miinto's CEO steps down, lovable lands €15m + top tips for posting on linkedin.
*TGI(m)F. edition 135 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: Denmark sees the fewest number of newly registered companies in 10 years, whilst Akasi Pharma makes their debut — if you’ve seen “Painkiller” on Netflix you’ll know why this is important 💊 Norway’s Vev acquires TIME Sites and Marc Benioff joins their board (news to me that the CEO of Salesforce also owns TIME Magazine…an apparent billionaire trend, read: Jeff Bezos x the Washington Post). Signal might be leaving Sweden over encryption laws, and Skype is shutting down. British vogue weighs in on Neko Health’s scanner - “It feels more like a spa or futuristic members’ club than a doctor’s office” 🧖♀️. Meanwhile, Finland's experts push for sustainable growth measures, and a new gaming studio gets funded by Spintop Ventures.
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!
“Long-standing alliances we once took for granted are now being shaken to their core. At the same time, the mindset of "Move fast and break things" – directly imported from Silicon Valley – is spreading“
~ Evelina Anttila, CEO + Managing Partner at Wellstreet.
nordic pov
Denmark
Konrad A. Kierklo is stepping down as CEO of Miinto - the luxury e-comm marketplace.
Kvantify, the computational drug discovery platform for pharma appoint Jörg Weiser as Chairman of the Board.
2024 had the fewest number of newly registered companies in ten years in Denmark.
Akasi Pharma, the company developing non-opioid therapeutics to treat pain has launched, and secures €536.000 in financing through a convertible loan note from the BioInnovation Institute.
Boardway goes live with the mission to the world’s largest AI-powered platform for board talent.
The rumours are not true - Tony Beltramelli (prev co-founder of Uizard, now product at Miro) is not starting a new company.
Seaborg Technologies, the startup at the forefront of innovative nuclear reactor technology, raises an additional €26 million of funding from existing investors, with Anders Holch Povlsen leading the round.
read, Lea Korsgaard’s (Editor-in-chief and co-founder, Zetland) take on Jeff Bezos’ new approach to the Washington Post’s opinion section.
Online tutoring platform, Toptutors receives €938.000 in funding from a series of angel investors.
Fuse Vectors, the biotech startup advancing AAV gene therapy development has raised €5.2 million in pre-seed funding from HCVC and BioInnovation Institute.
Airlich, company delivering sustainable and environmentally-friendly heating, ventilation & air conditioning (hvac) solutions secures €1.5 million through the EUDP.
The medtech company developing ophthalmic laser devices, Norlase, has secured €20 million in EIB venture debt.
Christian Mogensen appointed the new Nordic Head of Public Policy for Snapchat's parent company, Snap.
Winners of the RUC Innovation Startup Competition Finale 2025: Fangst & Fremtid, GLIPit & The Umundu Artivism.
Jacob Graves Beck has been promoted from Venture Analyst to Venture Associate at PreSeed Ventures Hafnium.
NanoGuard Crop Solutions, the protein-based pest control solution company, have secured a spot the BII Venture Lab Cohort.
Sophie Mølgård Hansen, the prev. Head of Partnerships at TechBBQ joins momkind as their new Head of Strategy + Operations.
PixelPai named amongst the "Four Web3 Companies to Watch in 2025" by Tech.eu
Ulrik Fonsmark Andreasen is joining Active Owners Denmark as a Board Member.
TrackSights, the company building a cutting-edge intelligence platform for the automotive industry raises a €1 million from Maki Ventures and a few angel investors.
Sweden
A British Vogue reporters review of Neko Health’s revolutionary scanner.
Farideh Wallqvist becomes a co-founder in WiB Capital, joining Carolina Lahdo.
Privacy-focused app, Signal, may exit Sweden if a new bill mandates storing encrypted messages, creating a potential police backdoor.
Microsoft announces the shutdown of Skype; founder Niklas Zennström responds.
Normain co-founders Sara Landfors and Kalle Hansson have been accepted into the Mentorship Programme of Prins Daniels Fellowship.
