Recently TFN was present at the annual festival of Icelandic tech startups, the Iceland Innovation week which was held in Reykjavik. The event concluded with the Nordic Startup Awards (the Oscar of Nordic tech startup) with the mission to celebrate and unite the Nordic startup ecosystems.
The Regional Grand Finale gathered some of the most important startup ecosystem players such as investors, startups, corporates, and government representatives, all selected by the competition from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
We have listed the winners this year over here below:
Spirii
Award: Best Green Tech
Founder/s: Tore Harritshøj, Torben Fog
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: NA
The Best Green Tech award winner Spirii works with the intention to lead a simple and smart transition towards sustainable transportation. It offers innovative, agile and end-user oriented e-mobility charging solutions built on its platform. The company enables users to easily deploy and scale a bespoke commercial EV charging solution that is backed by a cloud platform with a continuously-developing feature suite.
Cerebriu
Award: Best HealthTech
Founder/s: Akshay Pai, Erik Dam, Mads Nielsen, Robert Megraw Lauritzen
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: $2.6M
Another startup from Denmark to win the Nordic awards is Cerebriu. The health tech company simplifies radiology to improve patient journeys. It is developing machine learning in medical imaging that improves workflow efficiency and quality in radiology. Its software solution Cerebriu Apollo achieves the company’s aim by automating image acquisition protocols and triage during MRI brain acquisition providing decision support at key stages of the diagnostic process.
Cogo
Award: Best Newcomer
Founder/s: Bibi Blomqvist, Martin Røssell, Robin Eriksson
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: $1.1M
Copenhagen-based Cogo gathers shared rides for frictionless mobility and a better tomorrow. Cogo is an app aggregating all shared scooters, bikes, cars, and mopeds as long as they are human or electric powered. Currently, it includes over 160 different operators in 500 cities worldwide making it easy to move around the green-way without all the hassle, by giving a full overview with price comparison. The goal of the company is to provide a full-service platform to users to make it easy and seamless to move around.
In 2021, CoGo picked up €1 million funding from PreSeed Ventures and prominent business angels as it aims to change the booming rideshare market and take it even further.
IQM
Award: Startup of the Year
Founder/s: Jan Goetz, Juha Vartiainen, Kuan Yen Tan, Mikko Möttönen
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: $118M
Finnish startup IQM is a European leader in superconducting quantum computers. It builds quantum computers for supercomputing centres and industrial customers. The company delivers quantum advantage through our unique application-specific co-design approach. Recently, IQM secured €35 million from European Investment Bank (EIB) to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its quantum processors built at Europe’s first quantum-dedicated fabrication facilities in Espoo, Finland.
Glint Solar
Award: Best AI/Machine Learning Startup
Founder/s: Even Kvelland, Harald Olderheim, John Modin
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: $605K
Glint Solar, an AI and machine learning startup from Oslo, Norway is changing the origination process of solar energy projects. By deploying satellite data and machine learning, it scans thousands of potential project sites in a region to find the most suitable sites for solar developers. Its products provide a simple, user-friendly way to determine the feasibility of a site for solar development.
Mia Grosen – Founder of Canute
Award: Ecosystem Hero of the Year
The founder of Canute, Mia Grosen, and previously, the co-founder of Comundu and UK Country Manager for LuggageHero is from Denmark. She has worked as an external consultant for the Danish Trade Council and has in-depth experience consulting danish tech companies in their international expansion. With Canute, Mia has helped more than 100 Danish startups and scaleups expand to new markets and get international investor contacts.
Chalmers Ventures – Ecosystem Supporter
Award: Best VC
Founder/s: Mats Lundqvist, Sören Sjölander
Founded year: 2015
No of exits: 5
Sweden-based Chalmers Ventures is one of the most active tech investors in the country that invests in early-stage startups. Also, it is ranked among the top 10 university incubators in the world. It is supported by world-leading competence and knowledge from Chalmers University and is powered by true passion, curiosity, and courage. Also, it specialises in coaching, financing, and business development. Recently, the VC invested in Melt&Marble, RadChat and others.
Shameek Ghosh – CEO at TrusTrace
Award: Founder of the Year
The CEO at TrusTrace, Shameek Ghosh intends to leverage technology to accelerate the transition to a new normal, which focuses on Planet and People. He has used his past experience to identify and forge partnerships with Investors, Brand Leadership and Ecosystem partners to help them develop their business strategy around traceable, transparent and sustainable supply chains.
Katapult Ocean – Ecosystem Supporter
Award: Best Accelerator/Incubator Program
Founder/s: Anders Lier, Haakon Brunell, Maren Hjorth Bauer, Tharald Nustad
Founded year: 2018
Norway-based Katapult Ocean invests in and supports startups that have a positive impact on the ocean. To date, it has made 32 investments in exciting ocean impact companies from all over the world. The companies participate in a 3-month long accelerator program to support growth and impact. A global network of more than 100 mentors and partners support the companies together with a team based in Oslo.
Impact Hub Stockholm – Ecosystem Supporter
Founder/s: Jesper Kjellerås, Amir Sajadi
Award: Best Co-working Space
Impact Hub Stockholm is a part of the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. It works with the mission to enable entrepreneurial action for positive impact. It works together with companies and organisations that embrace sustainability and are working towards creating change. Through collaborations, Impact Hub Stockholm intends to grow its impact.
TFN’s trip to the event was sponsored by Business Iceland.
