brainreader raises €6.4M, klarna rolls back AI customer service agents, CEO of desenio is stepping down.
*TGI(m)F. edition 145. 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 💌
notices
‣ 🎧 Listen! The latest episode of After the Beep with Nico is out: defensetech? european-first? founders that go M.I.A…..we chit-chat about your questions and hopefully give you some food for thought?
‣ There will be no mondayfriday on June 8th: I’ll be enjoying a weekend away for my bestfriends wedding and so will not be at the computer 🥂 - mondayfriday activities resume from the 15th onwards.
🥛 mondayfriday news drop 💌 feedback
nordic pov
‣ Denmark
TODAY, the startup building a co-pilot for financial advice, has raised €1 million led by Berlin-based Lucid Capital.
Groundley, the b2b fintech startup redefining how spend is managed, has secured €970k in funding including a loan & backing from a list of angel investors.
PropTech Denmark have selected 4 new Board Members: Nabil B. Chaykh, Line Gaunø Ibsen, Lars Mejlby, Leise Sandeman.
SOUNDBOKS wins copyright case against Japanese giant, SHARP, for their SumoBox: the company can no longer target the Danish market and owe SOUNDBOX 315.000 DKK + interest.
Cirkeline Ask joins Skatteguiden to lead on all things People and Culture.
The 6 Future Manufacturers startups granted 75.000 DKK from the Verner Overgaard's Familiefond, including: CETO Innovation, FREEJOGGER, O-Robotics + more.
MedTech company, Brainreader, raises €6.4 million in funding led by Dahlgren Capital.
Magnus Stagsted, Principal at People Ventures announces promotion to Partner with the fund.
TechBBQ announces a €800k strategic support grant from Danmarks Erhvervsfremmebestyrelse.
🎧 listen to: Kasper Hulthin, the co-founder of Kost Capital and Kost Studio on building great food companies.
Christine Spiten, joins Founders Growth Club as one of their Growth Advisors.
After 3 years, Alexander Tolstrup, Co-founder & CSO of comundo, announces he’s leaving the company.
‣ Sweden
Martin Weigert shares a new list of Swedish tech startups & scaleups with strong yet sustainable growth.
DoldAdress.se, the company helping people protect their personal information raises a €1.8 million angel round.
Aniara, the startup helping authors reach global audiences, has secured €600K in funding in a round led by Aller Media Nordic
Solace Care, the startup revolutionising the insurance industry after a death, raises funding from angel investors including Mattias Miksche, Caroline Farberger and Krim Talia.
Alba Health, the startup tackling gut health for kids, raises €2.2 million in seed funding led by Unconventional Ventures.
Fredrik Palm, CEO of ecomm platform, Desenio, announces he will be stepping away from his role.
Endra the company building the next-gen of AI CAD tools has secured €3 million in funding from Norrsken VC.
Find my Factory, the global supplier discovery platform raises €1.2 million in a recent funding round.
Green Dent, the company aiming to reduce plastic in healthcare raises funding from Dala Capital.
‣ Norway
Attensi, a startup specialising in simulation-driven training tools, has raised more than €22 million in non-dilutive growth capital from Ture Invest Partners.
Nofence, the virtual fence system for grazing animals, makes it onto the big screen in Jeremy Clarkson’s “Clarkson’s Farm”.
Odins.ai, the company using AI to optimise your marketing ROI, raises €1.3 million in funding.
Frekk Forlag the book publishing startup raises new funding from Skyfall ventures, McKinsey, and a list of founders who invested via Støttehjulet.
‣ Finland
spogen.ai, the startup building image & voice assistants for operating heavy machinery has raised a funding round led by FOV Ventures.
CurifyLabs, the startup developing solutions for manufacturing personalized medicines raises €6.7 million in a round led by Springvest.
Lilian Zsakai breaks down how the EU Startup & Scaleup Strategy affects the Finnish startup ecosystem.
Surgify Medical Oy, the company preventing bone complications during surgery, has raised a €7 million series A round led by ZEISS Ventures (CVC of Carl ZEISS Group).
Inven, the AI powered deal sourcing platform, raises an €11.2 million series A round led by Ventech and Vendep Capital.
Finnish/Swiss, Hedera DX, the company modernising cancer care, raises a €15 Million series A led by Vsquared Ventures.
RNatives, the biotech company developing precision RNA-based gene regulating therapies, secures an additional €1.4 million in seed funding led by Nordic Science Investments.
Volare, a biotech company creating sustainable protein and oil from food industry side streams, secures €26 million in blended capital, including support from Maki.VC amongst others.
☼ spotlight
“Company Regrets Replacing All Those Pesky Human Workers With AI, Just Wants Its Humans Back”. Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski makes a U-turn on his December 2024 comments about AI replacing human work (“AI can already do all of the jobs that we, as humans, do.”) and after major losses + lower quality outcomes, he wants the humans back ☞ read more about it on futurism.
job board
☺︎ Spoor is looking for a Customer Director (NO).
☺︎ Legora are hiring an Operations Specialist.
☺︎ Podimo are hiring a Director, Total Rewards & People Insights (DK).
dates and action points
→ The official launch of Founders Growth Club! 19th of June, 1600-1800h. Get in touch with Caroline to secure a spot (they’re limited!) - caroline@canute.io
→ AgentCon (a one day conference on AI agents), Thursday, June 19th, at HUB3 in Copenhagen.
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