Analysis of funding raised by Nordic Startups in Q3, and a look at the year so far.
As we head into the final months of the year, we felt it was time to take a look back on Q3's funding as well as analyse the first 3/4's of the year with only Q4 to come.
In Q3, 43 Nordic Startups raised investment, with a grand total of 114.68 Million Euro’s raised. 6 of the 43 investments were undisclosed so were not included in the total amount, although they are included in the stage, country and vertical dataset.
The Q3 numbers bring the years total to 127 investments totalling 401.64 Million Euro’s raised in the region.
As usual, we break it all down, as well as providing insight into what these numbers mean.
The data we collect is gathered and cross-checked via a number of sources including Crunchbase, Angel List, Mattermark, local and International Media, press releases and our own network, sources and data intelligence collection.
Finland was in the money this quarter, with nearly 50% of the funds coming into the region heading North, a total of 55 Million Euro’s.
Swedish Startups raised 46.52 Million Euro’s, while Denmark claimed just shy of 13 Million .
We recorded just the one investment in a Norwegian Startup, with none happening in Iceland this Quarter.
Sweden are still leading the way overall this year, having raised 165.47 Million Euro’s in the first three quarters.
Finnish Startups have raised 122.05 Million Euro’s, with Denmark also passing the nine figure mark with a total of 105.2 Million Euro’s raised.
Norwegian startups raised just shy of 8 Million Euro’s in the first nine months of the year, and Icelandic startups 1 Million.
Swedish Startups took the top two places for the largest investments in Q3 with Tobii and KnCMiner, but the top 10 was dominated by Finnish Startups, who claimed six spots, with Sweden claiming three in total, and Denmark picking up eighth place with AutoButler’s 5.8 Million Series B.
Only four of the investments from Q3 made it into the top 10 for the year so far though, with the top 4 from Q3, claiming the bottom 4 places in the top 10 for the year.
Meaning the biggest investments happened in the first half of the year, with Nordic heavyweights Tradeshift, iZettle and Rovio occupying the first three spots.
There was a healthy dealflow in Q3, in terms of Seed (48.84%) and Series A (25.58%) , however there were just the two Series B rounds in the region (and small ones at that; Autobutler 5.8M and Verto Analytics 1.85M)
There were no Series C’s, but Tobii raised a 12.04M Series D.
‘Other’ includes Angel investments, unspecified investments and additional cash to existing rounds.
The Q1-Q3 figures are similar to Q3's showing a consistency in the deal flow in the region.
Of the 127 Investments this year there have been:
66 Seed investments, 30 Series A’s, 5 Series B’s, 3 Series C’s and 1 Series D. With 22 classed as ‘other’.
Q3 saw a rise in investment in Nordic Bitcoin, Fintech and IoT startups, while Fashion startups did well again this quarter.
The usual suspects; Health, Gaming and B2B Enterprise also picked up several investments this quarter.
Looking at the first three quarters does nothing to dispel any sterotypes as to what Nordic startups excel in, as Health, B2B Enterprise and Gaming startups have seen the most investment.
However Fintech claiming fourth spot is interesting, with the Nordics perhaps gearing up to challenge London as the Fintech Capital of Europe.
In terms of a country by country breakdown, the majority of money that came into Denmark in the last quarter was predominantly at Seed Stage, with a solitary round raised at both Series A and Series B.
Looking at Q1-Q3 as a whole, the situation looks healthier, although follow on rounds from seed are still rather low when compared to Finland and Sweden.
Of the 31 investments raised, 19 were at seed level, with 4 at Series A, and 2 apiece at Series B and C. With 4 investments being classed as ‘other’.
AutoButler’s Series B led the way as they raised 5.8M from Creandum and Index.
Rushfiles, Shipbeat and The Cloakroom all raised healthy seed rounds, while Glamping hub raised a modest 0.83M Series A.
Tradeshift’s monster Series C leads the way by some miles, and won’t be surpassed this year.
Trustpilot also raised a healthy Series C of 18M in Q1, while AutoButler’s 5.8M Series B is followed by Adform’s own Series B of 4.05M and Mojn’s 2.9M Series A.
Finland saw a big number of Series A rounds in the last quarter, in fact there was nearly as many Series A’s (7)as there were Seed rounds. (8)
There was just the solitary B round though in Verto Analytics, with 3 investments classed as ‘other’.
The Q3 numbers really boosted the health of the Q1-Q3 deal flow, with Series A rounds accounting for 27.66% of the investments in Finland, with 55.32% of the investments seed money.
Finland are yet to see a Series C this year but have seen a couple of B rounds in Verto Analytics and Senseg.
Better Doctor and Indoor Atlas both raised stong Series A rounds of 8.03 Million this quarter.
Mendor raised another 6.5M to close their Series B around the 20M mark, while Beddit and Enevo followed with their Series A’s.
It is clear to see that Q3 was a strong quarter for Finland as four of their biggest investments this year came in these months.
Rovio’s 25M from the European Investment Bank in Q2 still leads the way for Finland, although strictly speaking this is not Venture Capital.
Sweden saw 13 investments in Q3, with 6 seed investments, 3 Series A and even a Series D in Tobii.
Hansoft and iZettle also raised additional funds to their A and C rounds respectively, which are classified as ‘other’.
Sweden are the only Country to raise Seed, A, B, C and D rounds so far this year, however there has only been one investment raised at B (Truecaller), C (iZettle) and D (Tobii).
Of the 40 investments in Q1–3, 19 were at seed, with 11 Series A.
Naturally, Tobii’s Series D was the largest Swedish investment in Q3.
KnCMiner raised an impressive 11.24M Series A, with Narratives A round of 6.42 the third biggest investment.
iZettle’s additional funds to their C round, and Tink’s A round make up the top 5.
iZettles monster C round leads the way for Sweden, with Saltside’s private equity round of 18.72 claiming second spot.
Truecaller’s B round is the third largest, with Tobii’s D round and KnCMiner’s A round making up the top 5.
In summary it is fair to say that if there is one thing to say of the state of investment in Nordic startups is that it is consistent with, 40 (Q1), 42 (Q2) and 43 (Q3) investments in each quarter.
However even though Q3 saw the highest number of investments so far this year (just!) the amount raised by the region was considerably lower (114.68) compared to Q1's (147.45) and Q2's (139.51). Although this is mainly due to the monster rounds of Tradeshift in Q1 (54M) and iZettle (40.71) in Q2.
The highest round in Q3 was Tobii’s 12.04, so if anything you could argue that despite the total amount being lower, the situation looks even better this quarter, with a healthy number of large Series A’s making the Series B crunch looking like it could be easier to chew in 2015.
If you have any feedback, comments or suggestions in regards to this analysis then feel free to reach out on contact@thenordicweb.com
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