The Memo

What's up with the constant "Annual Report"-reporting?

What's up with the constant "Annual Report"-reporting?

Last week, Viðskiptablaðið published a news article titled “Grid valuated at 1.7bn ISK” (or ~12m at current exchange rates). The article, which is reporting straight out of the annual report of Brunnur Ventures, states the following: “In the fund’s books, a 1.9% share of Grid is valued

"Banks as big, one-stop-shops are, in our view, on their way out" - An interview with indó cofounder Haukur Skúlason

"Banks as big, one-stop-shops are, in our view, on their way out" - An interview with indó cofounder Haukur Skúlason

This week, challenger bank indó announced €1m in funding. Following that announcement, Northstack interviewed Haukur Skúlason, cofounder of indó, on the opportunity. This was originally a part of the Memo, our newsletter with deep dives and commentary into the ecosystem. Our questions are in bold, answers in italic. A new

The Memo: a16z invests in Iceland, Kría unveiled, and Covid and Startups

The Memo: a16z invests in Iceland, Kría unveiled, and Covid and Startups

This post is from The Memo – our regular newsletter with commentary and analysis on the most important things in Icelandic startups, venture, and tech. You can sign up here. Image credit: Government.is a16z’s first investment in the Nordics is in an Icelandic/Finnish gaming company, and venture initiative

An uncommon story: NetApp doubles down in Iceland - interview with Jonsi Stefansson CTO & VP Cloud, NetApp

An uncommon story: NetApp doubles down in Iceland - interview with Jonsi Stefansson CTO & VP Cloud, NetApp

This post originated in the Memo, our (almost) weekly newsletter. Click here to sign up. This article has been updated with correct information about Novomatic Lottery Solutions/Betware, which didn’t close down shop completely, as the remaining office was acquired by Next Generation Lotteries. On August 4 2017, Silicon

Some lackluster numbers for Iceland: Discussing the byFounders dealflow numbers with Eric Lagier

Some lackluster numbers for Iceland: Discussing the byFounders dealflow numbers with Eric Lagier

Late in January, the Nordic&Baltic venture capital fund byFounders, sent out a community update which included some interesting statistics on their deal flow and operations. In short, they invested in ~1% of the companies the reviewed – 11 out of 1,000 companies. (Screenshot below) But to me, that

Þórdís Kolbrún: “With Kría, we’re providing oxygen” - an interview with the minister of innovation

Þórdís Kolbrún: “With Kría, we’re providing oxygen” - an interview with the minister of innovation

What follows is an interview I conducted with Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, the minister for innovation and industries, on the biggest policy announcement from last week’s event: Kría, the Icelandic Venture Initiative. This interview was first published in our newsletter, The Memo. Disclaimer: I’ve been consulting with the

Movement in the Innovation Committee

Movement in the Innovation Committee

Earlier this year, Minister for Innovation and Industry Þórdís Kolbrún announced the creation of a bi-lateral committee on Innovation Strategy for Iceland. This committee would oversee the work of five sub-groups, each focused on a particular area of the innovation strategy. It would be a bi-lateral committee, with all political