In the eight years since its inception, the SXSW Startup Accelerator competition has helped to propel many startups. The accelerator is essentially a global showcase for startups, and provides a platform for entrepreneurs to present the latest ideas in sectors as diverse as fintech, wearables, and entertainment. Of the 305 companies who participated in SXSW Accelerator between 2009 and 2015, …

The inimitable Henrik Werdelin tends to say that corporations need to lower the risk of trying new things. As I’ve understood his thinking —and I’m sure he’ll correct me if I’m misunderstanding — the logic is basically as follows. Big company boards tend to assume that trying new things will be risky. They therefore optimize for making sure an opportunity is big …

I am a big believer that CEOs, and other relevant people in a company, should keep an open dialogue with potential investors — all part of investing in lines and not dots. Many of these informal conversations will be one-on-one. However, in a recent Board Meeting, we discussed a company’s plan to accelerate a funding round and go on a ‘roadshow’ in …

In 2014, Fortune Magazine  broke down how hot the food industry is among venture capitalists. In in 2013 alone, VCs had allocated $2.8 billion into food-related startups. Various factors, including sustainability, health, and digitalization, influence the food industry, making it increasingly diversified and interesting. Fascinating concepts and services are evolving around food. EntoCube, PlateCulture and EpicFoods are among the startups …

It’s not about eating. It’s not even about cooking. It’s about socializing. Students from University of Copenhagen and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts have created Cook With a Local to enable people all over the world to connect with each other by cooking and eating a meal together. It all started out in 2013, as a part of …

The Nordic startup scene is high on potential, but low on global recognition. A group of Nordic startup and tech writers have decided to work together to promote startups and entrepreneurs from the region. Earlier this year, Nordic Innovation invited some regional tech writers to come to Copenhagen and discuss how they could collaborate to promote local startups and entrepreneurs …

“Ever since I can remember, I have known that I wanted to become an entrepreneur,” shares Jakob Breddam of WeLoveStartups. WeLoveStartups is an organization located in Copenhagen, Denmark that focuses on assisting startups with funding to help entrepreneurs and their companies reach their full potential. Jakob Breddom, together with Daniel Laursen, founded and came up with the concept of WeLoveStartups …

PHI Blades is a Hamburg-based startup working to improve wind turbines by redesigning the rotor blades. Rotor blades can be expensive, and don’t necessarily last a long time as they are constantly exposed to the elements. PHI Blades solution is remarkably simple:  they have developed a rotor blade made entirely of wood. The founders recently participated in speed-dating with investors …

The UBI Global Awards, held this year on October 26th,  is an annual ceremony announcing the top rankings of business incubators and accelerators worldwide. Since 2013, UBI Global has done comprehensive benchmarking of over 400 incubator programs across 70 countries. This year, Swedish and Finnish accelerators took home top rankings, including Finland favorite Startup Sauna and the prestigious Uppsala Innovation …

The popular secondhand marketplace Reshopper, an app for the purchase and sale of used children’s things, has won an award for best “Børneapp”, or children’s app. The award was given on Sunday, October 25th at a major awards show in Copenhagen with over 500 invited guests. The app is popular among families with children, and as of this writing has …

Last week, Deloitte announced the winners of the Rising Star Awards in Iceland, with Kúla 3D and Authenteq winning this year’s title after pitching to a panel of judges at the final event. The other four companies that made it to the finals were Flygildi, Solid Clouds, Dent & Buckle, and GeoSilica. Kúla 3D was founded by Íris Ólafsdóttir, a seasoned entrepreneur …

Business angel Thomas Berglund has set his eyes on a mission. As lead investor in the premier edition of Angel Challenge, an initiative hosted by Startup Norway, he hopes to unleash a new wave of capital to young Norwegian startups. Last year Norwegian tech startups only raised 3.2% of the total investments in the Nordic region, according to the Nordic …

Pricelizer has been making waves across Europe, and has built some tremendous momentum in the e-commerce industry since their founding in 2013. After participating in the #Pitchdeck at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and presenting at the invite-only Next Conference in Hamburg, founder Karl Lillrud is quickly becoming a sought-after expert in e-commerce customer satisfaction. They found success in the …

Although there has been much discussion in Norway about cooperation between large corporations and small startups, or “small-big” cooperation, there has been little action taken, and few success stories. This week, BI Norwegian Business School and EdTech Foundry are kicking off their cooperation, and hoping to encourage others to do the same. The collaboration between BI Norwegian Business School and …

Netflix has become one of the biggest online movie and TV show platforms – but what about a platform for readers? Norwegian startup Vio Media is creating a “Netflix” for Magazines. Articles from your favorite magazines gathered in one place. That is the basic idea behind VIO – a digital magazine platform. Vio Media wants to offer readers unlimited digital …