31 Aug HOT August Nordic/Baltic Tech News, Events and Opportunities
Hello all and Welcome to our latest newsletter…
☀️ We are back and refreshed after a great summer across the Nordics and Baltics, where the days have been long and the sun has been shining. We still have our fingers crossed that it’s going to continue a bit longer, as we don’t feel ready for dark days and evenings, just yet – we want to take advantage of some warm evenings to network with our members and our community, face to face, as things return to “normal”.
Our summer months have been busy, working with our partners on plans for the rest of 2021, and even grander plans for 2022. We are also grateful to welcome new members and strategic partners, who will help us to continue to deliver fantastic value to the Nordic and Baltic Tech Community – investment, media, and professional development experts, that will support your growth. More to follow on those, below…so let’s get straight to the updates, and tell you more about our highlights and plans…
“WOMEN IN TECH” COMMUNITY. LATEST NEWS…
Congratulations to Cohort 1 (see who they are via the link) of our “Women in Tech” International Mentoring Programme in Denmark, on “Graduating”!! ?
We are really proud to see the first cohort of this year’s programme, reach the end of their six month experience, working with two mentors and receiving coaching sessions on essential skills such as business registration, taxes, marketing, pitching, legal issues and securing investment.
It is so rewarding for us to see such great feedback, from the female founders, with comments like: “What amazing past 6 months with a highly professional and ambitious program” and “It was fantastic! ? Thanks so much for the mentoring, the workshops, the new connections, and the guidance! We feel much stronger after this program!”. We will continue to work hard to deliver valuable support in this important area. Thank you to the amazing mentees themselves and our 250+ mentors, experts, investors and partners for their hard work and support for our Programme. See event section for our 22 September celebratory/next step launch event.
A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW WOMEN-IN-TECH AMBASSADOR
We are delighted to welcome Sahra-Josephine Hjorth, Co-founder & CEO at CanopyLAB, as our new “Women in Tech” Programme Ambassador. Sahra-Josephine told us “We need radical change for more women to become successful entrepreneurs in Denmark beyond the seed stage. That will not happen through promoting role models alone but through training, access to capital and a strong network. That is why I am excited to be a TNA WiT ambassador and about the potential for promoting female entrepreneurs in Denmark. It is time for the first female unicorn to emerge out of Denmark, and that will take a village to make a reality.”
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
We re-welcome Irfan Goandal – Senior Partner at Promentum Equity Partners – who has just renewed his TNA membership:
“As Senior Partner, I believe that collaborating with Tech Nordic Advocates brings us closer to tech clusters in the Nordics. We put our expertise into play and help Enterprise SaaS start-ups/scale-ups accelerate the growth journey. As we are raising our 2nd fund, we would be pleased to talk to tech startups from the Nordics at the late seed stage.” Feel free to connect with Irfan on LinkedIn or via Promentum Equity, if you are looking for a hands-on collaborative partner to support your growth to the next level.
NEW MEDIA PARTNERSHIP
We are excited to be kicking off a new partnership with Nordic Business Magazine, as they grow across the ecosystem, in which we shall be providing expert content and insights from our work in the region. Feel free to reach out to International Business Manager, Mark Dixon, if you are interested in knowing more about promotional opportunities for your business.
Julie Brix, Editor & CCO, Nordic Business, said:
“We are delighted to have entered into a media partnership with Tech Nordic Advocates. The editorial mission and overall vision of Nordic Business magazine have a great synergy with Tech Nordic Advocates’ marvellous work. We very much look forward to maximizing mutually beneficial cooperation.”
NEWS FROM…SWEDEN
We are now in our new home at Epicenter in Stockholm, and open for face to face meetings. If you would like to meet up for a coffee with our Board Member and COO for Sweden, Barry O’Brien, to discuss investment scouting, membership or strategic partnerships, then reach out to him via email, here.
