🔥 HOT October Nordic/Baltic Tech News, Events and Opportunities

FIRSTLY, A WARM WELCOME TO A NEW TNA MEMBER
Growth is in our DNA, like it is in yours, and the bigger our community, the more we can help YOU. So, with that in mind we're delighted to welcome Nermeen Ghoniem, Founder and host of Hello Ada, a place to discover cool initiatives for getting kids more intrigued about technology, with particular focus on girls.She is also the co-founder at With Purpose, that provides the infrastructure to enable the next-generation of women entrepreneurs in the Nordics to start, run and grow purpose-led companies, and for which she was nominated in Europe’s TOP 100 most influential women in the startup and venture capital space.
We're so pleased to have you onboard Nermeen, and good luck with the new venture!

Not a Tech Nordic Advocates member yet? You don't know what you're missing! Check out HOW WE HELP YOU GROW AND SCALE YOUR TECH SECTOR BUSINESS HERE, How to become a solo Tech Nordic Advocates member HERE and how to become a Business Member HERE

NEW PARTNER

And on the subject of new additions, we've added a new partner to our ever-growing stable. Bootstrapping is a new independent Danish digital media focusing on the people changing society, the entrepreneurs, the startups and the high technology development changing and the way we coexist and live together as human beings.Formed in 2017, Bootstrapping delivers relevant and critical journalism and content distributing it through Bootstrapping.dk and through a paid newsletter, which is sent to subscribers on a weekly basis.

And right now, members of Tech Nordic Advocates can get a premium membership for half price at Bootstrapping.dk.Write an e-mail containing your full name and the name of your company to Nikolaj@bootstrapping.dk to take advantage of this exclusive offer.

WOMEN IN TECH COMMUNITY

FINLAND - INTERNATIOAL MENTORING PROGRAMME - COHORT 3
All go in Finland this month with the launch of Cohort 3 of "Helsinki Female Tech Founder Frontrunner" - our international female tech founder mentoring programme. Find out all about the programme HERE.

A warm welcome to the selected participants; Jane Tolvanen, CEO & Co-Founder, PrivacyAnt, Juulia Karjula, Founder, Toivo.io, Meliina Räty, COO & Co-Founder, Toivo.io, Aura Pyykönen, CEO & Founder, Isla Terveys, Lisa Jokivirta, Founder, Peace Education Collective, Holly Conolly, Co-founder, Zestii Oy, Minae Tani-LaFleur, Co-founder, Zestii Oy, Anna Starynska, CEO & Co-Founder, Cardiolyse Oy, Ida Nevalainen, CEO & Founder, MARKED, Erika Maksniemi, Pedagogical Expert, MARKED, Hua Jin, Founder, Aiedu Oy, Hilkka Koskenranta, CEO & Founder, Nordic Dog Sports Oy, Marika Kwiecień, Founder, SpaceCats, Yulia Zhukova, Co-Founder, Nerdsbay Oy, Olga Koivistoinen, Co-Founder and CPO, Nerdsbay Oy, Elena Melnikova, Co-founder, Country Manager, Verspeak, Heidi Leivo, Co-Founder & CEO, Geego Kids, Ying-Chan Lin, Co-founder and chief product officer, Breath to Belong. We are delighted to have you all onboard!

Many thanks to the fantastic Anne Owen, our London-based leadership development expert for kicking off Cohort 3 with a great "Train the Mentor session' and to our partners for their ongoing support, Helsinki Partners, Magnusson, Netcompany, Inklusiiv, The Shortcut, Epicenter Helsinki, Startup Foundation, NewCo Helsinki / City of Helsinki, LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Women in Tech Finland, San Francisco Agency .

Didn't make it to the 2022 Programme? Don't worry, applications now open for 2023

Apply here to join Cohort 1, February 2023 HERE

DENMARK - DIVERSITY VENTURE FUND
On the subject of our female tech founder/leader growth programmes, our newly launched, Diversity Venture Fund, which aims to improve access to capital and ensure a level playing field is steamrolling with new investors joining all the time.

IF you are a female-led tech company based in Denmark and fundraising, look no further. Send your pitch to our Diversity Venture Fund (DVF) and we'll help you fundraise with investors, committed to investing in female founders and #fair play. REMEMBER: you don't need to be part of Module 1 or 2 of the overall programme to apply!.

