Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics

Helsinki — While summer urban festivals are increasingly held outside the immediate city center, this week brings an exception. First organized last year, the multidisciplinary ODDfest returns to the heart of Helsinki this week as an even larger, more comprehensive event. The three-part festival will spread across several iconic venues in the city center, including the Lasipalatsi Square, Bio Rex …

Helsinki — The European startup landscape has undergone a profound transformation over the last decade and a half. What was once a fragmented ecosystem of localized tech hubs has matured into a deeply interconnected, cross-border network. At the center of this evolution in the Nordic and Baltic regions has been Arctic15, an annual gathering that has quietly subverted the typical, …

Tallinn,, Estonia — From defense innovations to green tech breakthroughs: this year’s Latitude59 demonstrated Estonia’s evolving tech landscape, drawing global leaders to Tallinn. Last week, Latitude59, Estonia’s flagship tech conference, drew over 3,500 attendees from 70+ countries to Tallinn. Breaking with tradition, Latitude59 awarded equal victories to three Baltic startups, who secured a combined €675,000 in investments through a new …

During this year’s Latitude59 event, Mastercard announced the winners of the leading startup partnership program Mastercard Lighthouse in the Nordics and Baltics, consisting of two parallel classes: FINITIV, for fintech companies, and MASSIV, for startups in sustainability and social impact tech.Swedish Manje Health won the MASSIV program and Swedish Preventum Labs is the overall FINITIV winner.Manje Health is building compliant …

The intuitive nature of the technology is perhaps its most startling feature. Rather than overwhelming the user with complex audio cues or digital commands, the system communicates naturally through the sense of touch. Users can instantly feel the proximity, motion, speed, and size of surrounding objects. This immediate feedback loop is so effective that early testers have been able to …

Tallinn, Estonia — Latitude59, the most international and influential startup and technology conference in the Baltics and the Nordic region, opened in Tallinn today, bringing together 3,000 participants from 70 countries.In his opening speech, the President of the Republic of Estonia Alar Karis, emphasized that AI has already transformed many jobs, and even bigger changes are likely still ahead. “If …

Tallinn — Minister of Economic Affairs & Industry of Estonia Erkki Keldo said Estonia wants to be a place where bold new ideas could be tested safely and quickly. “The next generation of billion-scale companies will be born where technology develops faster than legislation, and where the state dares to say ‘yes’ while others are still hesitating. Estonia does not …

The Q1 2026 Startup Barometer reveals that the financial assessment of Finnish startups has hit its lowest level in the survey’s history. The “balance figure”—a metric where positive numbers indicate optimism—fell to 9.9 for member companies, down from 14.8 the previous quarter. When expanding the view to the entire startup ecosystem for the first time, that figure dropped even further …

A total of 465 startups from five continents have applied for this year’s Latitude59 startup competition, taking place in Tallinn in May. The competition’s grand prize fund has grown by €100,000, reaching €400,000.The Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN will contribute up to €200,000 to the prize fund, while the Latvian Business Angels Network LatBAN will add up to €100,000. The …

CHICAGO — The Mark Anthony Group of Companies has officially announced the acquisition of The Finnish Long Drink, a move designed to accelerate the growth of the fast-rising ready-to-drink (RTD) brand and expand its availability across North America.The acquisition marks a significant milestone for both companies. Mark Anthony Group, the powerhouse behind White Claw, aims to leverage its massive distribution …

Part one: AI, SaaS + Sauna panel @ SXSW, the heat is on (“Löyly” [Finnish] meaning the heavenly steam of real Sauna)   Monday at SXSW took a different turn as Finns took over Bathe Austin, the new (and first) bathhouse in Austin. The program combined two things that don’t usually meet at tech conferences, especially outside Finland: tech and sauna. …

Global showcase at SXSW’s International Innovations Expo Saturday at SXSW brought one of the more open and globally mixed formats of the week: the International Innovations Expo at Fairmont Austin. As the SXSW did not have one central location (the Austin Convention Center has been demolished ans will be completely rebuild), the SXSW activities were spread wider into the Austin’s …

EU presence ran through GermanHaus — a familiar European anchor at SXSW On Friday March 13th, the European Union’s SXSW activities were concentrated into a single evening program under EU@SXSW, hosted at GermanHaus in downtown Austin’s Speakeasy. GermanHaus is not new as it has been one of the most consistent European presences at SXSW over the years — a platform …

Earlier on the first SXSW day, Capital Factory hosted the European Startup Embassy’s “Founders x Funders” session — a focused networking event connecting European startups with investors and ecosystem players during SXSW week. The format was simple. No stage, no long pitches. Just people meeting people in the Capital Factory’s amazing facilities, with some Pizza and Beers (very startup style) …

The SXSW week kicked off for startups at the annual Capital Factory’s Startup Crawl, a long-running format bringing together dozens of companies and partners under one roof in Austin. The concept is simple: move, meet, and talk. Short demos, quick introductions, and constant flow between tables. Less pitching, more direct interaction. Finnish startups were again part of the mix Audicin, …

Nordics at SXSW 2026 While SXSW is a remarkable tech event, having approx 300.000 visitors over the event week, the amount of people has decreased from the pre-pandemic by numbers. So has the Finnish presence become slightly smaller, but perhaps more focused. Nordics used to be better glued together, and showed up with bigger, more coordinated delegations. Often with Nordic …

The funding raised by Finnish startups has reached historic levels, according to the latest impact report from the startup hub Maria 01. Sarita Runeberg, CEO of Maria 01, points out that economically challenging times have historically been the birthplace of many successful companies. She remains confident about the future. Finnish startups succeeded in raising capital in record-breaking fashion last year. …

The Polar Bear Pitching event, held for the tenth time, drew a significant number of international startups and media film crews to Oulu. The presentation by the Swiss company Ionic Wind was chosen as the best “ice hole pitch”—appropriately featuring modern cooling technology.Polar Bear Pitching is a business event where the main attraction is a startup pitching competition held in …

Slush CEO Noora Saksa. Photo: Carlos Perez. HELSINKI, FINLAND — Slush CEO Noora Saksa, 25, has spent the past five years growing the most founder focused event on the planet. According to her, the golden age of European startups is key to Europe’s future.“Startups are our best bet for GDP growth in Europe, and we need new global success stories …

Greenstep has acquired 100 percent of the shares of Rundit Oy to strengthen its position in the European fund services market. The acquisition marks a new kind of strategic move for Greenstep, a company that has grown almost entirely through organic expansion until now. “We have been eyeing on some startups in the market, which could strenghten our position, says …