elvy raises €3.3 million, misinformation in greenland's elections + wingbits is heading for space.
*TGI(m)F. edition 134 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 💌
another mondayfriday, another week of nordic headlines. notably: Focalx raises €1.8M to ease up vehicle inspection, whilst a nuclear partnership between Blykalla + newcleo forms in Sweden. Otovo’s stocks soar by 70% - read on to find out why 👀 - and now 1X have unveiled their newest humanoid robot for the home (it’s giving Rosey the Robot). Finland’s SemiQon lands €17M to advance silicon-based quantum processors + Valpas (the bed bug solution) chooses Paris for their first international office (which now adds up when you think about the Paris bedbug debacle of 2024). last but not least: if you're considering leaving Meta’s universe of platforms, Maia Kahlke Lorentzen gives us the 4-1-1 on how.
notices
🍋 ☎️ the first episode of after-the-beep (your friendly ecosystem hotline) is coming out this week! keep your eyes and ears peeled 👀 continue to submit your dilemmas here.
“Call me a hypocrite, an idiot or fully retired, but my little innocent dog should no longer be named after [Elon]”
nordic pov
Denmark
HeyBOOB, the app for early breast cancer detection has been selected for the DTU X-Tech program.
Earth Miles, the world's first bonus program for sustainable transport, closes an €487.000 pre-seed round backed by Antler, Proptechfonden and Ada Ventures!
Focalx, the AI-powered platform automating vehicle inspections, raises €1.8 million in a round led by byFounders.
Christoffer Immanuel, founder and prev. CEO of Organic Basics announces that he is joining AllMatters as their new CEO.
Karrierklubben, the weekly podcast exploring career related challenges, partners with Finans to now host show on their platform.
Storebuddy, the software company optimising bookkeeping, is acquired by Ageras.
Cercare Medical, the company offering advanced neuroimaging solutions for brain CT and MRI assessments, raises €7.4 million to in a funding round led by West Hill Capital.
The Footprint Firm wins the “Impact Fund of the Year” at Active Owners Denmark Summit.
Greenland:
“Why elections in Greenland are particularly vulnerable to misinformation” - ArcticToday.
Sweden
Serverpod, the open-source, scalable app server secures a €2.7 million seed round led by node.vc, and including Greens Ventures and PreSeed Ventures.
Clar, the global digital broker, has acquired the Estonian fintech startup Fiizy, making this an exit for Nordic Secondary Fund.
Blykalla, the company building small modular lead-cooled reactors partners with newcleo.
Elvy (formerly Geofy), the company delivering affordable, fixed-price energy solutions to Swedish homeowners raises €3.3 million in a funding round and an additional €143 million in credit.
Retein, the sustainable water and resource recovery company joins AstraZeneca BioVentureHub.
VoxlBio, the advanced genetic spatial analysis startup, raises funding from LSI Epsilon, Almi Invest + others.
Maria Erdmann, Jessica Öberg, Oliver Lundgren and Jonathan Ortheden are the winners of the CEO of the Year award by Motivation.se
Leya, the “world’s first truly collaborative AI for legal professionals” rebrands to Legora and Elin Ashrafi (ex-Kinnevik) joins as their new Chief of Staff.
Wingbits, the community-driven flight data platform, partners with Spire, to co-launch a satellite for a first-of-its-kind flight tracking network.
LeaseCloud, the platform that completely digitizes leasing are now a part of 3stepIT - a Technology Lifecycle Managament provider in Finland.
Recoma, the startup revolutionising the construction industry raises €2.6 million in funding with backing from South Bay Ventures, Kiilto Ventures + more.
Offshore wind power, Windeed, has secured €1 million from private investors.
Norway
Sheri Shamlou, COO of Morescope, is nominated for Tech Entrepreneur of the Year for the HER Awards.
Johan Brand, Founder of Kahoot: “[George] Orwell saw this coming”, “why AI can’t play like humans do”, and “why play is our competitive edge”.
Otovo AS, the solar power marketplace company, sells their Continental Solar Portfolio to Swiss Life for €105 million - stocks rise 70%.
Runa Haug Khoury joins the founding team of Variable - the startup helping other businesses decarbonize their value chain.
1X unveiled its newest home robot, Neo Gamma, and it got covered on Techcrunch.
Andøya Spaceport in Norway is the launch pad for Isar Aerospace, a German startup attempting the first orbital launch from Western Europe.
Finland
SemiQon, the company building silicon-based quantum processors, raises €17 million from the European Innovation Council.
Aito Ventures Oy, the platform for next-generation renovation companies, secures €2 million from investors including Innovestor, Spacegrade + more.
Opinion piece on Finland's lack of domestic venture capital & how it’s forcing growth companies to seek foreign investors.
Valpas, the world’s only travel platform for safe, sustainable, and bed-bug-free hotel stays, chooses Paris region as it’s first international “home”.
Promotions at Carbo Culture: Becca Aspinwall goes from Head of Legal to General Counsel, and Charlotta Liukas from Head of Operations to Project Director.
Norolan, the sustainable fishing gear company founded by a fisherman and jewelry craftsman, secures €600.000 from Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN).
Origin by Ocean, the company turning harmful algae into sustainable ingredients, launches a demo production facility in Otaniemi, Finland.
Behavix, the Finnish founded (now New York based) company, raises a €2.4 million seed round, co-led by Vendep Capital and Superhero Capital.
Iceland
Svenja Harms, previously a Data Scientist at Crowberry Capital, returns to the VC as a Principal after just under 2 years in other roles.
stories, opinions + resources
See which 13 Nordic companies have been selected for the EIC accelerator (including receiving investments worth €17 million).
Thinking of moving away from Meta’s platforms? Maia Kahlke Lorentzen breaks down your alternatives.
Watch the talks from the Women’s Longevity Summit organised by Daya Ventures, Vinnova + more.
Read about how Vegard Aakre Vik, the co-founder of Oda fought to save the company (but in the end had to let it go).
Read “Zetland’s Lea Korsgaard on journalism as a service – and a product”
Read about DuffBeauty’s hiring approach, "We hired those who were best for the job".
spotlight
this week: PJ Pärson on the “great deal of challenges” we have to deal with in Europe “as it seems as US now has left a 80 year partnership for peace and prosperity behind”. read the full linkedin post here.
job-board
Nofence are hiring a Strategy Manager (NO).
Maria 01 is hiring a Startup Programs Manager (FI).
Understory are hiring an Onboarding Specialist, Junior Press Officer + more (DK).
Ash Pournouri is looking for someone to build + run a new event (CEO level), “Super Human (Network): The Global Human Improvement Summit” a health + longevity summit (SE).
Talent Spotlight: Bodil Sidén knows someone (Sthlm based) who is looking to move from an independent operator role into a commercial / strategy role at a scale-up - ideally within health or longevity.
dates and action points
→ baby vc Bootcamp in the Nordics is now open for applications (10 weekly sessions, no prior VC experience needed). Deadline to apply: 26th Feb! And, their baby vc meet-up is taking place on the 25th feb, in CPH.
→ For a limited time, Arctic15 for are selling startup booths for 1€ *if you get two startup passes and then add one euro for the booth for one day.
→ Hello Ada are looking for partners—companies, organizations, or individuals— to sponsor or co-host a workshop for an event they are building at Station Frederiksberg. More details to follow.
→ Global Mentoring Walk Denmark annual mentoring walk is taking place on the 1st of March at Matrikel1.
→ Even Founders’ Startup School applications are now open for their Spring Cohort running from March 17th - May 16th 2025.
💌 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