A huge thank you to the steady flow of international #investors joining the DVF with enthusiasm and determination to improve access to capital for female tech founders/leaders and boost their diverse deal flow . Says, Kevin Smith of Sana Capital London: "Sana Capital is delighted to be supporting Tech Nordic Advocates in this. The position in Denmark is sadly not untypical of the position across Europe. Only 1% of Venture Capital in Denmark is invested in all-female founder teams and less than 8% in mixed-gender founder teams. The average Seed and Series A rounds are 52.5% smaller for all-women founders. Sana applauds and supports any programme that seeks to address this challenge and our thanks go to the team at TNA for spearheading this important initiative, also supported by the Danish Industry Foundation. Awareness is growing of this issue, but we have a long way to go. Programmes like this are important in accelerating our journey to a more inclusive venture eco-system where we don’t lose innovation and talent through funding imbalance."

Investors, not joined yet? Please see info and join HERE

DIDN'T MANAGE THIS YEAR'S PROGRAMME? HERE'S ANOTHER CHANCE...
With our renewed funding, we're fortunate to be able to continue "Denmark as Female Tech Founder Frontrunner" until 2025. Applications to join the 2023 Programme are now open and rolling in fast. New or super early female tech founders in Denmark, apply to Module 1! Tech companies with high growth potential, led by women, apply to Module 2. Module 3: Diversity Venture Fund just launched is open to all capital raising female tech founders/leaders in Denmark on an ongoing basis until end 2025 whether or not you are part of Modules 1 and/or 2.. HURRY UP and apply to the 2023 intake HERE!

NORWAY - WOMEN-IN-TECH "AI and Ethics" EVENT
Thank you to Microsoft Norway for hosting a great 'Let’s dive into AI and Ethics' event in our Norway Women-in-Tech community, including @Digital Norway @Capassa @British Embassy Norway and many more, attended by our very own TNA Norway and WiT Ambassador Marit Wetterhus, Founder & CEO, Capassa. The event gave a very interesting slant on ethics around AI and provided a lively discussion and great chance to connect. See Marit's LI post about the great event HERE

SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS DELIVER, YOU'RE ASKING... SUCCESS STORIES IS THE ANSWER....

🏆 First up, congratulations to Feiya Long and the Moi Panda team for the first investment in their company! After Feiya's trip to our London Tech Week event, hosted by our partner, London Stock Exchange in June, an experienced investor in the UK who has been following Moi Panda since has decided to invest. What it's all about! Awesome Feiya Long

🏆 On a similar note, cheers to Kodarit founder Suvi Syrjäläinen, one of our "Helsinki Female Tech Founder Frontrunner" Cohort 2 participants. Kodarit Coding School for Kids has been granted the Education Alliance Finland ‘Certified Pedagogy’ certificate! Suvi's startup helps you to start a coding education business and provides a strong start for it. read more here.

🏆 And that's not all! All our TNA fingers are crossed for Lillian Katrine Kofod, whose start up Vent2U ApS has been nominated as one of the Nordic most Sustainable company. You can vote for Vent2U here

Fingers crossed for Piia Kuomanen and her startup Velbi, too, who are competing for a €1million prize at Slush in November. Piia’s company is on a mission to identify and take action against burnout in the workplace before it happens. Good luck Piia!

FROM ALL OUR STARTUPS AND SCALEUPS ...

NEWS FROM...SWEDEN

The big news in Swedish logistics this month is the merger between Instabox and Budbee to become Instabee in an 18 billion krona ($1.7 billion) deal. The two companies, which were both founded out of the Stockholm area in 2015, serve as the delivery and logistics partner for many major domestic and multinational brands.

NEWS FROM...FINLAND
SaaS startup Rentle has raised €3.79 million in its ambition to help companies make the transition to a circular economy, reflecting consumers’ new desire to access goods rather than purchase them. Launched in 2019, the Espoo-based company is building a merchant operating system for Commerce 3.0, offering merchants a platform designed to start, manage and grow circular commerce.

NEWS FROM...DENMARK
Congrats to Danish startup Monta after landing an additional €30 million in their ongoing expansion plans for Europe’s EV charging infrastructure. Based in Copenhagen, the platform simplifies the deployment and management of EV charging points and makes them more accessible for users. With estimates that about 3,000 new public charge points need to be built each week for Europe to reach its charge points target by 2025, the potential for operators like Monta is growing all the time.

NEWS FROM...NORWAY
With the ever-increasing interest in podcast and other audio formats, the time seems ripe for Norwegian startup Nomono, who build tools for audio content creation and collaboration. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Trondheim, they have just secured over €3.5 million in new investment, which will go on expending their product range.

