Events

The Nordic countries have adopted a vision to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.   Bolstered by the ambitious climate goals set by the region’s governments,  startups have been tackling all manner of the green transition from smart farming to recycling, and are now leaders in sustainable technologies. At Oslo Innovation Week’s Climate Demo Day at …

It is often argued that the Nordic Model offers an environment where value-driven innovation can flourish, meaning innovation that improves society by creating value for all stakeholders in an ethical and responsible way.  Anchored in a liberal market and a strong societal structure,  the Nordic Model is reputed for creating more ethical companies that seek to improve society for the …

Getting through the Nordic winter is trying at the best of times. The previous months have provided few hours of sunshine but an infinite amount of “recommendations” (it is to date not legal for the Swedish government to e.g. enforce a lockdown) formulated in almost as many ways as there are media outlets. The Nordics are the societies in the …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Media Honeypot series of events started in Helsinki in 2016. Now, three years, and several events later, it the go-to event for media startups.  Heikki Rotko, the founder of Media Honeypot, says that Media Honeypot was born out of a desire to connect startups with their business partners to create the media we as customers deserve. The aim of …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

These days, everyone is involved in tech – whether you’re building it, using it or actively avoiding it. Regardless of personal opinions, robotics and AI are revolutionizing all aspects of life from communication and transportation to health services and the military (just to name a few). The future is only what we make it, which is why the Robotex International …

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 …

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 …