Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics

Rising North is a fund that aims to help Nordic startups become global leaders. The fund was launched in October 2016 with a NASDAQ bell ringing as part of the #nordicmade trip to New York. In her keynote speech at the fund’s launch, Helga Valfells, CEO of NSA Ventures, Iceland, and Steering Board Member at Rising North, said: “In the Nordics …

With the unemployment rates as low as they are, it’s obvious that the traditional workforce approach is still favored in the Nordic regions. That being said, the evolution that is allowing up to a third of Americans to work from a remote site is fast becoming the new norm across the globe. By Jenny Holt The rise of the freelancer is not …

As Norway tops quality of life and gender equality indexes consistently, it is no surprise that more and more women are looking to leave Silicon Valley – and the bro-culture that dominates the valley- behind for beautiful fjords and generous paternal leave.  We interview 4 women who took the plunge and embraced the Nordic lifestyle. “I have been here three …

In these Trump-times it seems more important than ever to discuss discrimination and how we solve it. As the sharing economy grows it brings to light societal issues of bias and discrimination; but new approaches to data and business models offer hope that bias can one day be a thing of the past. By Pernille Spang Lyndegaard Uncovering racial bias …

The world’s biggest internet portal for crowdfunding seems to be the perfect platform for 5 Danish entrepreneurs. Just 24 hours on www.kickstarter.com, where anyone can choose to support creative projects with money or purchases. The team has already accomplished to raise 20% of the money they need in order to realise an “App” called IUSO. By Christoffer Tybjerg I stands …

The Japanese IoT powerhose SORACOM announced the launch of its advanced IoT connectivity platform and services in Europe to support customers and partners deploying IoT/M2M solutions. Widely recognized as one of Japan’s leading IoT technology providers, SORACOM  deploys a cloud-based connectivity platform that is both technically advanced and affordable. The company uses a unique approach and architecture to provide secure …

The Estonian e-residency programme is celebrating its two-year anniversary in 2017, and the idea of digital identity has attracted much attention from all over the world to the small country in northern Europe – even the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (ESCAP) has published a report on the role of Estonia’s e-residency programme in …

Last year, the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, launched the first Young Transatlantic Innovative Leaders Initiative, an international exchange program focused on the themes of entrepreneurship skills and enhanced Euro-Atlantic integration. They selected 45 young professionals from 41 European countries, including some of the Nordics and Baltics. During the program, the fellows spent time in …

Ways is an Oslo-based tech company that designs and develops Android and iOS applications for businesses from a wide range of different industries. Last week, we had the opportunity to chat with Eivind Lindbråten, the Co-Founder of Ways. In just two short years, Eivind has gone from being a computer science graduate and freelance web developer to a business owner …

On CanopyLAB’s ed-tech platform, companies, NGOs and institutions offer online courses focusing on learning through interaction to support the next generation of e-learning. The vision now has a large investment from a number of business angels. During a research visit to Australia, PhD scholar, Sahra-Josephine Hjorth of Aalborg University became interested in how social media can be used to create …

The world’s smartest apartment building is Apartimentum, located in Hamburg. It is the brainchild of Xing founder Lars Hinrichs, who has since become an active investor in cutting-edge tech. Apartimentum, which officially opens it’s doors to the public next month, is a converted turn of the century building.  The facade of the building is the only historical remnant of the …

On Monday, Copenhagen received the prestigious title as the best city in the world to attract new talents, according to a a new  Global Talent Competitive Index report released in Davos. High quality of life, good education, an international airport, good bike lanes, strong English skills, and career opportunities:  these are some of the things that have shot Copenhagen to …

As Finland has topped rankings for the best educational system in the world for years, tapping its know-how is an attractive offer for any young ed-tech startup. However, especially when coming from outside of Finland, it could look like a daunting task to understand the sector which could be horribly bureaucratic and with everyone speaking a weird language. The solution: …

Norway has only recent emerged as a startup hub, with it now leading the Nordics as the fastest grower in number of investments. However the Norwegian scene is often not acknowledged beyond Opera, and we think it’s time that changed. 1. nLink: Mobile drilling robots  Love them or hate them, the right robot can save us time and money. And the folks at nLink …

There was a time when if you wanted something done affordably and efficiently you would outsource it to somebody else. Outsourcing is of course still common place in many areas of business. But crowdsourcing is quickly rising in popularity, and can replace virtually anything traditionally outsourced. Crowdsourcing is most popularly used in a few categories: Crowd Voting. Using the crowd to …

Last week, Helga Valfells, CEO of NSA Ventures in Iceland, along with two of the funds’ investment managers, Jenny Ruth Hrafnsdottir and Hekla Arnadottir, announced that they have left NSA Ventures to start their own VC fund, Crowberry Capital. According to the team at Crowberry Capital, NSA has been reviewing its’ investment strategy since 2012 and will now become a …

Slush, the largest startup event in the Nordics, took place in the “death month” of November in Helsinki. With over 15,000 attendees comprising 1,700 startups, the array of new companies and technologies can be dizzying.  From the SLUSH 100  pitching competition to the 240 demo booths, here are 5 startups that caught our eye.   FairStart FairStart is a startup …

In May this year, Nordic Startup Bits writer, Thorunn Jonsdottir, was at infoShare in Gdansk listening to Kaspar Korjus, who’s leading the e-residency project on behalf of the Estonian government. She was intrigued and decided to apply. Three months later, after applying online and appearing at the embassy of Estonia in Berlin, she had her e-residency card. But what exactly …

This weekend, the Danish entrepreneur prize “Den Gyldne Fugl”, or the Golden Bird, was  awarded at Aarhus University. The winner was RaskRask, a platform for on-demand health-oriented massage, who previously offered on-demand physiotherapy.  The market is always right. That was the reason for the shift in focus that Raskrask.dk performed this year. They pivoted from an on-demand physiotherapy platform to …

It can be hard to keep fresh content in front of your audience – especially in the fast-paced world of social media.  skilled.co has put together a massive treasure trove full of social media statistics, tips and tricks – 115 of them. So, read along and take a look at the social media statistics infographic to learn a thing or …