NEWS FROM...THE BALTICS
The jewellery industry isn’t generally associated with sustainability, but Tallinn-based Cloud Factory aims to change that perception. The Estonian startup uses 3D printing technology to produce cost-effective, sustainable and highly scalable jewellery production with celebrities, merch bands, influencers, creators, gamers and musicians specifically in mind. The message is getting through, with Cloud Factory announcing the raising of €2 million in a round led by Change Ventures.

START-UP OF THE MONTH
The closer we get to the European winter, the louder the conversation gets about the energy crisis. And renewable forms of energy are right at the top of the agenda. Swedish startup SunRoof produces integrated solar roofs for residential and commercial clients across Europe. Mirroring the blossoming demand for solutions, the company has grown rapidly in recent years, from just 10 employees in 2020 to over 130 now. It has recently raised a new injection of €15 million, so the roof is being raised in more ways than one!

NEED CAPITAL TO SUPPORT YOUR GROWTH/SCALEUP/EXPANSION ?
Are you a Nordic/Baltic startup/scaleup and fundraising, look no further. Send your pitch to TNAInvest@technordicadvocates.org and we'll help you fundraise

GLOBAL TECH ADVOCATES NEWS
As you know, the world is your oyster, and with the Nordics/Baltics small in scale, you need access to a global playground to scale your tech business. That's exactly what our Global Tech Advocates family offer you. Talent, Know-how, customers, partners and capital anywhere!

And so....

AMERICA HERE WE COME

Last week, we were in New York to build new and consolidate existing connections and partnerships. And what an enjoyable and productive week it was.

Thank you to Sascha Oswald and Jamie Horton at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit organisation focusing on investing in the community and advancing the growth of startups.

It was a pleasure too to meet Jarmo Sareva, Consul General and Ambassador of Finland in NYC. He is a great supporter of our work and we look forward to collaborating closely in future. Fruitful and enjoyable meeting also with Victoria Bager, Senior Commercial Advisor, Tech, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark of the Danish Consulate General in NYC. And big thanks too, to Stephanie Rothman from SelectUSA for a fantastic meeting. We look forward to doing great things together, and with Charles Lorum, Executive director, Nordic Innovation House - New York. Come meet some of our U.S friends at our Slush events 16-18 November (see below) and stay tuned for more on how we are planning to work together with the U.S. in the coming months. Great to meet you all - and what glorious weather it was in NYC.

WHILE IN NEW YORK/THE U.S.....OF COURSE, WE NEED A NEW YORK/U.S. TNA AMBASSADOR

A warm welcome to our new TNA US ambassador Farheen "Henni" Choudhary! Born and raised in Denmark, now resident in New Jersey, Farheen’s work is focused on advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the institutional level through learning and development and consulting. Farheen serves as the DEI Education specialist at Princeton University in the Office of the Vice Provost for institutional Equity and Diversity. Before Princeton Farheen founded a startup specialising in leadership development and diversity and inclusion professional development for corporations. She has also served as mentor and mentor trainer for TNA’s International Female Tech Founder Growth programme since 2021. Welcome Heeni!

Also this month:

Launch of Tech UAE Advocates in Dubai
On October 10th, Global Tech Advocates expanded into the Middle East with the launch of Tech UAE Advocates at GITEX GLOBAL, led by Omar Hassan. Congrats to our UAE friends. We look forward to working with you in our global family.

But UAE isn't the only one!
Tech West England Advocates also officially launched this month, while November sees our footprint increase in Africa when we welcome Tech Ghana Advocates.

While on global matters, 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

If you are interested to expand from the Nordics and Baltics, into the UK, or any other 20+ places globally in our Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates network, reach out to us at Tech Nordic Advocates for an intro.

Back in Europe, thank you Emma Kate Hopkins, UK Ambassador to Denmark for inviting us - and selecting several of our tech founders as tech ambassadors - to the grand D'Angleterre hotel in Copenhagen for the Grand Finale of the "Ambassador for the Day" event, an amazing programme inspiring young women into entrepreneurship. 19 young women between the ages of 15 and 17 gave speeches on their "ambassadorial" adventures and gender differences and their own experiences. Congrats to all involved. We are delighted to support the initiative. May our own female tech founder programmes and founders inspire them further.

A HUGE thanks too, to Ayuna Nechaeva, Charlie Walker and London Stock Exchange for a fabulous and informative #tech dinner #copenhagen.

We at Tech Nordic Advocates really appreciate our partnership and helping #nordic & #Baltic startups understand how London Stock Exchange can support private and public #capitalraise in #London