgala 2025.
Barneby’s, the world’s leading search service for art, antiques and collectibles, raises €1.8 million in a new share issue from existing investors.
Klarna’s CEO on shutting down Salesforce and using Neo4j to understand their fragmented, siloed data by turning it into informative graphs.
Heat pump technology company, Aira, secures an additional €20 million in funding backed by Varga, taking their total capital raised to over €270 million.
Avarda, the flexible omnichannel payment services for retailers, parters with leader B2B payments technology, Two.
Bookboost, the hospitality engagement platform, has secured €3.6 million in funding in a round led by Vendep Capital
Nothing, the company founded by Chinese-Swedish Carl Pei, drops their latest product: the Phone (3a). See reviews here.
Charles Martin from Kinnevik, “a good % of founders in my pipeline are now:” in their early 20’s, technical, university drop-outs/avoiding university to cut straight to entrepreneurship.
AI-powered parking solution ParkingAid, has raised €228.000 in a round led by Almi Invest + Soläng Invest.
Perspetivo welcomes the Nobel Prize winner, Laura Sprechmann, as their latest investor.
MaritimeTech company, Echandia, has secured €20 million in a funding round led by Klima (Alantra’s energy transition fund), amongst others.
‣ Norway
The Top 50 women in tech including Lauren Pedersen, Agnes Árnadóttir + Deepti Mishra (no paywall! 🙌)
Camilla Andersson is building Pinecone Ventures, a new venture studio alongside Stewart Stanbra, Anders Storeng + more.
Nomadic Drones, the company automating drone inspections for utilities, has secured a €1.5 million pre-seed round led by Outlander VC and Asia2G Capital!
Telescope, the proptech/SaaS platform helping real estate companies manage sustainability risks, raises €3.7 million in a round led by Scale Capital and Dreamcraft Ventures.
SpareBank 1 and Sweden’s Swedbank, announce plans to establish a jointly owned Nordic investment bank by expanding SpareBank 1 Markets operation.
Installer, the company optimising EV charger, battery and heat pump installation via a data-driven matchmaking platform, raises €3.7 million led by Brighteye Ventures.
Ada Lea for E24: “While Sweden is pouring private capital into AI, Norway is lagging behind”.
‣ Finland
Suzanne Innes-Stubb, the spouse of the President of the Republic of Finland (and Executive-in-Residence at Aalto University) is spotted in Robes Rental attire during a state visit of the Danish royal couple.
Steady Energy, the company developing small-scale nuclear power, among top ten most promising start-ups (Talouselämä) and raises €22 million in funding led by 92 Ventures.
Kempower is the only Nordic company that made it into the top 10 of Financial Times’ “Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies 2025 ranking”.
Skyfora, the company specialising in AI-powered weather technology, raises €4 million in a round led by Ugly Duckling Ventures and LUMO Labs.
Icebreaker.vc announce that their Fund III is live and they are officially investing out of it.
Peter Sarlin, co-founder and SVP of AMD Silo AI joins QMill, a quantum computing startup, as an angel investor.
SparkReceipt, a pre-accounting software provider, raises an undisclosed amount of funding from Trind Ventures and with support from the InvestEU Fund and Business Finland.
‣ stories, opinions + resources
Christoffer Immanuel, CEO of All Matters on how to genuinely support people dealing with period pain at work.
Mohammed Salih, David Bagge and Rebecka Löthman Rydå share mistakes and learnings from their investment careers.
☼ spotlight
this week: even founders release their report on “The State of Nordic Women-Founded Startups 2024”. Spanning 70+ pages, their research covers everything from funding stages and industry patterns to team demographics, uncovering critical insights across all Nordic markets and industries. With the code: EVENFRIENDS the mondayfriday community can catch the full report for 50% off - a great way to financially support women founded initiatives for women founders 💸💸💸
job-board
☺︎ Ōura is hiring a VP of Growth Partnerships (FI)
☺︎ Home.Earth is hiring an Analyst for the Investment and Development team (DK)
☺︎ Jenny Lundqvist is helping a “femtech startup (Stockholm) to find their next CEO & Co-founder. They have a product on the market but are not cash flow positive. Previous startup experience in e-commerce, beauty, and fundraising is a plus. The role offers significant ownership and a salary post-investment” (SE)
☺︎ Fruity-AI are hiring a CCO / Head of Sales (DK)
dates and action points
→ Hello Ada’s “Børnenes Tech Festival” (kids tech festival) at Station, April 6th, from 09.00 to 15.00 in CPH.
→ Submit to AI Finlands open-call for top experts in the AI field - this week they are prioritising submissions for women in the field.
→ “Podcasting for dummies from dummies: A beginners guide to how to turn your idea into podcast”, 13 March 16:00 - 17:30 CET, Mesh Community in Oslo.
→ Innovation Norway launch a new course for entrepreneurs that targets how to build a capital strategy (in norwegian).
→ BLING Incubator is now open for applications: coaching, networking, €27.000 in investment and more (SE).
💌 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
