Blog post100 Tech Investors Active in the Nordics

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In 2014 we wrote a series of blog posts about the startup boom and changing face of VC in Stockholm and the Nordics. But who are actually the players investing in the Nordic tech boom? Venture Capital firms, investment companies, incubators, angel networks, corporate venture and government agencies. It’s a diverse ecosystem. Our team made some research and created the Nordic 100 Tech Investor list, now updated to over 120 companies, funds and organisations. Thanks for your input! 

 

Accel Partners

Accel is one of the original, leading Silicon Valley VCs, founded in 1983 and covering the Nordic market from their London offices. Accel just raised an additional $1,5 billion.

 

Active Venture Partners

A Spanish VC started in 2002, based in Barcelona, with offices in Hamburg and Stockholm, managing early stage venture capital funds that invest in technology related businesses. Invested in Swedish Fishbrain.

 

Acton Capital

Based in Munich, Acton launched in 2008 and is a specialist investor in internet-based, consumer-oriented businesses. The latest fund is focused on growth capital with a €150 M target fund size.

 

Advent Venture Partner

One of Europe’s major growth and venture capital investors in tech and life sciences businesses, managing around $120 million. Based in London.

 

Alfén & Didrikson

Two co-founders Måns Alfén and Hjalmar Didrikson invest in small and mid sized privately held companies in Northern Europe, offering active ownership and a very long term view.

 

Almi Invest

Almi is financed by the EU, the Swedish government and regional players, managing funds with 1,2 billion SEK under management, covering all of Sweden from regional offices.

 

Amadeus Capital

Major UK VC firm. From offices in London, Cambridge and San Francisco, Amadeus have supported over 85 tech companies during the last 15 years. Currently managing $75 million.

 

Ambient Sound Investments

ASI is based Estonia and was established in 2003 by four founding engineers at Skype, managing about €100 million of the partners assets.

 

AppCampus

Mobile app accelerator managed by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. An €18 million joint investment between Microsoft and Nokia to foster development for Windows Phone.

 

Arch Venture Partners Europe

US-based Arch provides seed and early stage venture capital for technology firms, co-founding and building firms from start-up, with $1.5 billion in capital under management.

 

Argentum

An asset manager specialising in Nordic private equity funds. Established in 2001 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Argentum currently has NOK 10 billion under management.

 

Arts Alliance

Based in London and established 1996, Arts Alliance is a venture capital firm dedicated to entrepreneurship in Europe, managing investments on behalf of the Thomas Høegh family.

 

Atomico

Founded in 2006 by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, Atomico have made over 50 investments globally, focusing on growth stage innovative technology companies.

 

Aura Capital

Founded 1997, Aura Capital is a private venture capital firms in Finland. Investments range from a small investment to a typical €500k to €1.5m in the first financing round.

 

Backstage

Backstage is a family owned and financed venture capital firm primarily investing in unlisted Scandinavian entrepreneurial companies. The investments are typically done at an early stage.

 

Balderton Capital

Formerly Benchmark Capital Europe, Balderton is a leading European early stage and series A fund with nearly $2 billion of committed capital. Balderton covers the Nordics from London.

 

BaltCap

A leading private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic countries since 1995 and present in Tallin, Villnius and Riga. BaltCap has recently closed a new €50 million fund.

 

Bonnier Growth Media

The venture capital arm of Bonnier media group, Bonnier Growth Media invests in companies with a strategic fit with the existing portfolio and strong growth, revenue and profit potential.

 

BASF Venture Capital

The venture capital company of the German BASF Group invests both in promising startups worldwide and other VC funds, with investments linked to the strategy and interests of BASF.

 

Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments

The VC division of German, international media giant Bertelsmann, BDMI focuses on early stage digital media companies, initially investing €0,5 to 3 million, with follow-up rounds.

 

Bosch Venture Capital

Robert Bosch Venture Capital invests in first and second VC rounds (€1-4 M) and follow-on investsments (€6-10 M) in a wide range of tech companies, typically with a minority stake.

 

Business Angels Copenhagen

BAC is a regional investor network for the Copenhagen metropolitan arean, organising over 60 business angels and offering a partner network of law and accounting firms.

 

Butterfly Ventures

Managing The Northern Startup Fund from Oulu in Finland, with total fund size €10 million. Early stage regional companies. Investors are 50% private and 50% city of Oulu.

