the nordic startup scene
TRANSCRIPT
© 2016, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Eric Morales
Head of Games Industry & Startups, AWS Nordics
AWS Stockholm Summit, May 4, 2016
AWS Stockholm Summit Startup Track
The Nordic Startup Scene
The State of the Union
@neilswmurray www.thenordicweb.com
@neilswmurray
@neilswmurray
@neilswmurray www.thenordicweb.com
Assumptions vs. Reality
@neilswmurray
@neilswmurray
Assumption: The Nordics doesn't attract much venture
capital, especially in comparison to the UK and Germany
@neilswmurray
Reality: Venture capital is growing at a faster year on year rate than both UK and Germany, and the
Nordics raised $1.82 billion cumulative in 2015.
@neilswmurray
Assumption: There's a lack of opportunity for big returns in
the Nordics
@neilswmurray
Reality: There were only two vc-backed exits in
Europe in 2015, both had their roots in the Nordics
@neilswmurray
Assumption: Sure, the Nordics have had a few hits but that doesn't make a successful ecosystem
@neilswmurray
Reality: The Nordics have 10+ companies up and
around a $1 billion valuation
@neilswmurray
Assumption: Nordic startups are great at well-
designed, fun apps, but there's not much substance.
@neilswmurray
Reality: Zendesk, Skype, Just-Eat and Klarna are
all examples of companies who have capitalised on a real business opportunity.
@neilswmurray
Assumption: The Nordics are only strong in a couple of areas, and have a strong reliance on those.
@neilswmurray
Reality: Fintech was actually the most backed
vertical in 2015, ahead of traditionally strong areas like health, gaming and
enterprise SaaS.
@neilswmurray
Denmark
2015: 65 investments totalling $273.53 million
Zendesk and Just-Eat
Sitecore, Tradeshift and Unity all about to become Unicorns
@neilswmurray
Denmark
Very strong in Enterprise SaaS/B2B
#CPHFTW pushing things forward
It’s not a big 2 anymore, it’s a big 3
@neilswmurray
Finland
2015: 84 investments totalling $197.52 million
Rovio and Supercell
The Nokia effect
@neilswmurray
Finland
Very strong in Gaming and Health
Slush
Established hub
@neilswmurray
Iceland
2015: 17 investments totalling $193.8 million
Verne Global and CCP
Very strong in VR
@neilswmurray
Iceland
Slush Play
3 new funds
Conditions to improve
@neilswmurray
Norway
2015: 30 investments totalling $85.4 million
Opera Software
A shift away from oil
@neilswmurray
Norway
Very strong in EdTech
500 Startups
Fastest growth in investment
@neilswmurray
Sweden
2015: 143 investments totalling $1.07 billion
Spotify, Mojang, Klarna
The unicorn factory
@neilswmurray
Sweden
Very strong in FinTech, Ecommerce, Media
#STHLMTech
Now world-renowned
@neilswmurray
The Challenges
A lack of general awareness from politicians
Stock options
Tax reforms
@neilswmurray
The Challenges
Housing prices
Potential investment bottleneck
Talent
@neilswmurray
The Future
2nd tier cities becoming hubs in their own right
More unicorns
More $1 billion+ exits
@neilswmurray
The Future
Series A boom
Defragmentation of Europe’s investment scene
Investments level out
www.thenordicweb.com