Latest

Why we're doing a hackathon: to increase FinTech innovation

The Icelandic banking infrastructure is unique. This statement may sound awkward in light of a total collapse of the Icelandic banking system in 2008, yet what I mean is from a standpoint of something else. Most banks globally today are highly focused on payments, trying to improve speed where individuals

Highlights from NSA Ventures' Annual Meeting

Today was the annual meeting of NSA Ventures, Iceland’s biggest (and oldest) venture fund. NSA Ventures is an evergreen fund, established by the government with a 3bn ISK initial endowment. The fund is not governmentally operated, but its board is nominated by the Minister for Industry and Innovation. In

The Memo: NSA Ventures' Annual Meeting

Correction: In an earlier version I wrongly quoted Almar as having said “We hope that preparation and establishment of a new fund will finalize in the next weeks.” The words and establishment shouldn’t have been there, Almar didn’t suggest they were on the verge of starting a new

The Memo: Iceland might be running into a VC problem, part 2

Good morning everyone – hope you had a great, long weekend. This memo is going out on a Tuesday because we want you to start the workweek with a Memo 🙂 A couple of Memo’s back, I promised to revisit my prediction about Iceland’s VC troubles. I’ve had time

How to get the most out of Startup Iceland

On May 30th, the fifth annual Startup Iceland conference takes place in Harpa. This year’s roster of speakers includes entrepreneur and investor Ingrid Vanderveldt; Mark Solon and Jenny Fielding, both managing partners at TechStars; and Arvind Gupta, Investment Partner at SOS Ventures. There are many conferences in the startup

The Memo: The Airbnb bill – Good or Bad?

Another week, another Memo. Yesterday, Iceland’s former Prime Minister, Davíð Oddsson, announced his candidacy for the presidency. He was also the Mayor of Reykjavik and Chair of the Central Bank. Nothing much to add, except my favorite pundit theory. The theory says that Davíð is running for president to

Industrial equipment maker DTE raises $1.1 from Brunnur

Industrial process and quality control equipment maker Dynamic Technology Equipment has raised ~$1.1 million (135m ISK) from venture capital fund Brunnur. This is announced on the website of Einar Gunnar Guðmundsson, who is Chairman of the Board at SER Holding, the Startup Energy Reykjavik investment company. The company develops