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Denmark #21: Sam Altman dismissed from OpenAI, Octarine Bio raised €4.5 million & byFounders released a report on Q3 funding.

By 18 November 2023February 12th, 2024No Comments3 min read

Top News

  1. Sam Altman has been dismissed from his role as CEO at OpenAI. OpenAI’s board of directors announced Sam Altman’s departure through a blogpost (link). Mira Murati, CTO, will take over as interim CEO. The reasons for Sam’s departure are still unclear. (link)
  2. Lunar surveyed 618 business owners on which initiatives they want politicians to focus on in the entrepreneurial strategy. The main results include fewer bureaucratic rules, tax incentives, easier access to financing and capital, and easier access to a business account in a bank. (link)
  3. byFounders’ report shares data of pre-seed to Series A rounds in the New Nordics in Q3 2023. Interesting to see the data focusing on the New Nordic region. (link)
  4. Norwegian top politicians gathered at Mesh Community to discuss the startup ecosystem policies including their 2030 goals, tax policies, funding, and talent. Watch the full recording here. (link)
  5. The Danish government launched its new digitization strategy to keep up with the different emerging technologies. This happened during the Tech Policy Days. (link)
  6. Interesting research paper on the impact of founder personalities on startup success. 🧠 (link)
  7. “Danish VC-backed founders who have received VC funding have been 37 times more likely to start a new VC-backed startup” according to PreSeed Ventures. (link)
  8. Slush is in just two weeks, with a Venture Breakfast for founders and VCs happening on Day 1. (link)
  9. Earthbound, a climate tech catalyst, launched, it aims to connect leading scientists with successful entrepreneurs in the climate tech industry. (link)
  10. AI is sparking the debates on its utopian or dystopian potential. (link)

Latest on Funding

👚 Octarine Bio, a sustainable color alternative for the fashion industry, raised €4.35 million led by Unconventional Ventures with participation from Óskare Capital and The Footprint Firm, as well as dsm-firmenich Venturing. (link)

🚀Performativ, Copenhagen based fintech, raised €5.5 million in seed funding, led by FinTech Collective. (link)

👔 Virtuall, a fashion tech startup, raised €828k pre-seed led by EIFO, Styleit and Antler, joined by angel investors. (link)

Latest on Talent

💡Leap Forward’s accelerator program is accepting applications for their Silicon Valley Masterclass.  (link)

🎙️ Podcast about angel investing in early stage startups with Nicolaj Højer Nielsen. (link)

🦾 The robots are here. Check out Eve from 1X. (link)

🚀 CCO of Onomondo, Anders Buchmann is stepping down and will pursue other endeavors. (link)

🤘 Interview with Comundo on their 4 day work week (link)

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