26 Aug The Nordic Web Weekly

Welcome to another edition of The Nordic Web Weekly, where we bring you the latest from The Nordic Web as well as curating all the need-to-know news from The Nordic Startup scene.Curated and written by @neilswmurray

This Week on The Nordic Web

We always expected July and August to be slow, however after an improving May and June we had high hopes for a summer that may be more active than usual.We couldn’t have been more wrong. With just 10 days remaining in the month, we are currently on course for the slowest month for investments for well over two years, with just 20 investments announced in August thus far.

Summer slowdown brings Nordic investments to a snail’s pace

Denmark has been shouting about being a FinTech hub for some time now, even when there was little happening. However, the power of a self-fulfilling prophecy can be powerful in the world of tech startups, and the walking has now caught up with the talking.Let’s take a look at how the Danish FinTech scene has evolved over the last few years in terms of attracting investment.

Denmark’s FinTech scene continues to push forward

The summer recess is officially over, most people are now back in the office and judging by Monday’s post, this can’t come soon enough.However, even though the action has been slow, there has certainly been some interesting investments, exits and stories that have been announced.

To help you catch up on the last six weeks of action, we’ve compiled a list of the ten stories from the Nordic summer that we consider worth you catching up on.

The top 10 stories from Nordic tech this summer

Despite the slowdown in action over the summer, the percentage of total investments that include at least one investor from outside the Nordic region is currently at a 12 month high.International investor participation is at a 12 month high

This Week in The Nordics

Denmark

Tech Family is on a mission to make Denmark the most family-friendly ecosystem for entrepreneurial parents

Gaest.com won a prestigious award

Neo-bank Lunar Way launches fee-free travel card


Finland

Kuuhuub (a public company) raised $20 million from a group of institutional investors, strategic partners and family officesICEYE, a microsatellite radar imaging startup raises $13M to launch new constellation

IndoorAtlas closes Series B investment round – strategic investment from Yahoo! Japan

Health and Wellness startup Popit has raised 1.2MEUR

Brella has raised 1.2MEUR

Palo Alto Medical Foundation taps Meru Health for digital therapeutic for depression


Iceland

Influencer marketing platform Ghostlamp closes $1m seed round led by Brunnur

Norway

Hubii, a content distribution company is looking to raise $50 million through an Ethereum-based ICO

Trondheim is getting a dedicated FinTech incubator

Angel Challenge now has its sights set on encouraging investors in the creative industry


Sweden

Product marketing startup inRiver raises €10.5 million

Anima raises 95MSEK for its connected watch, Kronaby

Znipe has taken in a further 30MSEK

Red Flag, an accounting app for SMEs, raises €1.6 million

Pinmeto has raised more capital, including from H&M

NextStep Dynamics has raised 5MSEK

Studybee has raised 4MSEK

Ecommerce startup Bill Mate raised 3MSEK

Pilloxa has raised 2.5MSEK

Valueqard has raised investment

Playpilot has raised an undisclosed amount

Standout Capital acquires a majority stake in Exsitec to fuel further growth

Kampanjjakt has been acquired by Mytaste for 15MSEK

Smart Refill becomes the majority owner of Digimail

Newsner is joining Mediaplanet

Privanet has acquired 33.4 percent of Fundedbyme Finland

THQ Nordic acquired German game studio Black Forest

Augmented Reality in Stockholm


Interesting Reads

Camp Ven is a ‘summer camp’ for entrepreneurs

ICOs and Bitcoin Legislation at Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Stockholm

Nordic Makers are looking for interns 

Investors bet big on AI for health diagnostics

Estonia is looking into starting its own national cryptocurrency

Sales of electric cars reach new heights in the Nordics

Finnish trash bins are going digital and aiming for a global market

Germany-based data center operator Hetzner is about to open up its first unit in Helsinki, Finland

Why Altum technologies resonate with sustainability goals

Arctic data centre planned for Norway

SEC is studying Spotify’s plan to bypass IPO in NYSE Listing

Overview of the 10 best co-working spaces in Copenhagen

Sweden cryptocurrency boom: Top 3 Swedish FinTech startups to watch

Danish high-precision positioning tech brings the $40 million miniature world of Gulliver’s Gate to life

28 Swedish tech millionaires

Meet Gigafood, the Tesla-inspired Swedish startup that wants to feed a billion people without compromising on health, taste or the environment

Nordic Fintech Angels – New Nordic Fintech initiative for start-up and investor matchmaking

The secret of the Finnish education system

Christoffer Norman has joined Northzone as an Investment Manager

Finland is top Nordic destination for foreign direct investment

How to build a winning startup in Finland

Klarna is reportedly partnering with online payment giant Stripe to fuel US expansion

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund flexes its trillion-dollar muscle against giants like Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook

Spotify closes final label deal in preparation to go public

Finnish edtech makes waves internationally

Klarna co-founder seeks to spur European tech giving

The 10 companies in Ikea’s accelerator programme

80% of Nordic consumers use streaming services

The 28 universities that have produced the most European billionaires

Klarna just posted some impressive half-year figures — profits soar by 138 percent