Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics

Copenhagen-based travel startup, PackitUp, is on a mission to provide help in the time of Coronavirus crisis. The team turned their existing social network platform into BringHero help platform, where people can either offer or request for help during the COVID-19 pandemic.  By Ira Leino The platform functions worldwide on voluntary-basis, and therefore, is completely free to use. Indeed, many …

Situated in Northern Europe, Estonia is home to around 325 million people. Back in 1991, when Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union, it was a relatively poor country. However, this relatively small country, that includes around 1500 islands, has slowly but surely made its mark by evolving into a top startup nation. But how did they do it? By …

Countries all over the globe incline to hiring developers for startups as their business model as it is a modern, proactive, and effective solution in the business world. With remote employees that work for your project from around the world, you get maximum efficiency and cut costs considerably. But can this scenario be applied to startups in the Nordic countries? …

The accelerator program Accelerate Estonia and Garage48 organized an online hackathon to develop solutions to help Estonia emerge from the coronavirus crisis and create competitive advantages for the post-crisis period. By Elis Tootsman The initiative, which has become the largest online hackathon in Estonia, was opened by President Kersti Kaljulaid and Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology Kaimar Karu. …

In late 2019, 40 companies from across the Nordics traveled to Shenzhen, China, to join the Shenzhen Hi-Tech Fair. This a 500,000+ attendee event, one of the largest in the world, is a hotbed of the latest technology. The Nordic China Startup Forum (NCSF), a community-run initiative supporting Sino-Nordic collaboration in the startup ecosystem, joined forces with local communities and …

Norwegian startup Playpulse has successfully launched their gaming bikes in an activity park for children in a shopping mall in Shenzhen, China, part of the China Bay Area and a major startup hub. The company’s mission is to turn exercise into a fully-fledged computer gaming experience, boosting exercise motivation and battling sedentary lifestyles across the globe. After launching in Norway …

Scandinavia is known for implementing the newest innovations in many fields, including gaming. Current global entertainment tends are about applying crypto and improving blockchain-powered systems, and Scandinavia is among the leaders in doing so. By Julia Beyers Scandinavia is a pretty attractive region for blockchain developers who seek investments and cheap energy. Both regular people and large companies are ready …

New report on Japanese Investments launched last week at Slush shows that when it comes to Japanese investments going in to the Nordic regions, Finland & Estonia is leading.  The report was made by Innovation Lab Asia, Nordic Ninja VC and Copenhagen Capacity. According to the report, since 2013, 22 of the 36 Japanese investments going into the Nordics has …

A new coalition of European startups, unicorns, think tanks, and trade associations has launched a manifesto for startups and innovation at Slush. This manifesto, arguing for a ‘digital future for Europe’ is a direct response to the European Commission’s plans to regulate European tech.  This comes as the new EU Commission has received final approval from Members of the European …

Whether or not a startup scales has a lot to do with their motivation. A new report -— published by Nesta as part of the Startup Europe Partnership -— shows that there is substantial variation in entrepreneurs’ motivations to grow and seek finance across Europe. How do Nordic startups fare compared to their European counterparts? By Charlotte Reypens The Nesta …

Finland’s Enfuce secures €10 million from Maki.vc to launch a sustainability service, MyCarbon Action, a service for banks and financial service providers to help customers track their carbon footprint per purchase. Finnish payment service provider Enfuce has today announced its new funding round of €10M, led by the early-stage VC firm Maki.vc and including venture debt from Nordea, LähiTapiola, and …

Álfur Brewery, an Icelandic nanobrewery, is on a mission to bring sustainability to Icelandic beer. The team recently completed the Til Sjávar og Sveita accelerator program organized by Icelandic Startups for companies creating innovative solutions in agriculture and fisheries. Co-founder Haukur Páll Finnsson came up with the idea after having a conversation with his family about food waste. During a …

The Creandum funds won the “Venture Capital Fund of the Year” award at the 17th Investor Allstars event last night distinguished with the honors due to the outstanding performance over the previous year driven by exits from Spotify, iZettle, Small Giant Games, and Elastic. According to industry experts, the Creandum II fund is the best European institutional venture fund to …

The Copenhagen Metro is getting an extension, a 15.5km line called the Cityringen Metro. The Cityringen Metro is set to open soon, upgrading Copenhagen’s already efficient metro system. The expected opening date is September 29, 2019.  The project of Cityringen Metro uses modern technology, setting it apart as an automated metro line. The driverless trains will run continuously, 24/7 with …

From more than 200 startups, only six were chosen to pitch at the finals of the Green Alley Awards, An award that aims to turn the linear economy into a circular economy. Even though there was only one winner, all six startups are worth keeping an eye on. Often it is the newcomers, the small, agile companies that challenge the …

Is your startup willing to be challenged by purchasers in the public administrations? If so, get in touch Innobrokers, an EU-funded project, aiming at facilitating the procurement of innovative goods and services by strengthening the links between public buyers on the demand side and innovative companies on the supply side. The project addresses startups and SMEs, organizations supporting innovation procurement …

Buoyed by the immense growth of ecommerce, the martech industry continues to go from strength to strength. In the Nordics, Sweden has already established a healthy set of martech companies. If you want to know what to expect from the future of martech in the Nordic countries, keep an eye on these 5 Nordic martech startups. Boost.ai Founded in Norway, …

At Startup Fair Lithuania last week, the city of Vilnius touted it’s position as a city-sized sandbox to develop and test new products.  A radical open data policy that rivals Estonia’s and a slew of startup friendly regulations make Vilnius a startup ecosystem to watch. Startup Fair Lithuania, an annual event bringing together the local startup ecosystem, takes a refreshingly …

There are 100s of accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces in Austin. Austin is also the growth capital of USA, with approximately 150 people moving to Austin every day, of which approximately 100 are moving from the California’s Bay Area. But is it a viable landing pad for Nordic startups? At SXSW 2019, Nordic Startup Bits talked to Capital Factory ‘s …

Today, there are more banking options available than ever before. VertaaEnsin is on a mission to consolidate all financial products in one platform. “Financial products constitute the largest part of our monthly expenses. What is interesting, is that consumers are very familiar with comparing flights and other easy-to-understand products and services. We like making informed decisions regarding our purchases. However, …