 

Capricorn Venture Partners

Independent VC and equity funds, investing in innovative European companies with technology as competitive advantage (ICT, healthtech, cleantech). Based in Leuven, Belgium,

 

Chalmers Innovation

Sweden’s largest incubator fund, Chalmers Innovation has since 1999 worked with over 200 projects and started more than 115 companies, offering seed funds and startup camps.

 

Cipio Partners

International secondary direct investment management firm based in Munich and Luxembourg, Cipio invests in private high-quality growth businesses in Europe, Israel and North America.

 

Cleantech Invest

Based in Helsinki, Finland, Cleantech Invest private equity fund management company focusing on cleantech, as the name suggests. Total funding for target companies is typically €1-2 million.

 

Connect Ventures

Based in London and investing throughout London, Connect is a mid-size VC firm investing in early stage internet and mobile startups. Investment size ranges from £200K to £1 million.

 

Conor

With offices in Espoo and Stockholm, Conor invests in early stage companies with a focus on innovative technology. Conor manages €70 million and typically invest €0,5–1,5 million initially.

 

Consortio Invest

A privately owned investment company, Consortio Invest is the owner of Consortio Fashion Group, a group of e-commerce companies. Consortio has invested in about 10 companies.

 

Creandum

Based in Stockholm, Creandum is one of the major VC funds in the Nordics, investing from a few hundred thousand euros up to €10 million, “backing the companies of tomorrow”.

 

Deal Circle

Online funding platform based in Copenhagen, with the pitch to “organize and execute startup investments with speed at a fraction of the cost”. Currently invite-only.

 

Creathor Venture

Started in 1984, Creathor Venture is an independent fund company with currently €150 M under management and offices in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Stockholm.

 

DFJ Esprit

Covering the Nordics from London and part of the global Draper Fisher Jurvetson DFJ Network, DFJ Esprit is a stage-agnostic VC normally investing $500K to $15 million in rounds.

 

DN Capital

An early-stage venture capital firm based in London and Palo Alto, DN Capital typically invests €1-10 million per company, working with leading co-investors.

 

Earlybird

From offices in Berlin, Munich and Istanbul, Earlybird invests €200K to €15M in technology companies that have “the potential to impact large markets”, both tech and medical.

 

Edastra

A Stockholm-based venture capital investment company, Edastra was founded in 2008 by entrepreneur Robert Ahldin, investing in mobile, internet and consumer electronics.

 

Eden Ventures

Early stage investor with a team of entrepreneurs and investment professsionals, Eden invests £200K up to £3 million in rounds with co-investors. Based in London.

 

eEquity

Managed by two entrepreneurs Magnus Wiberg (Pricerunner) and Patrik Hedelin, eEquity invests in internet retailing in the Nordics to accelerate growth and profitability.

 

EstBAN

Established in 2012, Estonian Business Angels Network is an organization for business angels investing in Estonia and the Baltic region.

 

European Investment Fund

Owned 90% by the EIB and the EU, EIF is a leading European player investing in private VC funds (not directly in companies), focusing on life sciences, cleantech and ICT.

 

e.ventures

Launched in California 1998, e.ventures is en early stage VC with presence in Germany, Russia, Asia and Brazil, investing $100K to $10 M in rounds. Covering the Nordics from Berlin.

 

FiBAN

A Finnish, non-profit network of over 350 private angel investors that “aims to inspire and increase the amount and quality of private investments made in early-stage companies.”

 

Fidelity Growth Partners

Part of a global network and affiliated with Fidelity, one of the world’s largest institutional investors, FGPE invest €1-10 million, and for the right opportunity, “capital is not a constraint”.

 

Finnvera

Finnvera is a financing company owned by the state of Finland, investing venture capital both directly in companies and acting as fund of fund investor in regional VC funds.

 

Finnish Industry Investment

Governtment-owned investment company investing in Finnish companies, both directly and through private equity funds. €1 billion invested since 1995 in 510 companies.

 

Fouriertransform

The venture capital company Fouriertransform is owned by the Swedish state, investing in Swedish manufacturing industry with a total capacity of SEK 3 billion.

 

Frog Capital

With €100m under management, Frog Capital is an investment partner to ambitious growth-stage companies in Europe, typically looking for €2 million to €20 million of funding.

 

Google Capital

Google Capital is the growth equity fund backed by Google, investing in people who are passionate about the potential for technology to change how we live and are rapidly building the companies of tomorrow.

 

Google Ventures

The corporate venture arm of Google is headquatered in Mountanview Calif., with offices in San Francisco, Boston, New York, and since 2014 London. Investing in enterprise, consumer, health, data and science.

