Insight

The Nordics have a natural advantage when it comes to education technology, including strong school systems, technical expertise, and forward-thinking municipalities who put digitalization on the agenda. What is holding back ed-tech development in the region? Many startups in the Nordics struggle with the VC investment bottleneck and finding the right talent. However as Hanna Kristín Skaftadóttir of Mimi Creations …

A common thought, though perhaps a naive one, is that the online fashion retail market is saturated and there’s no room for newcomers to have any mainstream success. While it’s true that technology pretty much allows anyone to knock up a web-store, source cheap products or sell on behalf of a larger company, it doesn’t mean there isn’t room for …

Helsinki in the beginning of June was quite literally the hot-bed of start-up and investment activity in the Nordics. The beautiful 25°C weather complemented the hot new innovative solutions on display. Several events created the perfect melting-pot with which to showcase Finnish and Nordic talent to a wider audience of international visitors. Several key events took place during the week …

At Infoshare 2016, Rachel Milgram  of InnovIL shared an investor’s perspective on startup funding.  Rachel’s expertise comes from years of working closely with VC’s and business angels to evaluate companies seeking investment and help match them with the right opportunities. “The fundamentals are never going to change”, says Rachel.  “When an investor looks at an idea, they will always look …

Little by little financial technology (FinTech) entrepreneurship has been chipping away at the once mighty banking industry, threatening to turn it into brick-and-mortar shell of its former self. Piqued by widespread frustration with impersonal services and fee bombardment, tech-savvy customers have been abandoning traditional banks in favor of digital banking services. Today’s consumers and business owners want banking services they …

At Infoshare 2016, Richard Kastelein, of Blockchain News  shared a beginners guide to blockchain, and why this technology will change the way we do business – and how the principles of blockchain are actually older than you think. Over the next 10 years, blockchain technology will change the way we do business.  Although it is not a magic bullet, it …

The UK and Singapore regulators are joining forces to form a so-called “fintech bridge” in a bid to both bolster Singapore’s fintech credentials and strengthen UK links to Asia.  The Nordics, which are competing with Singapore to become the next fintech hub, will surely be left in the dust. In a joint statement with the UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) …

Fintech is one of the biggest buzzwords in tech right now.  Check out the below infographic to see how exactly how fintech is going to disrupt the financial world, including the best accelerators and investors, the leading fintech hubs, and global fintech investments. This article was compiled based on research by Dr.Discount, the Dutch number one source for online coupons …

Triin Kask, co-founder and CMO/CFO of Estonian based Greenhouse CI, profiled earlier on Nordic Startup Bits, took the stage at infoShare 2016 to share her experience in handling organizational crisis in different growth stages and how founders must stay humble in the face of exponential growth, which creates crisis and turbulence for a company.  Triin’s talk was based on Larry …

“There are 2 main views, both well qualified.  One is the venture capital situation in the US, which says that VCs do much more than provide capital – they help companies grow.  Another view is that more than 95% of VCs add 0 value to companies, and perhaps 70 or 80% add negative value.” This is how Bakhrom Ibragimov of …

With new national strategies focused on increasing digitalization and technical competencies, the Nordic countries are facing an urgent need to innovate within education.  A strong ed-tech cluster can help address this. The public sector has traditionally been lacking in it’s abilities to focus on innovation, which is why often, industry organizations and NGO’s  help pick up the slack.  When all …

Gamification is a term that’s been sweeping through Europe and Scandinavia like wild fire, inspiring business, educational institutions and individuals alike to achieve more by making everyday tasks more rewarding… but, what exactly is gamification, how does it work, where is it used and why is it suddenly becoming so popular? WHAT: Simply stated, gamification is the application of game-like …

A common claim that comes at the crossroads of technology and finance is that eventually most people will be replaced by machines.  It’s not a matter of “if”, but “when”.  But is it that simple? By Andrew Woodman Inevitably, the topic of robots vs humans came up during a panel discussion in an event hosted by the Hong Kong Computer …

In a world of constantly changing data and shifting market trends, it is almost impossible to over-emphasize the importance of good data visualization software. Without an advanced degree in statistics, it used to be difficult to understand and interpret what multiple graphs or charts meant and how they interacted with one another. It is only a matter of time before …

Based on input from some of the top representatives in the Mobile and IoT industry, including Samsug, Qualcomm Ventures, and Motorola, SV House TV has compiled an infographic of what investments are hot with early stage corporate investors in 2016.

It’s no secret that data is valuable. Oil used to be called black gold but now big data has taken its place. Kisko Labs breaks down what that means. At present there are ongoing discussions about the integrity of our data, the security of our data and the way in which companies we willingly give it to might be planning to …

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta in Canada, has a strong startup community, which in many ways shares similarities with Iceland.  An Edmonton film crew has create a project about Reykjavik. Check out the short film below. I have written about the strong affinity between the Startup Community in Edmonton and Reykjavik. Last year Startup Edmonton crew started a new project …

The who, what, where, and when of the fintech industry today can be found in this excellent infographic put together by Banking Tech.  Find plenty of useful data, including the top specialists, uniforms, startup ecosystems, and acquisitions.  

In the startup world, teams who work remotely are quite common. Even now, however, when setting up a new team, the same questions frequently arise: is it really possible to work together without physically being in the same location? How can you do so effectively with little face-to-face interaction? What are some of the common risks that should be taken …

It is a relatively nascent segment within the broader fintech sector, but investments in insurance-tech have soared in the first quarter of 2016.  Is insurance-tech the next big thing? According to CB Insights, the first quarter of 2016 saw early stage investments break all previous records for the same period in previous years.  Over $55 million has been invested in …