Nordic Startup Awards finalists announced

The semi-finals of the Nordic Startup Awards are now finished. This series of events promotes and celebrates startups in the Nordic region.  Country winners are chosen for each country, and the finalists move upwards to a grand ceremony held in Iceland at the end of May.

Winners in Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have been announced in regional ceremonies over the last month. See our rundown of the Startup Awards country ceremonies below.

 

The Norwegian Winners

By Yvonne Groven Edseth for Startup Norway

The Norwegian final marked the first in the series of national finales of Nordic Startup Awards and was arranged by Startup Norway and Oslo Business Region.

Gathering more than 200 attendees at Gamle Museet in central Oslo, the evening was a celebration of an ecosystem that has been the little brother in the Nordic region, but which over the last year has shown tremendous progress, with the fastest growth in number of investments.

“We have never had more nominations of good candidates than this year – it shows us that the Norwegian startup scene is getting stronger and more active. Last year we saw Norway take home 3 prizes at the Nordic Final, and we hope to be able to take home at least as many at this  year´s Nordic Finale in Reykjavik” says Maja Adriaensen, CEO of Startup Norway.

The 2016 winners are:

Startup Media of the Year: Joacim Lund
Best Investment Company: Northzone
Best Business Angel: Kim Daniel Arthur
Best Office Space: FLOW
Best Accelerator Program: Angel Challenge
Best Social Tech Startup: No Isolation
Best IoT Startup: Unacast
Best Exponential Startup: nLink
Best Bootstrapped: Socius
CTO Hero of The Year: Christian Hager
Newcomer of the Year: No Isolation
People’s Choice: VIO
Founder of the Year: Are Traasdahl, Tapad
Startup of the Year: Xeneta

Photo credit: Noor Dawod Photography

 

The Swedish Winners

By Tetiana Siianko

On April 23, in the midst of Startup Day 2016 in Münchenbryggeriet , the winners of the Nordic Startup Awards Sweden were announced. After the scrupulous screening of hundreds of applications, with blood, sweat, and tears national finalists were chosen.

The 2016 winners are:

Startup Media of the Year: Breakit
Best Investment Company: Northzone
Best Business Angel: Henrik Torstensson
Best Office Space: Epicenter – Stockholm House of Innovations
Best Accelerator Program: STING accelerate
Best Social Tech Startup: Lingio
Best IoT Startup: Shortcut Labs
Best Exponential Startup: Cellink AB
Best Bootstrapped: Lunchback
CTO Hero of The Year: Umut Alp
Newcomer of the Year:  Universal Avenue
People’s Choice: Welcome! app
Founder of the Year: Carl Pei, OnePlus
Startup of the Year: Kry

 

The Icelandic winners

By Thorunn Jonsdottir

The Icelandic winners of the Nordic Startup Awards were announced on April 26th during an event hosted by Icelandic Startups (formerly Klak-Innovit), Nyherji, and Stjornvisi.

Iceland has won two awards at the Grand Finale in previous years. In 2014, Quizup was selected the Best Startup and last year, Startup Reykjavik won Best Accelerator Program.

The 2016 winners are:
Startup Media of the Year: Nordurskautid
Best Investment Company: NSA Ventures
Best Business Angel: Kjartan Olafsson
Best Office Space: Iceland Ocean Cluster
Best Accelerator Program: Startup Reykjavik
Best Social Tech Startup: Karolina Fund
Best IoT Startup: Medilync
Best Exponential Startup: Guide to Iceland
Best Bootstrapped: GeoSilica Iceland
CTO Hero of The Year: Ragnar Fjolnisson, Kaptio
Newcomer of the Year: SLING
People’s Choice: Medilync
Founder of the Year: Fida Abu Libdeh, GeoSilica
Startup of the Year: Mint Solutions

Helga Valfells, CEO of NSA Ventures, accepted awards for three winners who were unable to attend the award ceremony, all of which are NSA portfolio companies, emphasizing that they really do deserve the award as Iceland’s best investment company.

Photo credit: Haraldur Gudjonsson

 

The Finnish Winners

By John Sperryn

The Finnish semi-finals of the Nordic Startup Awards were hosted on April 27th at the newest community space in town, Microsoft FLUX.  Host Dmitri Sarle of Arctic Startup played to a full house, and the spearkers, including Ville Miettinen of Microtask, Taneli Tikka of Tieto, and Sami Lampinen of Inventure, told inspiring, humorous stories about their personal successes and failures.

The 2016 winners are:

Startup Media of the Year: Arctic Startup
Best Investment Company: Lifeline Ventures
Best Business Angel: Moaffak Ahmed
Best Office Space: MOWHelsinki
Best Accelerator Program: Startup Sauna
Best Social Tech Startup: Heimo
Best IoT Startup: 720°C
Best Exponential Startup: Frosmo
Best Bootstrapped: Catchbox
CTO Hero of The Year: Tuomo Reikki
Newcomer of the Year:  Wolt
People’s Choice: BeSmarp
Founder of the Year: Elias Pietilä, Wolt
Startup of the Year: Wolt

The awards were celebrated with celebrations and networking until late into the night.  Follow more of the event on twitter using hashtags #arcticevening #NSA #weareinflux #helyes.

 

The Danish Winners

By Lisa Mallner

The Danish Nordic Startup Awards were held at the  Industriens Hus in the heart of Copenhagen.  Host Tina Søndergaard Thorsen of Trendsonline held court over the 200+ attendees, from investors to student startups.  Winners were asked to share their knowledge with the crowd about the secrets to getting investments, exponential growth, and hiring the right team.   Following a year of global recognition for the startup scene in Denmark, the mood was high.

The 2016 winners are:

Startup Media of the Year: Løvens Hule (the Lion’s Den)
Best Investment Company: Northcap
Best Business Angel: Tommy Ahlers
Best Office Space: Rainmaking Loft
Best Accelerator Program:  Next Step Challenge
Best Social Tech Startup: Reshopper
Best IoT Startup: Sensohive
Best Exponential Startup: Clearhaus
Best Bootstrapped: Tiny Rebels
CTO Hero of The Year: Brian Munkholm, Realm
Newcomer of the Year: Ideanote
People’s Choice: Ideanote
Founder of the Year: Theis Søndergaard, Vivino
Startup of the Year: Realm

 

About Nordic Startup Awards

Nordic Startup Awards is a series of events happening in the Nordic countries, aimed at promoting and celebrating the startup ecosystems in the Nordic region.

This year, 23,835 votes were cast in the overall preliminary Nordic elections, growing from around 14,000 votes overall last year.

Learn more about the criteria for the different categories.

Congratulations to all the winners and good luck in the Grand Finals, which will be held on May 31st in Iceland.

Follow the Nordic Startup Awards on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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