Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics

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 …

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept in healthcare—it’s a fast-movingreality reshaping patient care, hospital operations, and disease prevention. According to the Heltech Market Analysis Report on AI in Healthcare (2025), the sector is projected to grow from $6.7 billion in 2021 to $67.4 billion by 2030, a tenfold surge that reflects a massive wave of innovation and adoption. From predictive …

AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd. (the “AAC”), a world-leading smart device solution provider and a company incorporated in Singapore and a fully-owned subsidiary of AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., whose shares are listed and traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the shares and other equity securities in Dispelix Oy, a technology leader in diffractive …

The global gaming industry is entering a golden age. With an expected climb to $206.5 billion by 2028, gaming continues to prove its resilience and dynamism. This steady 3% compound annual growth rate is not only a testament to the sector’s economic strength but also to its expanding cultural and technological relevance. Games are no longer just a pastime—they’re a …

Out of the hundred companies selected for the Slush 100 pitching competition, three of the most promising growth companies were filtered into the final of the Slush growth company event on Thursday, November 20. Diffraqtion, the company developing the Galileo 1 super-camera and the eventual winner, received a million-euro capital investment from venture capital firms General Catalyst and Cherry Ventures …

In June 2020 , it was announced that Pekka Lundmark would join Nokia on August 2020. Earlier this year, in February 2025, Nokia announced that Lundmark would step down as president and CEO on 31 March and be succeeded by Justin Hotard.However, Pekka Lundmark will continue to serve as an advisor to Hotard for the remainder of 2025 to ensure …

OULU, FINLAND – The annual Slush Oulu Community Side Event was held as entire successfully bringing an atmosphere of startup energy to Northern Finland. The event, which marked the fifth year the local ecosystem has gathered to celebrate the famous Slush spirit, showcased the strength of the Oulu startup community.A key feature of the afternoon was the pitching competition, where …

Soo, in one week the Slush will be on. The wet snow will be on the ground again, the main event banner will be up, and the Helsinki streets, not only Maria01 hoods, are having that special Startup Vibe. And this year it seems/feels there are more Side Events than ever, making the whole week pretty Slushy, from Monday to …

HELSINKI — In a world increasingly saturated with transactional travel, a Californian startup named Bubbl is setting out to redefine the meaning of a shared stay. Born from a simple, personal revelation, the platform layers trust, community tools, and a sense of belonging onto the concept of co-living, transforming strangers into an “instant tribe.” The inspiration for Bubbl came directly …

A seasoned serial entrepreneur, Anssi Kiviranta, had an epiphany in 2022. Despite the internet transitioning into the video age, company websites still looked largely the same as they did twenty years prior: full of static text and images. Kiviranta contemplated, “What if website navigation happened from one video to the next?”The idea mirrored popular social media services like TikTok and …

JYVÄSKYLÄ, FINLAND – USA Medical Electronix has established a subsidiary in Jyväskylä thanks to successful university cooperation. The company develops a home-use defibrillator, the software for which was completed in Jyväskylä. The cooperation supports the University of Jyväskylä’s goals for its engineering education, whose first Master of Science in Technology students will graduate in 2026. The development project offered engineering …