JOIN US AS A MENTOR
As part of our partnership with the Hack for Earth Foundation, in collaboration with the United Nations and the Swedish pavilion at Expo2020, we shall be mentoring teams during the 2 week global online hackathon – Hack for Earth, helping them to tackle the issues faced in SDG #5 – Gender Equality.
The goal is to bring people and organisations from all over the world together to find real solutions to the 17 global goals. All 190+ participating countries at the upcoming world exhibition Expo2020, and their citizens, are invited to join the Hack for Earth.
If you are interested in being a mentor during October, to support the teams with a few hours over the 2 weeks, please email Barry O’Brien for more information.
NEWS FROM…FINLAND
This month, we enjoyed this wonderful guide to the Helsinki Startup scene from Wired Magazine – “The hottest startups in Helsinki” This year’s hot startups span a wide range of sectors, but many have an interest in sustainability. Take a look at the article here
NEWS FROM…DENMARK
Our friends at Heyfunding have made a fantastic graphic of the Danish startup ecosystem, and featured us twice – as a key Community AND for our Women in Tech programme. You can read the article here and also download the ecosystem graphic.
NEWS FROM…NORWAY
A warm welcome to our latest member from Bergen, Norway – Eunice Hammond-Mørklid, Founder and Operations Director of INNO-SCi – Digital STEM courses that prepare you for the future, designed by Industry Experts and University Professionals.
Eunice told us: “Having a membership here is so important to the success of our business.
Through the Tech Nordic community, we can establish an indispensable network of startup founders, investors, mentors, partners and mutually beneficial cooperation that would be instrumental to the success of our journey. Sharing with other founders means we get shortcuts to solve common problems and the sense of community makes these hard days as a founder much easier”.
Please give Eunice a warm welcome to our community, reach out and connect with her, here
NEWS FROM THE BALTICS
Fantastic ecosystem news from Lithuania…
“A Record Year For Startups: An Investment Amount Of EUR 311 Million Raised And A Sales Increase Of 110% Recorded In The First Half-Year Of 2021”
“This year, Lithuanian startups can be proud: in the first half-year of 2021, a record amount of funds was raised – over EUR 311 million of investments from foreign and Lithuanian investment funds, and the turnover of as much as 61 per cent of Lithuanian startups more than doubled. These figures lead to an optimistic forecast of the second half-year as well.”
Read the full insights from Startup Lithuania, here
STARTUP OF THE MONTH!
Congratulations to Danish company uQualio who have been announced the winner of ‘Corporate Live Wire Innovation and Excellence Awards 2021’ in the category ‘Video eLearning Solutions Provider of the Year’.
uQualio is a cloud-based video eLearning platform. Create tailor made training courses for employees, sales partners and customers, on their platform.
IMPORTANT INFO FROM OUR PARTNERS TO SUPPORT YOUR GROWTH
Magnusson‘s latest article, related to compliance within logistic’s chains, titled: “The increasing regulatory requirement of supply chain due diligence compliance – the next (really) big thing in compliance”
goes deep into the requirement for businesses to do supply chain due diligence in order to comply with modern slavery and other environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) rules.
You can read the full article on the topic here and learn how Magnusson can support you here ??
Interested to understand more about Crypto and Blockchain?
TNA member 4ire Labs have many articles about crypto and blockchain development PLUS expert guides that cover a lot on this new and fascinating topic. Read their latest article on the topic of Central Bank Digital Currencies: “What Is CBDC and How Banks Can Benefit From It” and learn more about how they can help you, by getting in touch here ??
FROM US…. RAISING CAPITAL TO SUPPORT YOUR GROWTH?
? Did you know we offer a Startup/Investor Scouting Programme, connecting fundraising startups/scaleups with suitable investors from our network? If you’re a startup/scaleup raising funds, get in touch here
For example, we are currently supporting evolvT and their founder Andreea Spaima on their latest funding round.evolvT addresses two main trends in the last-mile delivery industry:
- subcontractor couriers are often forced into unfair work conditions
- the courier industry is working towards lowering its carbon footprint
If you’re an investor looking for deal flow, please get in touch with us for an introduction.
