June, 2019

• 6 June

  Vilnius positions itself as a global startup ecosystem competitor

  

  At Startup Fair Lithuania last week, the city of Vilnius touted it’s position as a city-sized sandbox to develop and test new products.  A radical open data policy that rivals Estonia’s and a slew of startup friendly regulations make Vilnius a startup ecosystem to watch. Startup Fair Lithuania, an annual event bringing together the local startup ecosystem, takes a refreshingly …

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• 6 June

  Is Austin a viable landing pad for Nordic startups in the USA?

  

  There are 100s of accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces in Austin. Austin is also the growth capital of USA, with approximately 150 people moving to Austin every day, of which approximately 100 are moving from the California’s Bay Area. But is it a viable landing pad for Nordic startups? At SXSW 2019, Nordic Startup Bits talked to Capital Factory ‘s …

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• 5 June

  Finland’s VertaaEnsin is building a Momondo for financial services

  

  Today, there are more banking options available than ever before. VertaaEnsin is on a mission to consolidate all financial products in one platform. “Financial products constitute the largest part of our monthly expenses. What is interesting, is that consumers are very familiar with comparing flights and other easy-to-understand products and services. We like making informed decisions regarding our purchases. However, …

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• 4 June

  An interview with Inka Mero, founding partner of first Nordic VC focused purely on deeptech

  

  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 …

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May, 2019

• 31 May

  New Investor PINC focused on Nordic FoodTech Startups

  

  PINC is Paulig Group’s corporate venture capital unit. We sat down with the head of PINC, Marika King, for a Q&A to learn more about their investment thesis and how they’re shaping the future of taste. What is PINC? PINC stands for Paulig Incubator and is the innovation and venture arm for radical innovation within the Paulig Group. We were …

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• 20 May

  Accel raises $575 million for early stage companies in Nordics and Israel

  

  Accel raises a $575 million fund to back ambitious founders in Europe and Israel. The Nordics are a key market for this new fund.The Nordics will be a key market for investment Last week, Accel, a global VC firm, announced that it has raised a $575 million fund, its sixth to be invested in early stage companies across Europe and …

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April, 2019

• 29 April

  The Nordics get a new €50M deep tech fund

  

  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 …

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February, 2019

• 22 February

  €100M NordicNinja VC fund officially launches operations in the Nordics and Baltics

  

  NordicNinja VC by JB Nordic Ventures has officially launched its new €100M VC fund in partnership with Panasonic, Honda, Omron, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The fund will help Nordic and Baltic scale-up companies enter the technology business ecosystem in Japan and across Asia. “Today, the Nordic startup ecosystem and Japanese blue-chip companies represent something of a …

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• 22 February

  Media Honeypot 2019: Media startups connect with legacy companies, but struggle to get funding

  

  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 …

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• 20 February

  Slush Tokyo’s Global Gathering supports global ecosystem ambitions

  

  Slush, one of Europe’s largest startup events, has been expanding globally for the past few years and last year held the first ever Slush Tokyo.  At Slush Tokyo 2019, a pre-event called the “Global Gathering” was held to better promote connections between global tech ecosystems. Ms. Haruka Furukawa(CEO, Slush Tokyo), Ms. Kristina Nummila ( Slush Helsinki) and Ms. Rinchy Teng …

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