Hey all,
everyone’s been hit by the lovely wave of different flu’s this year and we’re no exception to this, so we decided to skip writing one edition and focus on getting better. The funding round list is sufficiently long to cover up for lost time, even though we only covered the last two weeks in the list which means that we’ve had a significant uptick in funding rounds recently.
As always, happy to hear from you, let us know what we missed, what we can improve on & what you’d like to read about!
All the best,
Funding rounds
🇫🇮 Bob W raises €40M to expand their sustainable alternative to short-term rentals
🇫🇮 Vapaus nets €15M in funding to expand their sustainable mobility solution
🇫🇮 Desentum raises €12M to boost allergy vaccine development
🇸🇪 Fever raises €10M to revolutionize renewable energy with API-centric virtual power plant platform
🇩🇰 Go Autonomous raises $10.3M to expand AI-powered B2B commerce solution
🇩🇰 Aegir Insights raises €8.5M to enhance offshore wind investment software and data products
🇳🇴 sensiBel raised €7M for their next-generation MEMS microphones
🇸🇪 Apica raised $6M for their data management & observability platform
🇩🇰 Spektr raised €5M for their platform automating due diligence processes
🇩🇰 Portchain receives $5M to revolutionize container ship operations and reduce carbon emissions
🇩🇰 Hakio secures €4M to transform fashion industry forecasting with AI
🇩🇰 Holdbar raises $3.5M to digitalize and streamline experience management for tour hosts worldwide
🇩🇰 Kvasir Technologies secures €3M for sustainable biofuel development
🇸🇪 Captainer raised $2.85M for self-sampling of blood and plasma
🇩🇰 Pluto.markets raises $2.6M to revolutionize Nordic brokerage
🇩🇰 BeCause raised $2.5M to pave the way for sustainable hospitality
🇸🇪 MANTLE raises £2.4M to expand innovative skincare line across Europe and the US
🇳🇴 Looping secured NOK 23M for their reusable transport packaging
🇱🇹 Evergrowth raised $2.2M for their AI-powered B2B sales platform.
🇱🇹 Axiology secures €2M to transform EU capital markets with tokenized securities platform
🇫🇮 TILT Biotherapeutics gets $2M grant for ovarian cancer immunotherapy research
🇸🇪 Serverpod secured €1.7M to build the backbone of the Flutter framework
🇳🇴 AdjuTec Pharma raises NOK 16M to develop antibiotic resistance breakers
🇩🇰 Januar raises €1.5M to launch their B2B crypto services platform
🇪🇪 CognitiweAI raises $1.05M for expansion of its AI-driven retail solutions
🇸🇪 Vividye raises $1M for their sustainable dyeing technology for fibers and materials
🇸🇪 DealGuru secures €900K to develop Sweden’s largest community for shopping deals
🇳🇴 Midio raises $660K to develop visual programming interface for backend development
🇱🇹 CyberUpgrade secures €650K to make cybersecurity affordable and accessible for all
🇸🇪 Digmi raises €0.5M to transform salon experience
🇸🇪 Life Inside secures €350K for its video testimonial platform
🇸🇪 Codicent raises first investment for their AI-driven knowledge management platform
Did we miss something - send us a note!
Quick Notes
💸 Sweden’s fintech industry faces capital-raising challenges and regulatory burdens, with a fifth at risk of lasting only a year without new funding. Read more in the Swedish Fintech Association’s yearly report.
🚀 The Lithuanian Innovation Agency will fund the Rockit acceleration program, targeting startups in Kaunas and Klaipėda and enrolling at least 60 new startups from 2024 to 2026. The program will support companies that specialize in artificial intelligence, fintech, blockchain, energy, IoT, and smart transportation systems.
Opinion
This week we’re highlighting some key points from a couple different reports we stumbled on during the weeks.
📊 Change Ventures and FIRSTPICK published their semi-annual Baltic Startup Funding Report - read it here. Some quick takeaways:
The Baltics witnessed a surge in the growth funding arena, with the capital injection in H2 2023 ballooning to nearly three times what they saw in the preceding six months.
Series A rounds seemed to be a big hurdle for founders, with only eight A rounds in total in the past year.
Belts are also being tightened on the pre-seed and seed front, evidenced by a noticeable dip in the number of rounds. Unsurprisingly, investors were increasingly cautious in their allocations, favoring startups with lower risk profiles and longer track record. This trend simultaneously drove a recalibration of median valuations downward.
Early-stage activities in Latvia and Lithuania are gaining momentum, hopefully leading to a more competitive landscape overall and mirroring the trajectory previously seen in Estonia's startup ecosystem.
🌎 The State of Climate Tech 2023 by Net Zero Insights was published - you can read it here. Some key points:
The funding boom of the past years has clearly slowed down with 2023 numbers being lower than 2021.
The number of deals has also dropped, but not as significantly.
Despite the drop in overall funding, three areas saw growth in funding numbers and they were circular economy, water and industry.
2023 funding was focused on later stages and adoption-focused solutions, indicating increasing market maturity.
🧠 The Nordic State of AI report was published - read it here. The data is based on survey responses from 35 large companies in the Nordics. Couple key points:
Most of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the results they’ve seen from AI so far & the rest were mainly neutral.
Interestinly 61% of respondents did not have anyone in the C-suite responsible for data & AI.
51% of respondents said that the biggest challenge in scaling the use of AI in their organization is lack of talent.
Thank you for reading Nordic Notes, your biweekly guide to the Nordic startup ecosystem. If you enjoyed this issue, please like it and share it with your friends.