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 …

After a test period in Scandinavia, Plane is ready to launch its icebreaker app globally. The launch will occur in connection with the LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco. The founders of plane are CEO and co-founder,Tim Allison , and co-founder, Thomas Baastrup Jacobsen. “We have spent the last few months testing our app in Scandinavia and building a community. It …

Last week, Danish news channel DR1 insinuated that Trustpilot was involved in the extortion of small shopkeepers and cheating in user reviews.   The Trustpilot team has now responded to the criticism. Trustpilot was put under the microscope last week in a news story about a beauty salon with poor user reviews.  The salon’s owner, Camilla Rude, who has a …

Many entrepreneurs believe that failure is the key to success.  Some Silicon Valley based investors will not even invest in startup founders who had not had a failed startup.  It is, indeed, an important skill to learn in the startup world to let go of something that is a dead end. However, as every founder knows, how far down the …

Mikael da Costa has tasked himself and his company Finternet Group with something that not a great deal of companies nowadays would even consider.  They are offering legacy media companies the chance to hop onboard the digital express out of Nowheresville before they are left in the dust and stood about wondering what the hell happened. “I often ask people, …

From protein bars made of insects to exercise bikes that combine exercise with gaming and VR, to products that contribute to global biodiversity, to AI-powered products that find sustainable restaurants. These are just a few of the 30 Nordic startups that are going to participate in a #Nordicmade tour at the LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco. The delegation consists of …

Creathio is a platform that “bridges specialized students with cases posted by companies that have a problem to solve, or simply want to improve an area of their business”.  The goal of the company is to match students with companies, so they can get “hands on” experience with business cases. Creathio works by having students work on real case studies …

Norwegian startup Haxi has been given the green light to continue operations.  The court has ruled that the startup is not breaking the law, and can therefore continue to run their shared transport service. Haxi has won an appeals trial in the Norwegian Court of Appeals, following a police complaint on the “pirate” taxi company in 2014.  Three of Haxi’s …

Helsinki is the most prolific source of successful mobile apps after Silicon Valley. This was revealed by the British think tank Caribou Digital’s and Mozilla’s report on the global business surrounding mobile phone apps. The Winners and Losers in the Global App Economy 2016 report’s researchers assessed which cities create successful mobile apps, reports the Finnish business magazine Talouselämä. The …

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 …

“Ed-tech is boiling over here in Sweden”, says Jannie Jeppesen, founder of Ed-tech Sweden. But the community remains a black hole for Swedes – and even ed-tech companies themselves.  Ed-tech Sweden is now launching the first ever mapping of the ed-tech ecosystem in partnership with Silicon Vikings, to build transparency from the ground up, and get ed-tech on the agenda. …

Three weeks have passed since the Girls in Tech Skills Bootcamp in Helsinki — it’s time to look back and reflect on what unfolded at the very first event of this kind in the Nordics. When I helped launch the Helsinki chapter of Girls in Tech in spring 2015, we wanted to create a community that would inspire, educate and equip more …

A new era is arriving to Oslo.  Equity crowdfunding has been booming, with an explosion of new platforms and regulations. In 2016, crowdfunding is expected to surpass VC investment. With new legislation such as the passage of the JOBS act in the USA, the funding scene is undergoing a sea-change.  While equity crowdfunding is an exciting new funding solution, regulatory …

The term diversification is a term regularly associated with investment strategies and it is without a doubt the single most powerful tool available to investors. Diversification isn’t a difficult concept to understand, yet it is still often misunderstood. Omar Shaikh, founder of Cocoa Invest, a completely independent online saving and investment company, explains exactly what diversification is and how important …

Helsinki-based Trip Republic have been nominated for the Travel Technology Disrupt Award, the at the Travel Technology Europe conference in London on February 24-25th.  They are the sole Nordic company nominated this year. Trip Republic has developed a seamless travel planning and booking solution and is currently in beta mode, with plans to launch a full website and iOS application next …