Four Ways to Future-proof Your AI Startup

Why data, models, product and promts are your business moats

Author

Peter Juel Jensen
March 13, 2024

Pioneer AI: Checking the Nordic AI Pulse.
Welcome to 2024’s 10th 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. Four Ways to Future-proof Your AI Startup

  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

Four Ways to Future-proof Your AI Startup

Whether you have an AI startup or an idea for one, you'll need more than AI to be successful.

Consider this: OpenAI launched ChatGPT4 exactly a year ago. That fact puts a thick line under the revolutionary speed of AI developments. In other words, what was impossible just a couple of years ago is normal today. Fast-forward to 2026, and consider how good you think the Sora video generator will be.

AI startups and founders need to consider this when planning how to future-proof their products and businesses. Solid business moats, which set you and your company apart from the competition, aren’t just nice-to-haves - they’re essential.

Below are four strategic priorities and dimensions that can help future-proof your AI startup - and attract funding.

1: Advanced prompting and usability

Mastering advanced prompting is much more than knowing how to ask Bard or GPT to take a given role when performing a task.

It is about unlocking the full potential and usability of your AI models. This applies to you and your customers alike. The underlying goal is to create interactions that create measurable advantages and benefits.

Tuning AI model communication enables companies to create precise and valuable outputs. However, it may be an inadequate business moat on its own.

2: A strong product – with or without AI

At the core of any successful use of AI lies a robust product that efficiently meets its users’ needs.

In other words, AI amplifies the underlying business service or solution—not the entire solution. It is an extra layer of quality, depth, and speed that forms an effective business moat and enables you to expand your offerings over time.

For founders, the lesson is to focus on product quality and relevance for the target audience before delving too deeply into how to deploy AI.

3: Develop superior models

First, a warning: developing and utilising advanced AI models that are superior to existing models is a momentous task that requires considerable expertise and resources.

That said, the rewards can make it well worth the effort.

Unique, tailored AI models create deep technological moats for you and your products – and may help you address users' needs in almost impossible-to-replicate ways.

It also shows customers that you are a company focused on innovation and delivering tailored solutions.

4: Unique data

Data may be the most potent AI moat. Having exclusive access to unique, large data sets is the AI equivalent of having a vault full of gold.

This data is not just the "fuel" that your AI models run on but also the way to ensure that the insights and solutions generated by your models are unique, hard to replicate, and meet the needs of the user groups that the data is focused on.

In conclusion

The above should illustrate that constructing a robust and future-proof AI company is a multi-faceted endeavour. No single strategy or initiative is likely to be an effective moat (unless it's particularly pronounced)

Instead, deploying a combination of advanced prompting, product quality, superior models, and unique data will be the best way to future-proof your AI startup – or, if you're considering one, your startup idea.

We would love to hear your thoughts on how to future-proof AI startups. Let us know via email or contact us on the Pioneer AI LinkedIn page here. 

🎙Nordic News Roundup

  • According to a regional high school principal, AI needs to be part of the curriculum if education is to match students’ future needs. [DK] (TV2 Bornholm)

  • Are Norwegian companies “sticking their heads in the sand” where AI is concerned? [NO] (MTLogistikk)

  • Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can adapt their work processes to integrate AI with these guidelines. [SE] (Dagens PS)

  • Marketing uses of artificial images need a rule set, says an industry insider. [NO] (Kom24)

  • AI expert grapples with Danes’ questions about all things AI. [DK] (TV2)

  • Are private companies using AI critical for solving societal challenges like labour shortages and climate change? [NO] (Nordnorskdebatt)

  • Danish family uses AI for everything for 14 days, from writing job applications to reading bedtime stories for their kids. See and hear about their experiences here. [DK] (TV2 Fyn)

  • Norwegian audio startup wants to reach unicorn status in five years by using AI. [NO] (Shifter) (Paywall)

  • Danish minister for digitisation is open to law changes to reap the full potential of AI. [DK] (Version2)

  • Should the computer game industry fear AI? [NO] (IT Avisen)

🛠️ Cool Tools & Companies

  • Irisity from Sweden offers real-time video analytics powered by AI.

  • Aiforia from Finland has developed powerful deep-learning AI and cloud-based image analysis for medical and healthcare professionals.

  • Ento from Denmark optimise energy consumption in public and commercial buildings with AI.

  • Timely from Norway is an AI-powered automatic time tracker for companies.

    Do you know cool tools or companies I should feature in the newsletter? Let me 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 “SpecGenius,” an AI-powered solution that turns your ideas into products and services. The platform uses AI to convert concepts into detailed specifications, designs, step-by-step lists, and business plans. Blending AI suggestions with the option of input from human experts offers unmatched innovation potential. Further services and solutions could include market analysis and consumer testing.

🚀AI Funding News

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

Congratulations to all of the founders and teams!

Pioneer AI top 3 deal and funding highlights and insights: 

1:  Novo Nordisk did so well that it saved Denmark from a recession in 2023. It is putting some of its massive funds to use in the healthtech space. One example is Novo Holdings participating in Orbis Medicines €26 million seed round. Expert more deals in coming months as Novo continues to look to put its funds to good use.

2: Signal closes a seed round for an undisclosed amount. Its solutions for real-time data on investment opportunities are a step in the ongoing “AI-fication” of private equity and VC funding. For startups and companies considering funding, this means that data and data quality are (even more than previously) crucial focus points.

3: Does eComID’s €2.75 million seed round show it has the answer to one of eCommerce’s biggest conundrums? Returns are one of the biggest costs for eCommerce sellers. eComID promises that its AI systems minimise return rates. If it works, many online retailers will be throwing money in their general direction. So, stay tuned.

Are there other Nordic companies that should be on this list? Let me know!

🎧 Listen To

  • EDB 5.0 [DK] - catches up with Mads Henrichsen, the creator of DanskGPT, a Danish-language AI similar to Chat GPT.

  • AI-podden - Swedish podcast examines recent AI developments, like Open AI’s Sora and the controversy surrounding Google’s image generator.

  • LørnTech [NO] - looks at the potential of AI in the Norwegian public sector.

📅 Training, Meetups & Conferences

Conferences

  • 14 March (2024): Applied AI Nordics: Make AI practical and understandable and inspire how to get value from AI in business. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • 14 March (2024): AI-Con 2024: AI in the context of content and marketing. [Oslo, Norway]

  • 17-18 April (2024): AI+: Get the latest updates from the world of artificial intelligence. [Halden, Norway]

  • 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 subject is 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 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

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,