 

Gorilla Ventures

Early-stage VC-fund (Finnvera + private investors) and startup accelerator helping entrepreneurs develop concepts to scalable, global business. Based in Helsinki.

 

Graviton

Based in Stockholm and a combined corporate finance, advisory and investment business, managed by the two founders with experience from VC funds.

 

Greylock

One of the original Silicon Valley VC funds, Greylock was founded in 1965 and has $2 billion under management. Investing in seed, early and growth, covering the Nordics from London.

 

Gullspång Invest

A 30-year old family owned investment company, Gullspång invests in seed and early stage (SEK 0,5-5 million) with a focus on energy, technology and Internet companies.

 

Hasso Plattner Ventures

HPV was founded in 2005 by Hasso Plattner, founder and chairman of software giant SAP. HPV currently manages 2 funds of over €150 million from Potsdam, Germany.

 

Holtzbrinck Ventures

Founded in 2000, Holzbrinck operates as the leading independent German early stage fund. The typical investment is between €250K to €5 million.

 

Hoxton Ventures

Launched in 2013 as an early stage $40 million fund investing in European technology companies, Hoxton is based on the successful micro-VC, or microcap, model.

 

IA Ventures

Based in New York, is an early-stage VC firm focusing on companies seeking competitive advantage through data. Two funds with a combined $150 million. Offers online resources for startups.

 

Ideon Innovation

Located at Ideon Science Park (in the city of Lund, southern Sweden), Ideon Innovation is an incubator a meeting places for visionaries, entrepreneurs and venture capital.

 

Index Ventures

Founded in 1996, Index is one of Europe’s most successful multi-stage, international VCs, today based in London, Geneva and San Francisco, with over 120 portfolio companies worldwide.

 

Industrifonden

A foundation established by the Swedish government in 1979, Industrifonden invests in small and medium Swedish growth companies, managing a total of 3.6 billion SEK.

 

Innovacom

Headquartered in Paris with a Stockholm office, Innovacom is an early stage ICT investor, normally investing €500K to €10 million per company over several rounds.

 

Inventure

Founded in 2005 and based in Helsinki, Inventure is a Finnish VC focusing on Nordic early stage technology companies, normally investing €1-3 million per company.

 

Kima Ventures

Investing in startups globally, Kima is a very active seed and angel investor with portfolio companies in almost 20 countries.

 

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers

KPCB is a global, major VC firm with $1 billion+ funds, investing in all stages from seed to growth companies and operates from offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Shanghai and Beijing. Invested in Swedish Truecaller.

 

Kennet Partners

From London and Silicon Valley, Kennet invests in tech companies in Europe and North America with a minimum revenue of $1M per quarter. Typical investment size is $10-100M.

 

KoppiCatch

Seed investor, accelerator and innovator co-founding new companies. Also works with large corporations on business development. Based in Helsinki.

 

KTH Chalmers Capital

Affiliated with KTH Royal Institute of Technology an Chalmers University of Technology, the fund size is over €30 million and have made early-stage investments in 50 companies.

 

Lakestar

Global investment group founded by super-angel Klaus Hommels, based in Switzerland and US, Lakestart “invests in outstanding entrepreneurs worldwide”. Several high-profile investments.

 

Lifeline Ventures

Started by a group of entrepreneurs, Lifeline invests in seed and early stage ventures, “co-creating” companies in health, web, games and tech. Based in Helsinki.

 

London Venture Partners

London VP is a “founder-friendly”, hands-on venture capital seed fund focused on European companies in digital games (online, social, mobile and tablet).

 

Mangrove Capital Partners

From Luxembourg, Mangrove invests in the earliest stages of innovation and sometimes co-create projects. Growing portfolio companies can be financed with up with €15-20 million.

 

Minc

A workscapce for entrepreneurs and startups in Malmö in southern Sweden, Minc is also the leading incubator in the region, channeling capital for promising companies.

 

Monterro

Stockholm based investment company focusing on Nordic technology companies past venture stage with proven products. The initial equity investment is 20-100 MSEK.

 

Moor

Private investment company with a flexible approach, based in Stockholm and funded by Rovio (Angry Birds) founder Kaj Hed. Focus on early-stage companies with a strategic fit.

 

Mosaic Ventures

Mosaic Ventures is a new Silicon Valley-style venture capital firm based in London, focused on Series A, investing a $140 million fund in founding teams.

 

MTGx

The digital accelerator of MTG (Kinnevik group) run by Google-veteran Rikard Steiber. The VC activity, xVentures, invests in companies within online entertainment and e-commerce.