OR COULD YOU DO WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND? ? Could a Mentor help you? Did you know that we offer a global mentoring programme matching our Advocates with mentors across the globe from our Global Tech Advocates network, spanning over 20 tech hubs globally? Join today (Solo membership or Business Membership) and get access to top quality mentors across all continents, who can help accelerate your growth.
UPCOMING EVENTS
London Tech Week and Global Tech Advocates are bringing the world’s fastest growing tech cities and regions together for the TLA/GTA LTW Showcase. Monday, September 20, 2021 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM GMT
Join Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, and our CEO Founder Jeanette Carlsson, plus a wide panel of experts.
With 21 global tech networks, Global Tech Advocates is the world’s first international grassroots tech community. This event will invite tech leaders from around the world to discuss tech for net zero and the growth opportunity for tech companies addressing climate change. Global tech leaders will be discussing their relationship with UK tech and how global collaboration is required to develop tech for net zero. This will be a virtual event hosted at Here East. Register now to attend.
22 September 15.00-18.00 at Copenhagen Town Hall: International Women-in-tech Growth Programme Celebratory / Launch Event: on 22 September, we mark the success of our international Women-in-Tech Growth Programme, and announce the next stage of the programme and new national and international strategic partnerships at an “Invitation-Only” event, hosted by the Mayor of Copenhagen. If you have not received an invitation but think you should be invited, drop us a line here
The event will be attended by over 200 people (yes – face-to-face!), who are all making a HUGE contribution to the Programme – mentors, experts, investors, ecosystem stakeholders, Ambassadors and lots more prominent people, determined to do their bit to improve women-in-tech entrepreneurship, innovation and contribution to (equality in) business and society.
Make a note in your diary… Stockholm Investor Event on November 11th at EpiCenter, Stockholm. Join us as we host a LIVE Investor/Growth Capital Raise event featuring a select group of local and international investors and growth stage startups/scaleups.
Follow our social media for more updates. Pre-registration here
Singapore FinTech Festival returns on 8-12 Nov with a week-long celebration of FinTech. Attended by 60,000 participants from 160 countries in 2020, this year’s event will foster an open dialogue between the public and private sector to advance FinTech in the digital economy. SFF 2021 will take place with a hybrid format, bringing together a digital platform with a flagship event in Singapore, as well as a distributed network of World FinTech Festival events in key FinTech hubs. Join us at the world’s largest FinTech Festival and forge business partnerships, network with peers and hear from industry leaders!
Tech Nordic Advocates (TNA) members enjoy 20% off digital tickets (applicable to existing ticket rates). Register now: https://bit.ly/3BlI2hD
We are looking forward to partnering with SLUSH again this year, as they bring the world’s tech community back to Helsinki. On December 1st and 2nd, Slush 2021 will safely bring together the world’s leading founders, investors, executives, and media for a curated gathering of 8,000 attendees at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. Stay tuned for what we have planned there, and ticket offers for our members.
New events are added to our website every week. Check them out here
GLOBAL TECH ADVOCATES (GTA) NEWS
Remember: Tech Nordic Advocates is the Nordic/Baltic arm of Global Tech Advocates (GTA) – the world’s only global tech/startup ecosystem spanning 21 global tech hubs.
Did you know we have our own global tech magazine? Check out GTA Connects
Check out also our Tech for Net Zero ‘Resource Hub’ via the link
Just launched/launching soon:
- Tech Wales Advocates launched on 15th July in Cardiff – 21st group in GTA
- Tech Australia Advocates will soft launch on 20th September
- Tech UAE Advocates will launch on 19th October
- Tech Korea Advocates will launch week of 22nd November
- Tech Nanjing Advocate – launching 2022
- Tech South West England Advocates will launch in early 2022