Top News

1. NAST (The Norwegian Alliance for Startups and Tech) has officially launched. (link) Høyre has has voiced support for eliminating the #grunderskatt. (link) NAST continues to engage with all parties. (link)
2. Novo Holdings, the parent company of Europe’s most valuable company Novo Nordisk, has committed €188 billion to invest in quantum startups in Denmark. (link)
3. The business delegation, which traveled to San Francisco, met with American founders including Jonathan Ross, CEO of Groq. They also heard from Bill Tai and Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. (link)
4. According to byFounder’s Q1 2024 report on early-stage investments in the New Nordics, capital invested has increased by 58% YoY in Q1 2024. (link)
5. Profile feature of Lasse Andresen who is innovating in technology with startup Indykite, after taking ForgeRock public on Nasdaq. (link)
6. Gisle Østereng from Startuplab advises investors against bringing down the price when startups carry out capital rounds. (link)
7. Swedish authorities approved Easee chargers, avoiding a product recall. Jonas Helmikstøl has started a new startup called Fyrstikk, focused on creating new energy sector companies. (link)
8. Aiba, the startup making the internet safe for children, has partnered with Danish MoviestarPlanet. (link)
9. Innovation Norway has awarded 26 million NOK to startups founded by students. Here is the list. (link)
10. Entra, the property developer, has formed partnerships with several proptech startups, including Arealize. (link)

Latest on Funding

🌳 Celsia, software that streamlines sustainability reporting, got acquired for well over 100 million NOK by ISS-Corporate. (link)

🕹️ Red Rover Interactive, gaming startup, raised 165 million NOK led by Krafton, with participation from Tirta Ventures, Overwolf, The Games Fund, Behold Ventures, GEM Capital, Lifelike Capital and Acequia Capital. (link)

🇸🇪 Gilion, the Swedish Growth and Funding platform, raised €10 million equity round bringing a total of 40 million raised. (link)

🌱 Photoncycle, building renewable energy systems, raised €5 million in equity finance led by Lifeline Ventures with participation from Luminar Ventures, Momentum Partners and Eviny Ventures (link)

💸 Sondo Capital participated in a €2.7 million round investing in food startup Torg, led by Connect Ventures with participation from existing investors FoodLabs and new investors (link)

🌱 Sonair, developing 3D ultrasonic sensors for industrial robotics, raised 30 million NOK from ProVenture, SINTEF, StartupLab and Stratel. (link)

📚 Pickatale, a reading and audiobook app, raised 30 million NOK from new and existing investors including Investinor and MP Pensjon amongst others. (link)

🌿 Auk, the home system to grow your vegetables and herbs, raised 20 million NOK from existing shareholders including MP Pensjon. Valuation is now at 138 million NOK. (link)

🚀 ScoutDI raised 16 million NOK for their industrial drone systems, with 13 million from Torvald Klaveness group and the rest from shareholders and loans. (link)

🚙 Kör, the driver’s license app, raised 11 million NOK from Unconventional Ventures, E14 Invest and angel investors. (link)

🥬 Agdir, an agritech startup, raised 4 million NOK from new and existing investors. (link)

💻 Daxap, a SaaS platform, raised 4 million NOK led by Limex Ventures and joined by Lectus AS and angel investors. (link)

Latest on Talent

⛷️ Ulla Sommerfelt is the new CEO of Startup Norway. (link)

💻 Appfarm welcomes Sara Kjelstrup as their new COO. (link)

👩‍💼 Cecilie Myrseth is the new Minister for Trade and Industry. (link)

🩺 Heidi Blengsli Aabel is the new Commercial Director at Vitalthings, the health tech startup. (link)

🇺🇸 Flow Technologies gets the Dealflow founder Petter Skulstad on board as their lead for US venture. (link)

🗑️ Katrine Tjølsen is the new Head of Product at Sensorita. (link)

🛰️ Meet Nima Shahinian, the founder of Nåva Space, a startup dedicated to training astronauts, addressing medical issues, and developing suits for space exploration. (link)

🎨 Graphiq founder Jakob Palmers on his journey as a founder and what he has learned. (link)

🏆 Frithjof Nerdrum, Head of Engineering at Glint Solar, won Talent of the Year of the Solenergiprisen 2024. (link)