 

Neqst

Based in Stockholm, Neqst is an investment company focused on the Nordic region, investing growth capital in public or private profitable tech companies with 50-3.000 MSEK revenue.

 

Nexit Ventures

Venture capital company with offices in Stockholm, Helsinki and Silicon Valley, focusing on mobile technologies, acting as a bridge between the Nordics and the US.

 

Nokia Growth Partners

“The premier global investors in mobility”, NGP currently manages $600 million with an international team in Asia, Europe and the US, typically investing up to $15 million.

 

NorBAN

The leading non-profit business angel network in Norway, based in Oslo. Members get access to a online database of investment opportunities.

 

Northcap Partners

Originally founded as Internet Ventures Scandinavia in 1999, Northcap is investing in seed, early stage and growth tech companies with a new €70M fund. Based in Copenhagen.

 

Northzone

One of the Nordic major VCs. Since starting in 1996, Northzone has invested in over 75 companies. The lastest latest technology fund was closed in 2013 at €150 million.

 

Octopus Ventures

Part of Octopus Investments, the venture arm operations invest between £250,000 and £5 million to support early-stage businesses. Based in London.

 

North-East Venture

Based in Copenhagen, investing in growth companies in Scandinavia and globally. Focus on digital, online, consumer and technology businesses.

 

Notion Capital

Mid-sized VC company based in London, investing in European companies with a focus on cloud computing and internet-based services. Investment size is £250K up to £5M.

 

Open Ocean

Based in Helsinki and originally started by the MySQL founders, Open Ocean is today a VC fund investing €0,75-€1 million up to 7M€ per portfolio-company. Just raised €45M for third fund.

 

Partech

A venture capital firm based in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin. Started in 1982, Partech is a partnership with $650 million under active management.

 

Passion Capital

Famous for its “Plain English Termsheet”, Passion Capital is a $60M early-stage VC fund based in London and a partnership of experienced entrepreneurs (Last.fm, QXL, Ricardo and Skype).

 

Pod Investment

Investment company founded in 2000 and based in Stockholm, Pod invests invests in Nordic growth companies with a turnover of SEK 50-500 million.

 

Point Nine Capital

Branding themselves “The Angel VC”, Point Nine is a micro VC investing in early stage, managed by experienced founders. Recently closed a new €40 million fund. Based in Berlin.

 

Prime Ventures

Based in Amsterdam and Cambridge, UK, Prime Ventures is a VC and growth equity firm investing tech companies, managing over €400 million in committed capital.

 

PROfounders Capital

VC fund “for entrepreneurs powered by entrepreneurs”, leveraging a network of entrepreneur investors. The initial investment is typically between £0.5 – £2.5 million in early tech.

 

Qualcomm Ventures

The investment arm of Qualcomm Inc., a Nasdaq-listed Fortune 500 company with operations across the globe. Focus on both technology and healthcare.

 

R12 Kapital

Swedish investment company, the largest owner is Oriflame founder Robert af Jochnick together with family. R12’s investment operations are focused on Scandinavia.

 

Rite Ventures

Founded in 2007 and based in Stockholm, Rite focuses on tech investments in Sweden and Finland. The typical equity investment ranges from €2-5 million up to €20 million.

 

Rocket Internet

Branding itself “the world’s largest Internet incubator”, Rocket has launched over 100 companies since 1999. Operating from 25 international offices with a Berlin HQ.

 

Sanoma Ventures

The VC arm of Finnish-based media group Sanoma. Started in 2012, it focuses on early-stage investments in consumer media, e-commerce and education. Offices in Amsterdam and Helsinki.

 

Schibsted Growth

The venture capital arm of international Schibsted Media Group, Schibsted Growth operates from Stockholm, Oslo and Paris, investing in “great digital companies”.

 

Scope

Founded in 2001 and based in Stockholm, Scope invests in growth-stage companies, typically €10-20 million in each company. Current funds have €190 million in aggregate commitments.

 

SEB Venture Capital

The VC of the Swedish bank, SEB Venture Capital was founded in 1995 with currently SEK 2,4 billion in assets. Investment range is SEK 20-80 million, with an ownership of 20–40 percent.

 

SEED Capital

Denmark’s biggest seed fund was founded in 2005 and invests in about 15 companies every year. SEED Capital currently manages €240 million and a portfolio of 70+ companies.

 

Sequoia Capital

The legendary VC was founded by Don Valentine in 1972 in Menlo Park. Sequoia invests in all stages from $100.000 to $100 million and its global tech portfolio includes Truecaller and Klarna.

