sven fuhrman steps down from northvolt, in parallel secures ā¬2.8m + 5 essentials to nail your investor pitch.
*TGI(m)F. edition121 iām kay, and this is your weekly round-up of curated startup news from the nordics, delivered to your screen for easy reading every sunday š
š„ got news?
i love to crowdsource updates from the community on the ground, so hereās the š mondayfriday news drop: share the details by saturday for a potential sunday feature!
š©š°Ā Denmark
NitroVolt - a solution turning electricity and air into ammonia (a common fertiliser) - has raised ā¬3.5 million from BackingMinds, EIFO, EQT Foundation, Breakthrough Energy, and more.
Banana Cph is sold in itās entirety to foodtech investor, HV Invest, to continue itās growth. Founder, Christian Cordius remains on board in a director position.
Team Driver, Acembee, and Yuman are all category winners for the Entrepreneur Award from the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs and Fonden for EntreprenĆørskab. Acembee also recently won the pitching competition at Nordic Fe:male Invest summit!
Ziik, the all-in-one internal communication and information sharing platform, acquires the whistleblowing software company, Walor.io.
Drivn, the startup providing actionable sustainability data and insights for employee transportation, wins the CBS Startup Award.
Strive Ventures ApS and Keystones enter a strategic partnership to strengthen investments in scaleups.
Following departure from his own startup, Erik Lauritzen has joined focalx as their new Founderās Associate.
Danske Bank to manage the Danske VƦkst Kapital (DVK) fund (valued at ā¬1.2 billion) which will strengthen support for Danish and Nordic VC's + expand their direct LP-investments under DVK's mandate.
Tempty Foods launch new collaboration with BRUS brewpub, a brewery & eatery in Copenhagen.
Omnidocs, a provider of document creation software has acquired the Dutch software provider, Xential.
šøšŖ Sweden
Volkswagen's investment chief, Sven Fuhrman, has requested to leave Northvolt's board, with a new dialogue underway about a potential successor.Ā
26 new startups join the now 210 recognised ecosystem actors that are part of the Swedish AI Landscape.
Elexir Pharmaās recent campaign broke rules at the International Chamber of Commerceās for ad and marketing communications for āgross profanityā.
Volta Greentech, the company reducing methane emissions from cows is joining forces with Axfood and GƤsene Mejeri to create a cheese that has lower climate impact.
Klarna is moving towards a U.S IPO, aligning with the company's focus on U.S. expansion (another āblowā for European capital market).
Database management software, DB24, has raised a ā¬1.5 million round led by Almi Invest and a handful of other investors.
Wyatt Wasder shares details for āa promising Sthlm based energy startup with a small angel ticket ($250') left in the round. They have already raised $2,300,000ā. reach out to him for more info.
Cecilia Edstrƶm, has joined the board of Perspetivo, the SaaS research company offering insights that mirror the entire population.
See Ny Tekniks 2024 list of āSweden's most innovative and promising young technology companiesā.
Nordic Air Defence, the company developing high tech defensive solutions for both civilian and military use, announces a ā¬1.2 million round led by SNĆ Ventures.
Magma Math, an edtech app already used by 1 in 2 students in Sweden, has raised ā¬37.2 million for growth in the U.S led by Five Elms Capital.
Vinter, the company offering indexes for crypto ETF issuers, has been acquired by French company, Kaiko.
Zakaria Hersi has joined the The Inner Foundation team as their new Investment & Portfolio Manager.
DREM, a company simplifying the deployment of heat pumps for residential homes, raises ā¬1 million in fresh capital from Peak, byFounders, and more.
š³š“ Norway
Atlas, the geospatial data software platform, has raised a ā¬1.9 million pre-seed round led by Pale Blue Dot and including other high-profile investors.
Deckmatch, the startup helping investors elevate their investment strategy with deep, analytical insights raises a ā¬2.9 million round led by Alliance VC and Luminar Ventures.
Secundo, the platform changing the way Europe buys and sells secondhand furniture has raised ā¬769k in funding from the Riegel family.
After 8 years as Co-founder of Katapult Future Fest (and CEO of KatapultX), Ida Faldbakken is stepping down from her position.
š«š®Ā Finland
GraphoGame, the literacy app dedicated to helping children worldwide learn to read raises funding from Monttu Ventures.
Tuomas Rinta takes over as CEO for Noice, whilst Jussi Laakkonen will move into a Chairman position.
See page 11 for the companies that made Deloitteās Technology Fast 50 Finland 2024 winners.
Maki VC, has announced the close of their third fund worth ā¬100 million to continue to support Nordic startups.