Lovable, raises €14.3 million lead by Creandum, Sifted scoops up the story, + they get a shout-out from the Swedish Prime Minister next to giants like Klarna, Spotify and Skype.
Sponswatch, the company specialising in AI-driven sponsorship analytics, secures a €1 million seed round led by node.vc.
Legora (formerly Leya) and FromCounsel have announced an integration to bring AI-powered legal knowledge to lawyers across the U.K.
Fibbl, the world’s first plug-and-play platform for integrating 3D and AR technologies into e-commerce, secures €3 million from Industrifonden and a list of angels.
Norway
Read “Google Norway doesn't need to wave to Putin's boys” - Jan Grønbech (CEO of Sunstone Institute).
Kvist, the startup helping companies in the construction and real-estate sectors asses their sustainability performance, raises €1.3 million from Kiilto Ventures.
Metric: AI Powered Marketing, the world’s first app for fully automated Shopify sales, raises an €8 million Series A round from a mix of angels and VC’s including Magnus Carlsen, Johan Brand, Altitude Capital + more.
Saeid Hosseini, the founder of Vilje Bionics is featured in D2 shares his journey building Vilpower, the robotic arm helping stroke victims.
Instabox strategically partners with Tradera, the second hand marketplace.
Vev, the all-in-one platform for creating and launching web experiences, acquires TIME Sites, and welcomes Marc Benioff to the board.
“The Norwegian government has been advised by a committee of experts to slow down the development of wind power and abandon its battery investment” - Emma Wallin
Finland
Bahn Express, the company reducing used car delivery times, raises €920.000 in pre-seed funding led by Innovestor.
Pauliina Martikainen, Partner at Maki.vc shares details on the Kasvuriihi project, a series of suggested measures to promote sustainable economic growth in Finland. Read about it here.
Videobot, an omnichannel interactive short-form video platform closes €2.8 million in funding led by Volta Ventures, Expon Capital, and Superhero Capital.
Solid IO, the company specialising in patient-specific organ-on-chip technology, raises €800,000 led by Nordic Science Investments.
Seven Stars, a mobile games start-up secures investment in a round co-led by Spintop Ventures and Behold Ventures.
Datafarm, the sustainability reporting platform for SMEs raises funding from Gorilla Capital.
resources
Magnus Hambleton (VC at byFounders) shares his top tips for posting on Linkedin, including, “the more stupid and informal the post is, the better the reach”
Cecilie Willer’s book “Byg op uden at brænde ud” (Build without Burnout) on redefining the way we build companies through the lens of mental health and well-being is out now (in danish).
Emil Sorensen on building an AI startup and how to get into Y Combinator.
spotlight
this week: Sia Seidler Berro wins the danish TV show, “Cheferne – Jagten på talentet/The Bosses — on the hunt for talent”. A show where 8 young professionals are tested on their leadership and management skills through a series of challenges. The winner, selected by a panel of influential leaders (from Danske Industri, Danske Bank + Clever), then gets to choose which company to be employed in. Sia, who won for her “Calm, empathetic and clear” leadership style takes on a new role with Dansk Industri.
job-board
Letterlife are hiring a Community and Expert Manager (SE).
Glint Solar is hiring a Software Engineer (NO)
TechBBQ is hiring a Head of Investor Relations (DK).
dates and action points
→ A new funding opportunity has opened (led by the Danish Heart Foundation and Novo Nordisk Foundation) to drive innovation and transformative research in Cardiovascular health in women. deadline to submit letters of intent is March 21, 2025, at 2:00 pm CET.
→ Greencubator, the co-working space targeting impact-related ventures/orgs has desks available for rent (Copenhagen).
→ Vote for the VILLOID “Woman of the Year” award (Norwegian) - winners are announced on the 5th of March.
→ SHE/THEY – Queer start-up founders club launches in CPH kicking off with their first event, March 19th 17:00 - 19:00.
→ Industry Insights: Advanced Manufacturing & Networking Get Together, Plug and Play Denmark, March 20th at 10:30 - 13:00.
💌 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