 

Siemens Venture Capital

SVC, affiliated with German industrial giant Siemens, invests venture capital (typically between €2-5 M), and growth capital (€10-30M). Global network located in Europe, the US and Asia.

 

Spintop Ventures

An investment team supported by a network of active investors and a group of advisors, Spintop make investments from local offices in Malmö and Östersund in Sweden.

 

Standout Capital

Nordic Growth Capital fund focusing on growing technology companies in the Nordics, with a team of investors and entrepreneurs.

 

Startup Sauna

Startup Sauna Foundation was founded in Finland 2012 to support a regional startup ecosystem, offering workspace, capital access and more. The organiser of the Slush conference.

 

STING Capital

Seed fund associated with Stockholm Innovation and Growth (STING) incubator, STING Capital invests in about 10 companies per year, up to SEK 4 million per company. SEK 85M fund size.

 

Stockholms Affärsänglar

Regional network of business angels in Stockholm, founded in 2008. Stoaf invests in high-risk tech ventures with 5-7 year exit horizon.

 

Sunstone Capital

From Copenhagen, Sunstone is an early-stage Life Science and Technology VC investor in European startups since 2007. Approximately €700 million in funds under management.

 

SUSA Ventures

Susa Ventures is an early stage technology fund investing in companies that “leverage the power of data to create market-leading platforms, tools, and analytics”. Offices in SF, NYC and LA.

 

Swedia Capital

Founded in 1989 with an objective to invest in growth companies with a long term view, Swedia is an investment company run by investor Staffan Persson. Based in Stockholm.

 

Team Europe

A team of experienced entrepreneurs, Team Europe co-founds and devlops internet companies and invest in startups via partner Point Nine Capital. Based in Berlin.

 

Tekes

The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, Tekes provided €577 million in 2013 to companies and research organisations in Finland, for research, development and innovation.

 

Televenture

Televenture is one of the leading VC companies in Norway and currently manages an extensive portfolio of companies focusing on industry, energy, oil & gas, ITC and life science.

 

Tengelmann Ventures

The VC operations of retailer Tengelmann Group, Tengelmann Ventures invests in young tech companies under the motto “funding your ideas”, since 2009.

 

Thrive Capital

Venture capital investment firm focused on media and internet investments. Since its founding, Thrive has raised $200 million from institutional investors. Thrive invested in Tictail.

 

True Ventures

Established in 2006, True Ventures is an early stage Silicon Valley venture capital fund with $600 million under management, investing $1-2 million per company initially.

 

Union Square Ventures

USV is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City, managing a total of $500 million. Union Square Ventures invested in Swedish, Berlin-based Soundcloud.

 

Vaekstfonden

The Danish state-owned investment fund was launched in 1992 and have since invested in over 5.000 companies. Current funds under management is DKK 2,7 billion.

 

Valar Ventures

Based in New York, Valar was founded by PayPal’s Peter Thiel and invests in companies outside of the US, operating in multiple geographies. Offering a US partner.

 

Vendep

Startup accelerator and a seed investor based in Helsinki and Montainview. Portfolio companies from both Finland and Silicon Valley

 

Verdane Capital

Verdane Capital funds are a leading Nordic purchaser of entire portfolios of direct investments. Over €500 million in committed capital and offices in Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki.

 

Verso Ventures

Based in Helsinki, Verso invests in international growth companies created by spinning off businesses from inside large corporations. Have raised a new €50 million fund.

 

Via Venture

Danish multi-stage private equity firm with €268 million under management and a focus on small to mid-sized companies with revenue from €5 million to €75 million.

 

Viking Venture

Established in 2001 and based in Trondheim and Houston, Viking Venture has NOK 1,2 bn under management, has invested in 33 companies, focusing on ICT and energy in the Nordics.

 

Vinnova

The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Vinnova, was founded in 2001. Every year Vinnova about SEK 2.7 billion in various innovation and research projects.

 

Vision+

Invests in digital products such as applications, games and services in all platforms. Vision+ is not a traditional VC and the investment model is based on revenue share financing.

 

Wellington Partners

Based in London and Munich, Wellington is a major VC with funds totalling over €800 million, typically participating in tech company rounds ranging from €0,5 million to €20 million.

 

VNT Management

VNT manage three venture capital funds with a focus on clean technology. The commitments to the funds total €157 million. Several offices in Finland, and in Munich.

 

Zobito

Founded by a group of former QlikTech executives, Zobito invests in companies and help entrepreneurs improve operational performance, primarily in the enterprise software industry.