In Parallel, the startup using AI to create game-changing Adaptive Strategies, secures ā¬2.8 million in seed funding in a round led by Lifeline Ventures.
Happy Plant Protein, a foodtech startup disrupting current methods of plant protein production, has raised a ā¬1.8 million pre-seed round led by Nordic Foodtech VC.
Joey Bayer is (considering) starting a Gay Professional Network Group in Helsinki. Reach out if thereās interest.
Women in Tech Finland has won the award for Technology Influencer of the Year.
š®šø Iceland
Iceland Innovation Week have announced their themes for 2025.
š Nordics-wide
The list of Nordic female founders that made the Global 500 List of Female Founders in Ocean & New Energy.
Sweden, Denmark and Finland rank 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the World Economic Forumās Energy Transition Index.
See the winners of the Nordic Women in Tech Awards 2024.
š stories, opinions + resources.
What has Hampus Jakobsson from Pale Blue Dot been reading this week? A mix of Hamming Questions, impossible phenomena, misaligned incentives + more.
Read: Saaya Sorrells-Weatherford, Co-founder of Emigreat, on the āfour changes [she] would push around Sweden's work permit processesā
DeepTech Study Finland report conducted by Maki VC x Tesi.
Read the guide: Jenny Lindbladās 5 essentials to nail for your next investor pitch.
Lauren Pedersen, CEO and Co-Founder of SportAI, discusses the future of AI in sport with Aaliyah Harris at Sky News.
Read: āTo Wearable or not to Wearable: Learnings and Insights from a Year with WHOOPā - Line Aasen
this weeks wildcard (a new + evolving concept) is a bite-sized web summit recap on the question of:āfunding gaps & diverse founders: should the mandate come from LPs?ā šø š¤
i wonāt summarise the whole session, but i will summarise a couple of key points Annika Sten PƤrson made during the panel. first off, mandates for inclusive and diverse investing is still relatively new when we think about how long a return on investment can take for funds; it was just 1 month ago that Female Founders Fund fully returned their ā¬5.5 million Fund I after ten years. this makes them one of the few diverse-focused funds to do that. lesson: it takes time to see the results, so commit to the process.
secondly, Annika points to the ādistanced traveledā idea. an under-represented fund manager will have typically had a different distance traveled to get to where they are, often in comparison to a lot of their counterparts at the same level. but itās exactly that personal distance traveled that comes with a wealth of unique potential for shaping how investment decisions are made. lesson: acknowledge there is a distance traveled, and make use of that difference (nuanced and critical perspectives across a fund can be one of your most important differentiators).
(Annika was joined on stage by Sam Eshrati, Christian Elam + Til Klein).
š Lovable is hiring generalist engineers for their team.
š Startup Lab are hiring a Business Developer and Open Innovation Evangelist.
āļø BeCause are hiring a Head of People & Culture.
š” Nico Blier-Silvestriās āMonday Talent Spotlightā : an American strategist with over 20 years of experience shaping commercial, tech, and cultural strategy for leading global brands and growth-focused companies is looking for a new role in the Nordics.
ā Martin Mignot (Partner at Index Ventures) is hosting two off-the record, invite only sessions with Nik Storonsky (Revolut) and Dylan Field (Figma) at Slush. Apply to join here.
ā Missing a Slush ticket? Do you have an extra Slush ticket? š§ Join the ālast minute Slush ticketsā LinkedIn post here.
ā Founders Live Oslo | November Edition: startup pitches, networking, and innovation. 22nd November, 17:00-19:00 (+ an afterparty) at Casablanca in Oslo.
ā Fast Track Malmƶ VC Fundraising Bootcamp 2024, a program designed to help you secure ā¬1-3 million in funding. Apply by the 24th of November.
ā EY's Amplifier program for Nordic Startups in collab with EQT Foundation, BioInnovation Institute and Nordic Angels. Deadline to apply: 22nd November.
ā Capital Connect 1-1 Investor Sparring Sessions hosted by The Kitchen and Startup Aarhus. November 28th, 10:00 am - 12:00 at The Kitchen in Aarhus.
ā Runway to Growth 5k run hosted by MƦrsk Growth, November 28th 17:00 - 18:30 starting at Nordre Toldbod 2 in Copenhagen.
ā Apply for the Women in Tech Scholarship worth 25,000 DKK - applications open until 15th of December.
Thanks for tuning in! iām 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, feel free to reach out and fill me in on any startup related news in the nordics āØ
yours weekly,
kay
* thank god it's (monday)friday
