Startups and small businesses in Sweden and The Nordics have experienced an incredible couple of years in terms of investment and growth and these companies are contributing to the future economic and overall success of the Nordic countries more than ever. However, this has not happened overnight, a lot of people have put in a LOT of hard work to get …

When visiting Oslo Innovation Week last October, long-time business development investor Jeanne Sullivan was intrigued by the commercial potential she found in the various presenters, taking note of one company in particular. Bubbly, founded by Marianne Hindsgaul from Oslo, is a startup introducing an IoT kiosk to the market that utilizes data that is collected from customers in a retail …

Two weeks ago in the basement of Helsinki’s historic Kulttuuritalo (designed by Alvar Aalto and opened in 1958) a packed crowd took part in the Ultrahack MyData Hackathon kickoff, marking the start of the 48 hour intensive effort. Around eighty selected hackers from more than twenty teams gathered. A handful had traveled to Helsinki from Estonia, Norway, Netherlands, Austria, Germany …

Health apps, which can log and monitor everything from moles to menstrual cycles, are asking for an increasing level of detail from their users, and the information may end up in the wrong hands. Apps that keep an eye on your health or cycle, have become popular in the Nordics. They are often free and can help users to keep …

In terms of on-the-job danger, which professions do you think represent the greatest risk of sustaining personal injury? Interestingly, in the US, solid waste haulers rank third on the list, behind fishing and timber cutting. In fact, garbage collectors are injured around five to seven times more than the average worker. Finand’s Sunit is tackling these dangers with an innovative …

Paralenz, a new project by Danish design agency Moef, has broken a Kickstarter record, by obtaining a third of their funding in just the first 8 minutes of their crowdfunding campaign.  Paralenz is a high-performing underwater camera especially designed for divers. To be deep under the sea is like stepping into another mysterious, fantastical world.  But human ingenuity has made …

Finding free WIFI in Stockholm is certainly not a hard task. This is the Capital of Scandinavia, for Christ’s sake! So finding a good place to work from in Sweden’s main city is not about the connectivity. It’s more about sitting down in a pleasant and inspiring spot. Below, BackpackMe breaks down the best places for digital nomads in Stockholm. …

After 15 years at H&M, Jordan Nasser has joined the Stockholm-based start-up company Looklet, a fast-growing fashion and tech B2B start-up. Jordan Nasser was the Global Head of Digital at H&M, working with all the digital channels for the international fashion retailer from 2008-2014. An early digital media adopter,  he oversaw the implementation of social media platforms for the retail …

Eagled eyed readers may have seen news of social media marketing startup PromoRepublic  raising an impressive €500 000 investment round led by Sampo Parkkinen this last July and reported via GoodNewsFinland.  The company has one goal in mind: Replicating their success in the US. You could be forgiven if this news slipped under the radar during early summer celebrations. This …

The first ever Helsinki Blockchain Conference 2016 will take place at Microsoft Flux open space, and will be the first high-profile, dedicated Blockchain event in Nordic Region. Blockchain is hailed as one of the most revolutionary technologies of the past few decades. Right now the industry is experiencing an intense influx of investment – the volume of funds invested in …

The legend says that in 2010, there was only Ulrik, a team of four, two laptops, and big dreams to tackle the social media market of businesses.  Thus was the unassuming start of Falcon.io, now one of Denmark’s most promising and successful startups. To be honest, Ulrik Bo Larsen had pretty well built himself up for founding Falcon, a software …

“Fundraising isn’t hard. At least not hard like impossible,” says Shipitwise.  Sander Gansen tells the story of how Shipitwise succeeded on the crowdfunding platform Funderbeam  to raise €176,000 below. As we were going through Startup Wise Guys accelerator, we met a variety of mentors and investors. But there was one we particularly liked. It was Kaidi Ruusalepp! She showed us …

Financial Technology, also known as FinTech has made robust strides over the last five years. It is becoming a pivotal part of the global economy. Being the technology that is meant to make financial services more efficient and effective for all, FinTech is just getting started. We should expect more growth in the sector, this fiscal year, and the rest …

Educational reform has never been more salient in the Nordics, as schools race to integrate digital competences into the core curriculum.  Ed-tech Foundry, an ed-tech company based in Norway, has some thoughts on how higher education can be reformed to prepare students for the future and the best way to use ed-tech learning tools. “Tell me and I forget, teach …

The Startup Passion training and mentoring programme run in partnership with Cursor OY, Finland, has just had their third successful major event. A five-day training course on lean startup, customer development and storytelling, amongst other key topics. Participants drawn from a range countries had the opportunity to strengthen the basic foundations of their startup ideas and gain an even deeper …