2015: A record year for Icelandic tech investments

A report by The Nordic Web on Icelandic tech and startup investments in 2015 shows a staggering 1,568% growth in year-on-year funding from 2014 to 2015. Number of investments rose from seven to seventeen.

This massive growth in funding is mainly fueled by three big investments: Verne Global’s $98 million (~12.7bn ISK) Series D round in January, Carbon Recycling International’s $45.5 million (~5.9bn ISK) funding round last summer, and, most recently, CCP’s $30 million (~3.9bn ISK) round last November.

Twelve of the seventeen investments were reported in the second half of the year. This can likely be traced to Frumtak 2 and Brunnur beginning to invest their recently raised combined ~$70 million, and the fact that Norðurskautið has kept a close tab on investments since mid-May.

These numbers are also (at least) slightly underrepresented, as many investments in Iceland are not announced, like angel rounds or bridge rounds. The Nordic Web only uses funding numbers disclosed to them (or their partners), publicly announced or available on Crunchbase. Due to that, some unannounced investments are left out, including two from Q4 that Norðurskautið included in its analysis.

According to The Nordic Web’s analysis, 30% of the investments were made in VR and gaming, demonstrating interest and potential in that sector in Iceland. Also, interestingly, Iceland’s total funding was less than $4 million lower than Finland’s – a country with a bigger and more established startup scene, not to mention population.

Norðurskautið covers the Icelandic Startup and Tech scene. Follow us on Twitter or sign up for our mailing list to keep up to date. You can also join our Slack community – http://bit.ly/slack-is

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