Finland

This month, the first VC in the Nordics focusing purely on startups with a background in deeptech and science launched.  Headed by serial entrepreneur Inka Mero, Voima Ventures targeting a final closing of €50 million and has already announced commitments at €40 million. The fund’s press release states that their mission is to build a strong bridge between the scientific …

Serial entrepreneur Inka Mero launches Voima Ventures, the first VC fund in the Nordics with a focus purely on startups with deep tech and science background The first VC in the Nordics focusing purely on startups with deep tech and science background was launched officially today. Voima Ventures’ cornerstone investors are VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and European Investment …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Zadaa fights fast and unsustainable fashion with an app Fast fashion has become yet another challenge in dealing with sustainability or the lack there of, which is why we’ve been seeing a palate of initiatives that try to tackle this issue. These initiatives, transform in tech-based solutions very often, and a perfect example is the Finnish startup Zadaa which has …

Finland’s OURA ring takes a stab at the wearables market with a  “smart ring” this wearable offers a variety of features and functionality unrivaled in the space, particularly when it comes to sleep tracking. The company claims it’s the “world’s most advanced wearable for getting more restorative sleep.” What exactly is it though, outside of your average smart ring? OURA …

A Virtual Fight Against Corruption It’s estimated that 30% of money globally allocated is diverted through acts of corruption annually. Oslo-based social business EnlightAID has the goal to prevent fund misuse with its platform that reads, records, and reports on transactions that happen during fundraising and social and environmental projects. Founders Veronica Celis and Klaus Hatle met in Canada in …

The Sports Fans Are Now in Front of Their Mobile Phones Believing that the biggest sports audience is not at the stadium, but at home with their mobile phones, Mikael Kojo, an experienced graphic designer from Finland, founded a company and launched an application for sport-themed graphics, posted on social media by the clubs and athletes. Because social media presence …

Healthy Meals Delivery for People in Lack of Time and Money The number of times we opt for food delivery often surpasses cases when we choose to cook our own healthy meal, and times have come when home cooking shouldn’t be our only option for healthy nurture. Even when it occurs the take-out food to be healthy and rich in …

Nightingale Health Enables Preventive Healthcare Teemu Suna and his company Nightingale Health want to help stop the more than 15.5 million deaths from heart disease each year, by focusing on testing and prevention. Nightingale Health says their screening is low cost and three times more accurate than current clinical tools for detecting early heart disease and diabetes. When we look …

Platform That Pinpoints Potential Clients Using AI One of the main challenges of the sales teams is customer acquisition in minimal time, but so far, a lot of time is spent on prospecting and negotiation, without having precise indicators whether a deal can be made. The startup Vainu showed that traditional sales prospecting is inefficient and they transformed the disorganised …

Next-Generation Customer Service Powered by AI Customer satisfaction is an integral part of any business and the invested customer service can be a step forward in reaching that aim. However, finding the proper means to communicate with the customers is not a simple process, and it could reflect on the company business operations. In the U.S. alone, poor customer service …

Home Base for Ambitious Tech Startups in Helsinki Maria 01 is a community house for tech startups, investors, corporates, and startup support organisations. Aware of the fact that co-working places for tech entrepreneurs are lacking in Helsinki, they decided by offering a safe haven for these enthusiasts, to become the only space in Helsinki that fully represents the city’s startup …

Changing the Innovation Culture in Finland Innovation House Finland uses a combination of strong data and creative freedom to help companies grow without forgetting individual well-being. The combination of well-being, quality, and cutting-edge business brings a new generation of innovation culture in Finland. Founders Katja Aalto and Petra Eratuli-Kola want to change the business culture in Finland by building a …

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 …

XXL protects their products throughout Finland with Noccela’s indoor positioning-based antitheft tags.  The sports retailer, who is the largest in the Nordics, now plans to expand their use of the tags.  The new generation of anti-theft tags was initially tested in one store, and the results were tangible. “The Noccela-protected products have been left alone,” says Iiro Oravisjärvi, Operations Manager …