Pioneer AI Newsletter
Posts
Where is the Money Going in Nordic AI?

Where is the Money Going in Nordic AI?

See who is getting funded - and where

Peter Juel Jensen
December 06, 2023

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

📚 In This Issue:

Where is the Money Going in Nordic AI?
Nordic News Roundup
Cool Tools and Companies
Please “Steal” This Start-up Idea
Nordic AI Funding News
Podcast Insights
Upcoming: Nordic AI Events You Shouldn't Miss

Pioneer Insights

Where is the Money Going in Nordic AI?

Which Nordic AI start-ups and established companies are raising funds? What types of solutions are getting funded? And how much money is flowing into Nordic AI?

These are some of the questions we seek to answer in our analysis of AI funding in the Nordic region. If you want to hear more about the details of our findings or talk about Nordic AI, please get in touch.

To start from the top, funding figures for the last ten years show strong interest in Nordic AI companies.

Over the last ten years, investors have invested almost US$2.3 billion into AI companies in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

The top 10 most funded companies represent almost US$1.3 billion of that funding.

When looking at geography, Norway and Denmark are home to four of the top 10 companies, while Sweden and Finland are home to one each.

Activity levels in Nordic AI funding are up, with 2022 setting a high watermark for all Nordic countries with more new funding rounds (including all types of funding rounds from Seed to Series X) and 2023 not far behind.

Denmark and Finland have already surpassed their 2022 funding round numbers, with Norway and Sweden seeing a slight dip.

When looking at funding round sizes, recent years have seen averages increase.

This is likely down to a combination of some Nordic AI companies maturing and interest in the market heating up.

The sheer diversity of the solutions created by Nordic start-ups is impressive.

The word cloud above represents the top 50 industries and sub-industries Nordic AI companies are actively creating solutions for. In total, we identified solutions targeting more than 300 different industry and market spaces.

In bullet points, some of our takeaways from the analysis are:

The data and analysis underscores the growing interest in Nordic AI.
The presence of well-founded, global leaders on the list should bring hope to budding or newly minted founders.
The sheer variety of solutions underscores AI’s massive potential across industries.
Entrepreneurs looking to start their company or at an initial funding round may be worried about the rising funding round averages. However, this is one of the areas where Pioneer AI can help!

🎙Nordic News Roundup

Denmark needs a national AI task force to grasp the many opportunities in the new technology. [DK] (Danske Erhverv)
The new AI opportunities might add 230 - 290 billion Danish Kroner to the country’s GDP. [DK] (Cision)
Norwegian law firm launched three AI systems in a month, and the results are impressive. [NO] (Advokatbladet)
A former Swedish Prime Minister warns that the country must accelerate on AI or risk seeing “brightest brains move to the US.” [SE] (SVT)
Researchers at DTU in Denmark have created a way that lets AI “taste” wine. [DK] (Input Magazine)
The release of ChatGPT has put rocket boosters on AI research. [SE] (Khrono)

🛠️ Cool Tools & Companies

Elliptic Labs from Norway develops sensors that use AI, ultrasound, and sensor fusion to detect people and their surroundings.
Modl AI from Denmark leverages AI to accelerate game development and enhance player engagement.
AIForia from Finland provides global access to AI-powered image analysis for medical and healthcare professionals and others.
Kive from Sweden offers an AI-powered platform that helps teams manage visual assets, win pitches and create their best work.

Do you know cool tools or companies I should feature in the newsletter? Let me know!

💵Please “Steal” This Start-up Idea

Perhaps it is inspired by the Christmas season that we would love to see someone build the following (and if you do, we might invest in you).

Introducing "GiftGenius AI." This AI start-up aims to revolutionise gift-giving. You can tell GiftGenius about the person you want to buy presents for via a voice interface. Through its AI engine, it continuously gets better at finding present ideas the more information you provide. The AI suggests different presents and helps you buy them at the best price. A significant business moat for GiftGenius AI can be exclusive partnerships with retailers, from local artisans to global brands, offering users exclusive deals and unique products not found elsewhere. Additionally, its data-driven approach to understanding consumer behaviour could provide valuable insights for future product development and marketing strategies.

🚀AI Funding News

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

BeCause from Denmark
Skald AI from Sweden
Teton from Denmark
RiACT from Denmark
Capalo AI from Finland
Saidot from Finland
QA.Tech from Sweden
Corti from Denmark
Skyqraft from Sweden
Strise from Norway

Congratulations to all of the founders and teams!

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

🎧 Listen To

Prompt [DK]- Google’s vice president (a Dane) talks about the company’s AI - and a look at the rumours about OpenAI’s Q*.
AI-podden - Swedish podcast looks at the future of AI and personalised medicine.
Digitaliseringspodden [NO] - Norwegian podcast episode on how AI and human brains “think,” where they differ - and where they are similar.

📅 Training, Meetups & Conferences

Conferences

7 December: AI Enhanced Mobility: Presentations on results of feasibility studies. [Gothenburg, Sweden/Online]
February 1-2 (2024): Danish Digitalization, Data Science and AI: AI research and knowledge-sharing conference. [Nyborg, Denmark]
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]