Pioneer AI: Checking the Nordic AI Pulse.
Welcome to 2024’s 13th edition of The Nordic AI Pulse, the weekly newsletter from Pioneer AI, a Nordic-focused AI investment fund. Dive in for a roundup of AI news, deals, and insights covering the Nordic region.

📚 In This Issue:

1. Your AI Idea = A Smartphone Flashlight?

2. Nordic News Roundup

3. Cool Tools and Companies

4. Please “Steal” This Startup Idea

5. Nordic AI Funding News

6. Podcast Insights

7. Upcoming: Nordic AI Events You Shouldn't Miss

Pioneer Insights

Your AI Idea = A Smartphone Flashlight?

Futurist, AI Evangelist, and speaker are just some of Christian Bech Nørhave’s titles.

As the lead consultant on AI for Dansk Erhverv, he has a front-row seat to what is happening in AI among the organisation’s 17,000 member companies.

We spoke to him about how he sees the landscape for AI in Denmark - and how AI companies should think to stay relevant in the long term. 

The past year in AI has been hectic. Perhaps one way of summarising it would be ”a lot of hype and results.” How would you describe the situation for AI today? And how does the hype around AI compare to other hype cycles we have gone through?

Christian Bech Nørhave: Not to be a contrarian, but I would say that for many people and companies outside the AI industry, the last year has been more a case of "a lot of hype, few results."

Every company is aware that AI is a game changer, but only a relatively small number have fully embraced the technology—and even fewer have found out how to best use AI solutions.

Generally speaking, we tend to overestimate short-term impacts and underestimate long-term impacts. That applies to AI, which I firmly believe will define our future societies and world.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for AI in Denmark today and in the coming years?

Christian Bech Nørhave: For Danish society and companies in general—and AI companies in particular—there is a risk of overhyping the technology's potential in the short term. I see the biggest opportunities for most organisations as the "proactive automation" of tasks and creating more time for people to interact and collaborate.

Imagine my neighbour accidentally cutting the internet fibre-optic cable. Instead of having to spend hours in a telephone queue to inform my internet provider, a company representative calls me and says, "Our AI systems detected the issue and have sent an engineer to fix it. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"

Similar opportunities to save time for both companies and their customers exist across all industry spaces, which can free up human capital and talent to achieve so much more than we are able to today.

When you look at AI and AI solutions, what advice would you give to Danish companies in general and AI companies in particular?

Christian Bech Nørhave: That is a broad question.

When implementing AI, it is very much about data and processes. You need clarity around both to succeed.

Both companies and AI companies need to focus more on standardisation and automation before considering AI-ification.

Considering AI in Denmark, are there elements or areas you see as powerful enablers?

Christian Bech Nørhave: Data is the foundation of AI. In Denmark, we have some of the best and broadest public data resources. They can be the data fuel for AI-based innovation and value creation, especially when combining several sources and making them readily available. The more data AI models have access to, the better they perform.

This requires an open, liberal and uniform approach to data collection, sharing and access for all relevant stakeholders. So, we have substantial opportunities, but the obstacle is that we have to have/create access.

What advice would you give to AI companies and startups regarding navigating the reality they face today and the development we can expect to see in the coming years?

Christian Bech Nørhave: I think the AI space and industry will experience many ups and downs in the coming years.

The focus will be on creating real value. One question to ask is, "Am I creating something unique and defendable, or is my solution basically an API call to OpenAI with nice wrapping?”

I often mention the flashlight app. It was one of the first apps ever released for smartphones, and for US$2, it turned your screen into a flashlight. Four months later, that functionality was part of the phone's operating system. Right now, many companies risk creating and offering the AI equivalent of flashlight apps.

What do you think of Christian’s thoughts on AI in Denmark? Let us know via email or contact us on the Pioneer AI LinkedIn page here. 

🎙Nordic News Roundup

• Denmark has created a task force for using AI in the public sector. [DK] (Ritzau)

• AI is used to solve conflicts in the workplace with “astounding” results. [SE] (Sveriges Radio)

• Norway has launched three Norwegian-language LLM models thanks to a Finnish supercomputer. [NO] (Forskning)

• Only 14% of CEOS stay that they have implemented a high degree of AI in their companies. [DK] (Ritzau)

• AI makes berries and beers taste better. [SE] (SVT)

• Law students should use AI in their exams, says law school dean. [NO] (Advokatbladet)

• A new AI-powered app can help restaurants minimise food waste. [DK] (Erhvervsplus)

• AI is changing how and where we work. [DK] (Dansk Industri)

• Immigrants are using AI to teach themselves - and each other - Norwegian. [NO] (Forskning)

• A Swedish hospital and university have developed an AI solution that writes medical journals ten times faster with fewer mistakes. [SE] (Forskning)

🛠️ Cool Tools & Companies

• Furhat Robotics from Sweden provides social robotics and conversational AI solutions.

