Today,global venture capital seed fund 500 Startups announced the launch of a $15 million fund to invest in early stage Nordic startups. In anticipation of the fund, the company has already invested in several Nordic companies across the region: Tagbeat, Filmgrail, and Socius in Norway, Pacemaker, Brisk.io, Proleads and Vint in Sweden, EasySize and Iconfinder in Denmark, and YouApp in …
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As a ski lover, I like traveling around, trying new ski resorts, visiting new slopes, and enjoying the winter sports community. But… as there is always a “but”… there is something I actually hate when I think about skiing: waiting in line at the cashier`s desk to get my lift pass, while I am dying to hit the slopes. Enter …
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Marta Sjögren’s debut to the venture capital world resulted from a passion for innovation and a desire to make an impact in the world. Today, she is the Principal at Northzone,a Danish VC, nd focuses on companies in the early stage. Northzone, established in 1996, is a leading technology investor. Today Northzone has raised over $700 million and invested in …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Did someone just spam your Facebook or Instagram feed full with pictures and videos? With the amount of content shared in social media increasing constantly, Swedish startup MEMRY wants to help their community share bundles of videos and pictures in albums within their social network. The co-founders of MEMRY, Pelle Kjellqvist and Peter Jundin, first got the idea for their …
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Solu Machines is developing a radically new approach to computers by reshaping how devices and people coexist in the connected world. Will this small group of innovative people from a basement in Helsinki be able to alter the course of an entire industry? The founder and CEO of Solu Machines, Kristoffer Lawson, talks about why they chose to take on …
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On October 13th Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the cloud service giant, announced that it has earmarked $100 million to invest specifically in European startups. Salesforce Ventures has pumped half a billion dollars into over 150 cloud and enterprise startups since 2009. Though most of those investments focuse on the US, Salesforce Ventures is now getting more serious in …
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During Ada Lovelace‘s 200th anniversary Norway led the way with a groundbreaking coding session for hundreds of school girls. Over 200 girls descended upon the Deichmanske, Oslo’s public library, for a packed day of coding.GirlsTechFest took place on the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer and was part of Oslo Innovation Week, a festival of innovative ideas …
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Authenteq, the Icelandic startup, was selected by CTIA Innovation Council Investor Advisors as one of the five most forward-thinking, innovative companies worldwide in the category of identity management. Trusted. Authentic. Identity. These words describe the Icelandic startup Authenteq. Their great vision and innovative technology, that secures interaction between users of sharing economy and eliminate possible deception, made them a part …
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It isn’t only entrepreneurs who sabotage great business ideas by making stupid mistakes. Investors are just as guilty. Last week at Oslo Innovation Week, we talked with Jeanne Sullivan of Starvest Partners, about the 5 stupid mistakes entrepreneurs make over and over again. Of course, as an entrepreneur, “You have to know what to do and how to do it, …
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Crowdsourcing Week’s cutting edge 5-days conference, CSW Europe 2015, will take place in Brussels from 19-23 October 2015. During the week, you will learn about people-powered solutions that will help foster exponential innovation in finance, governments, corporations, energy, smart cities, and mobility. Since its launch in 2012, Crowdsourcing Week (CSW) has created a worldwide movement on the collaborative economy rallying …
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Entrepreneurs do the same stupid things over and over again. So says Jeanne Sullivan, venture capitalist, New Yorker, and cheerleader of women in business at Oslo Innovation Week. Jeanne knows what she’s talking about when it comes to startups. With over 25 years of experience as a VC, she has seen “1000 times 1000 companies”. As a cofounder of Starvest …
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This analysis of Q3 investments in the Nordics is based on a combination of publicly available and proprietary data gathered by Index. In Q3, tech startups based in the Nordic countries collectively raised $296.5 million in 73 rounds. This falls short of Q1 for the region by 21.9 percent. Compared to Q2, it comes in significantly lower ($812.8 million total) …
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Crowdfunding as a fundraising method has had tremendous momentum in recent years, with multiple platforms competing for the multi-billion dollar pie. What does the future hold? Crowdfunding as alternative finance has been on the rise for the past few years, with around €710 thousand being raised in 2010, €14.4 billlion in 2014, and an estimated €83 billion in 2025, …
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Last night, Crowdsourcing Week had a discussion with Theo Priestley about technology and crowds and Nordic Startup Bits joined the #Crowdchat. Here is a recap. What are your 3 predictions for a future when crowds and tech collide? The sourcing of innovation is going to become more open, as companies and government reach out to citizens to incubate ideas. Banking …
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Today the London-based Octopus Ventures launches a new $140 million fund to provide growth capital to “ successful fast-growing later-stage companies across Europe”, reports Tech Crunch. Last year, Octopus Ventures revealed it had a $91.3 million early stage funds. Today, they launched a new fund focusing on later-stage startups across Europe. Furthermore, the Octopus Zenith Opportunities II LP (also known …
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Inspired by SXSW, Reeperbahn Festival is Germany’s largest club festival and since its debut in 2006 it has grown to become one of the most important meeting places for the music industry worldwide. In 2009, the organizers introduced a business and startup space at the conference and has partnered with Hamburg Startups to highlight the local and international startup scene …
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Daniel Mierzwinski is 26 years and runs the successful Instagram-startup Sponsta. But before his success, he hit rock bottom. Hear how he picked himself up and how the experience has given him a whole new outlook on life. “I have always had a great passion to create,” says the 26-year-old product manager in Sponsta when we begin the interview. “Not …
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Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics