Events

Nordic early stage investment recovering based on bullish mood at Arctic15

There was a bullish attitude among attendees at this year’s online version of the Arctic15 startup event that investment in Northern European startups was picking up despite a second wave of COVID19 across the region. With one of the main themes of the event being cross-border angel investing, several new angel investment syndicates were established to boost funding opportunities for …

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TEDxCopenhagen innovated by Corona

TEDxCopenhagen is a local gathering where live TED-like talks and performances are shared with the community. TEDx´s are normally held physically as an event, and the Corona virus has therefore challanged this format. TEDxCopenhagen license holder, René Munk, speaks about how Corona has changed the TEDxCopenhagen format, maybe forever. TEDx has always been about the great ideas, making them visible …

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Recap: The Nordics at Shenzhen Hi-Tech Fair

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 …

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Nordic AI companies join”Digital future for Europe” manifesto released at Slush 2019

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 …

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From linear to circular: Six green startups that will change our economy

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 …

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Vilnius positions itself as a global startup ecosystem competitor

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 …

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Slush Tokyo’s Global Gathering supports global ecosystem ambitions

Slush, one of Europe’s largest startup events, has been expanding globally for the past few years and last year held the first ever Slush Tokyo.  At Slush Tokyo 2019, a pre-event called the “Global Gathering” was held to better promote connections between global tech ecosystems. Ms. Haruka Furukawa(CEO, Slush Tokyo), Ms. Kristina Nummila ( Slush Helsinki) and Ms. Rinchy Teng …

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Amazon, Netflix and Google will meet the President of Estonia to talk about data and AI adoption in Europe

Artificial Intelligence champions from top technology companies Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Google DeepMind, Nvidia, Taxify, Microsoft, Starship etc will meet at North Star AI, Applied Machine Learning and Data Conference on March 7 in Tallinn, Estonia to discuss how organizations and startups with limited resources can benefit from data and AI adoption President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid will open the international …

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Reducing food waste is on the agenda as Nordics gain stronghold in foodtech innovations

Nordic Startup Bits sat down for an interesting talk about the foodtech startup scene at SLUSH in December with Accelerace’s Investment Manager, Business Accelerator and Head of Venture Scouting Martin Holmboe. Accelerace is the Nordics’ leading startup accelerator and pioneering in the corporate – startup matchmaking space. Martin has many years of experience as a food entrepreneur and we were …

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From venture capital to peace capital: One startup wants to encourage cooperation with the food that we share

The founder of the startup Colive wants to use premium Cypriot olive oil to spark global conversations about peace. He connects family farms on both sides of the UN Buffer Zone to create the first product in what he hopes will be an entire line of culturally significant ingredients and foods to encourage cooperation. That idea secured him the Startups4Peace …

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Finnish foodtech startup Epic Foods opens virtual restaurant

This year at Slush – one of Europe’s largest tech summits, Nordic Startup Bits wanted to take a closer look at some interesting FoodTech startups. We met one of the most exciting entrepreneurs in this scene, Martti Paatela, a former rocket scientist and now CEO and co-founder of the Finish FoodTech startup Epic Foods. According to a report launched in …

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Pitching in Georgia – a hidden market for tech travel startups?

Estonian travel startup Guide.me recently competed in the Welcome Challenge, a tourism-focused pitching competition in the country of Georgia. The rapid growth in tourism activities in Georgia is a major reason why investors sees Georgia as “currently underserved” by Nordic startups. Which industry employs one in ten people globally and accounts for ten percent of the world’s GDP? Hint: It’s the …

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Finland’s Repack wins Green Alley Awards: Going green can be good business

Today, companies are obliged to reuse and recycle both from political frameworks and from consumer demands. How does one turn obligations into opportunities? The  Green Alley Award was created specifically to honor the startups in the circular economy that turn waste into a resource and are not afraid to make money and scale. Because it is through scaling the solutions …

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Arctic15 launches new Funding Program for early-stage startups and angel investors

Arctic15, the most effective matchmaking startup event in the Nordics and Baltics, has announced its new Funding Program. The program takes over the classic pitching competition to focus on connecting early-stage startups and angel investors across the region. The Funding Program was created in collaboration with business angels networks FiBAN and NordicBAN. The goal of the Funding Program is to …

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The six cleantech startups to watch in 2019

Every year, EIT Climate-KIC hosts the Climate Impact Battle at Slush. 30 pre-selected startups pitch the first day of the event. Only six makes it to the final on the last day of Slush. This year, the six finalists challenged climate change from a broad spectrum of solutions ranging from tiny insects to large-scale construction. Irish company Hexafly takes low-value …

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Latvia’s Droneplan creates drones for risky industrial inspections

Industrial inspections are a risky job.  To inspect overhead power lines, for example, a person usually has to climb up a high tension wire, deal with wind and weather conditions, and on top of that, perform a detailed inspection.  Droneplan, a startup based in Latvia, is creating intelligent flight planning software to enable drones to perform autonomous inspection. Droneplan started …

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New recruitment app Meet Frank offers anonymous communication with employers

The startup company Meet Frank is expanding its new recruitment app concept to the Nordic countries and other European markets. The service has become a major recruiter for top talent in Finland and Estonia’s tech job markets within a few months of launch.  At Slush 2017, one in four attendees signed up for Meet Frank. Meet Frank is a mobile-based …

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5 Nordic Startups talk business at the European Parliament

The European Innovation Week is a joint initiative from the European Union institutions, which will feature a series of seminars for the whole week, starting today. Aside the 9th European Innovation Summit , Knowledge4Innovation , a non profit platform for innovation, has organized the first European Startup Convention at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. This coming Tuesday 28th November …

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