• Certainly from Denmark is a Conversational AI Platform made for e-commerce and customer service.

• NEC OncoImmunity from Norway offers artificial intelligence-driven solutions in the biotech space.

• Roscole from Finland enables improved energy efficiency with unique, AI-powered actionable insights.

  Do you know cool tools or companies we should feature in the newsletter? Let us know!

💵Please “Steal” This Startup Idea

We would love to see someone build the following (and if you do, we might invest in you):

Introducing MoveAI, an AI-powered way to take the stress out of the moving process. AI starts by itemising belongings through photos and providing optimised packing strategies, ensuring efficient and hassle-free relocation. Business moats include advanced image recognition and spatial optimization algorithms. Over time, the solution can be integrated with moving companies for seamless service offerings, enhancing the moving experience for users worldwide.

🚀AI Funding News

Select Nordic AI companies that have raised funds in recent months:

• Neuwo from Finland

• Dema from Sweden

• Buddywise from Sweden

• SiB Solutions Group from Sweden

• Signal from Denmark

• Orbis Medicines from Denmark

• eComID from Sweden

• Subsets from Denmark

• Bionamic from Sweden

• BeCause from Denmark

Congratulations to all of the founders and teams!

Pioneer AI’s top Nordic AI funding insights and highlights:

• Buddywise raises €3.5 million in seed round. AI is making headway in construction. Buddywise’s solutions use AI for real-time risk detection to help companies build a safer workplace. This helps construction companies and workers avoid accidents - while potentially cutting insurance premiums and shortening construction times. All in all, a lot of potential for growth.

• €7 million was the total raised by Dema for its latest funding round. Its predictive analysis solutions provide actionable insights for e-commerce businesses and help identify ways to improve business operations and overall financial performance. Given that its AI algorithms will likely get better the more data they are fed, customers could see long-term, as well as short-term, gains.

• SiB Solutions Group showcases that AI+Video has use cases you might think of. The company offers potential upgrades across the product transportation cycle. If they can deliver on promises, customers can see lower transport costs, fewer reclaims and more.

🎧 Listen To

• Prompt [DK] - takes a closer look at Denmark’s new AI supercomputer.

• MetaDama - data is the lifeblood of AI. This Norwegian podcast episode focuses on how to become better at managing it.

• Digitaliseringspodden [NO] - explores recent news and rumours surrounding ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s latest AI contributions.

📅 Training, Meetups & Conferences

Conferences

• 24-25 April (2024): Data Innovation Summit: One of the most influential Nordic events on data, analytics and AI. [Stockholm, Sweden]

• 25 April: Applied AI Nordics: Leading Nordic AI conference. This year’s suyear'sis how to move from opportunistic to strategic AI. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

• April 27-28: SAIM 2024: Conference for sharing knowledge and results in theory, methodology and applications of Artificial Intelligence, Soft Computing, and Machine Learning. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

• May 6-8: Quantum Computing and AI 2024: International quantum computing and AI applications workshop. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

• May 15-17: DevSum 20: International conference exploring the latest trends and technologies within development. [Stockholm, Sweden]

• May 24-26: ICMLT 9: The Ninth International Conference on Machine Learning Technologies is a forum for exchanges on current challenges in the machine learning field. [Oslo, Norway]

• June 10-11: SCAI Symposium 2024: The 14th Scandinavian conference on AI (SCAI) that brings together AI researchers and practitioners to present and discuss ongoing AI work and future trends. [Jonkøping, Sweden]

• June 10-14: HHAI 2024: The third international Hybrid Human Artificial Intelligence conference exploring AI systems that cooperate synergistically, proactively, and purposefully with humans. [Malmø, Sweden]

• July 18-19: ICAIAE 2024: Scientific conference for exchanging and sharing experiences and results of using AI for education. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

• August 20-23: Robophilosophy Conference 2024: Social robots with AI: prospects, risks, and responsible methods. [Aarhus, Denmark]

• October 14-18: Process Mining Conference 2024: Industry and scientific conference on process mining. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

• October 21-22: Nordic AI Meet: Symposium early-career AI researchers to network, collaborate, exchange ideas, and form a Nordic approach to building AI solutions for the societal good. [Helsinki, Finland]

• October 21-23: D3A: The Danish Digitalization, Data Science and AI brings together a diverse audience to explore the latest trends and research in AI. [Nyborg, Denmark]

Meetups

• AI Copenhagen

• Aarhus AI

• Stockholm AI

• AI Community of Sweden

• AI Engineering Sweden 

• Oslo AI

• Oslo Generative AI Meetup

• Oslo AI Product Lab

Do you know an event, meetup or similar that you think should be on the list? Let me know!

Got an AI story or insight from the Nordics? Share it with me!

Reply to this email or connect on LinkedIn.

Until next time,

Pioneer Venture AI,