Impact Investing is trending in the Nordics – Glimpse of Rising North’s latest funding round
The Rising North fund has given out over €400 000 in the first application round 2018. This is the largest amount of funding given out so far. The most dominant trend amongst the 10 pan-Nordic projects was the interest towards building a strong impact investment community in the Nordics.
A growing number of people value companies that are working for the greater good. Now, the money is following. Venture capitalists are moving their focus towards companies aiming to change the world for the better. According to The Nordic Web, 2017 was a record year for the number of investments and amount of capital poured into startups with roots in impact. There are already several Nordic startups addressing pressing challenges, such as loneliness (NoIsolation), bringing electricity to the world’s largest refugee camps (M-PAYG), or turning waste into high-value carbon products (Carbo Culture). Only to name a few.
Since 2014 there has been 163 social impact investments in the Nordics, totalling $452.7 million. This means 8 % of the total tech investments in the Nordics are made into impact startups. Norway is currently in the lead, with 14.7% being impact investments of the total amount of investments in the country. (Source: The Nordic Web)
“Impact investing is on the rise! We believe that the Nordics can play an important role in fostering the growing impact ecosystem. We see a new mindset growing among investors, startups and millennials that value intention over pure shareholder maximization. By gathering the rising impact stars at Katapult Future Fest this May and connecting impact investors across the Nordics, we aim to help grow this movement” says Kaja Kirstine Lilleng, from Nordic Impact and Katapult Future Fest the leading gathering for Impact investing, exponential technologies and our future society, in Nordics.
You may want to speed up your planning — there might not be a third application round in 2018
2018 is the last year Rising North is funding pan-Nordic projects that help the Nordic startups internationalize. If there is another round like this in Q2 this year (deadline May 21st), there might not be a third application deadline. So, you might want to speed up your schedule and apply on May 21st!
One of Rising North’s requirements is that each project need to have at least three organizers, from three different Nordic countries. This is a challenge, but also a great opportunity to reach new levels. Therefore, the Rising North team is working close with the applicants around their ideas and also making sure they hand in a kickass application. To make the process easy for the applicants, they can send in their ideas for feedback here: http://www.risingnorth.org/get-feedback .
All of our applicants have been hugely thankful for the opportunity to bounce their idea with us before sending it in. This both saves the applicant time and we get more quality applications! says Eva Fogdell, Marketing Manager at Rising North
Check out who received funding in our latest application round. All of the projects will be carried out during 2018:
Game Plan Asia — a delegation trip showcasing Nordic Gaming companies in Asia. The Nordic initiative connects game companies with East Asian stakeholders, widen their network in the region, and learn more about market practices and other business acumen. The projects is organized by Spelplan-association Swedish Game Developers, Neogames Finland and Nordic Game Institute.
The #NordicMade Capital Market — a report that presents the Nordic VC industry as a powerful whole. This project aims to be the first initiative on a quest of finding a united industry-level voice for region’s private capital investors, that all focus on the very same thing: providing financing and active support for founders to accelerate the growth of the region’s startups.The report done in collaboration with Finnish Venture Capital Association, Swedish Private Equity Venture Capital Association and Danish Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
Nordic Startups conquering Global Meetings —the project aims to make it easier for Nordic entrepreneurs to tackle the chaos of the biggest global tech conferences. A lot of resources are spent on producing content and for entrepreneurs it takes a lot of time to understand how to make an impact. The project will build a both tangible and intangible toolbox for Nordic founders for how to increase the impact for entrepreneurs at global events and at the same time build the value of the Nordic brand. The project is organized by Business Sweden, Oslo Business Region and TechSavvy Media.
CANUTE Startup Program — the CANUTE Startup program aim is to provide Nordic startups entering the UK with a network it would take them five months to build themselves. When starting in a new market, having the right network is the key. The Canute program will provide the Nordic startups with with valuable contacts on their mission to scale in the UK. The program is organized by The Danish Trade Council of UK and Ireland, Innovation Norway and Business Sweden.
NIIN — Nordic Impact Investing Network — NIIN’s goal is to collaborate with and engage in the ongoing initiatives in the space of impact investing and impact tech. To further facilitate and grow the network, the network will co-host meetings and events for investors and startups in the Nordics. NIIN is initiated by the investor collective at Nordic Impact and events such as Impact
for Breakfast and Katapult Future Fest. The project is organized by Nordic Impact, Wave Ventures and The Shared Value Company.
Nordicmade Impact Investment — Facilitated workshops and pitching competition connecting the Nordic impact investment ecosystem with the international audience. Nordicmade Impact Investment will be used to show and develop solutions for Impact Investing ecosystem especially led by startups while also connecting them with networks not just from Nordics but also globally. The project is organized by The Nordic Frugal Innovation Society, Intersection Point Social Business Association and Sjalfsbjorg landssamb fatladra.
State of Impact in the Nordics — The State of Impact in the Nordics showcases the region as an impact investing and impact tech hub to the world through a physical booklet and online platform. Highlighting the mental shift in the investing space towards for-profit and positive impact investment. The overview showcases Nordic impact startups, investors and initiatives in a globally distributed report and online site including a Nordic impact investing network map. The report is done by Katapult Future Fest , The Upright project and The Nordic Web.
Talk the Talk — is an initiative to make the Nordic startup founders 10x better pitchers and public speakers. The project develops the performing abilities of the Nordic startup/scaleup founders. Firstly, by facilitating coaching for the founders in the Nordic capitals and, secondly, by hosting an annual training program. The organizers include Slush, Mesh Oslo and The Park.
Nordic Roadshows — helps Nordic companies raise funding, develop their businesses and get international investor coaching. The roadshows are organised three times a year in cooperation with the entrepreneurship societies around the whole Nordics. They gather the most promising startups and leading investors both from the Nordics as well as international. The aim is to make fundraising as easy and fast as possible. The organizers include Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, Excitera and Stardust-DTU.
Secretsauce — is an international invite-only forum that gathers 250+ of the leaders within the Creative Industry in the Nordics under one umbrella, to facilitate knowledge-sharing and strengthen the cooperation across borders and across industries. Secretsauce unifies the Creative Industries in the Nordic Region as a global Creative Cluster. The organizers include Tame, 657 Oslo and Malmö Ground.
This is a guest post from Eva Fogdell, the Marketing Manager of Rising North. Rising North is a fund that aims to help Nordic startups by financing unique projects and initiatives organised by Nordic organisations.
