Funding

“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 …

While the need for a better approach to diabetes management has been well established, healthcare solutions catering to such an approach has always been lacking. It is perhaps for this reason that Medilync not only won the best “IoT startup” award, but also the “People’s  Choice” award in Nordic Startup Awards Icelandic final this year. Sigurjón Lydsson, CEO and Co-founder …

Peak, the successful UK-based brain training app, backed in part by Creandum, has launched in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden with localised versions to the native languages of each country. Peak is the app that trains your cognitive function with challenging and fun games, exercising skills such as memory, focus, attention, problem solving, and mental agility. They also offer non-traditional games …

An intensive 10-week program is going to take place starting in May at Sweden’s prized startup hub SUP46. A startup fund called 500 Nordics is helping to propel and cement Stockholm’s reputation as a leading place for startup growth by teaming up with Sweden’s most active early-stage investor, Almi Invest. “We love to support 500Startups coming to Sweden and see …

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.

Five months after announcing the closing of a €2 million funding round, Wolt returns with even bigger news. The rapidly-growing food-delivery service has raised €10 million in its latest funding round, backed by the key individuals behind Uber, Booking.com and Skype, accompanied with news of launching the service in Stockholm. Shortly after its previous funding round, Wolt announces an impressive …

Startup Fest Europe takes place in the Netherlands from 24 – 28 May and aims to bring the world together and help startups grow faster. With more than 28 events will take place in 14 cities across 5 days, Netherlands will transform into the center of the global startup community. These are the hard facts. The real fun is to …

Doubling each year over recent years, Crowdfunding has seen dynamic growth from $2.7 billion in 2012, to an expected level greater than $34 billion for last year 2015.  In the Nordics, crowdfunding continues to gain legitimacy, with Finland-based Invesdor becoming the first crowdfunding platform to be granted a MiFID license, which legitimizes the companies ability to do business across Europe. …

The Danish startup Planday has closed a $14 million (DKK 93 million) investment lead by the  Indinvest and Sweden’s Creandum. The investment will be used to strengthen Planday’s growth in the US and UK – and build more presence in the European market. Planday has developed an online roster planning system for all types of businesses who use a flexible …

In a male dominated industry women excel in the world of investing.  Read on to learn why women make better investors than men. The world has changed a lot in the last 50 years; many industries that were once exclusively dominated by men have become more transparent and equal to both genders where applicants compete on their abilities. However as …

In the Nordics, venture capitalists (VCs) are looking for smaller investments that are more secure in comparison to Silicon Valley. There has been a staggering 30% decrease in the number of $10m+ rounds in the Nordic technology sector within the first six weeks of 2016 alone. This has helped to spur companies such as Capital on Stage, who aim to …

Drinkz is a new app that caters to drinkers who appreciate quality and convenience.  Want to meet over delicious cocktails, but not waste time queuing at the bar?  Then download the Drinkz app. Drinkz  functions as a sort of directory that guides the user to the places in town that maintain high standards. According to the team behind the Danish …

Polar  Bear Pitching 2016 is a global investment event where over the course of 2 days startups from different countries introduce their projects to the whole world – from a freezing ice hole in Oulu, Finland.  We interviewed Anna Svirelkina from To Round about her experience. The event, which is held yearly, allows competing startups to communicate with investors and …

Balderton Capital, located in London, has just become an International Investor Member at Stockholm’s startup central, SUP46. Since 2000, Balderton has invested in over 100 companies, mostly located within Europe. Having already invested in 11 startups within the Nordic region, the partnership with SUP46 will bring greater access to the Nordic startup scene. Nordic countries offer an alternative working culture …

Crowdsourcing isn’t a buzzword, neither is the sharing economy, crowdfunding, blockchain or collaborative economy—they’re already part of our lives. The cumulative disruption of these crowd-powered paradigms will have a significant influence on sectors worldwide. The question is: how will you position your company? We have heard these terms for the past couple of years, however, this year, you need to …

For many companies, managing investor relations means unilateral communications, which may turn into a strategic pitfall. On the other hand, small-scale investors often find it difficult to locate easily understandable investment information on companies. Investoreye offers a tool that solves both of these problems. Different-sized companies are faced with different challenges when it comes to investor communications. Not nearly all …

For many startups looking to raise venture capital, it looks like traditional equity is no longer enough.  More and more startups are looking at convertible notes or other debt alternatives. By Andrew Woodman Earlier this week, CB insights noted a 700% increase in the dollars raised through convertible notes – that’s basically loans that convert into equity at later rounds …

Every year, over 100,000 children of jaundice, mainly because of lack of access to diagnostic equipment in the poorest parts of the world. A new Norwegian app aims to reverse this statistic. The treatment of jaundice is both simple and painless, but as many as 114,000 newborns annually die of the disease every year, mainly due to a lack of …

A new report by BDO and Danske Bank singles out Nordic fintech disrupters as medicine for “sick” banking industry, and emphasizes the need for both fintech startups and traditional banks to form symbiotic relationships if they want to create true positive disruption. “The Fintech Disruptors Report: Nordic Edition” analyzes current trends in the fintech industry across Europe and the Nordic …

Successful global growth of ICT, Medtech, green tech and consumer product innovations can be the future for the Nordic economies.  But the process from idea to market success is quite different for the Nordic countries compared to the US. By Jennifer Vessels Sustainable growth requires more than a product idea.  It demands skillful commercialization to drive customer adoption and revenue …