Pioneer AI: Checking the Nordic AI Pulse.
Welcome to 2024’s 4th 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:

1. All You Need to Launch an 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

All You Need to Launch an AI Startup

Ready to go on an AI startup journey? If you have the right idea or are interested in finding out what it takes to create a successful AI startup foundation, then I recommend two things:

First, read Pioneer AI’s insights on what it takes to launch an AI startup below. Secondly, consider the Million AI Pitch Competition. The AI entrepreneur event is scheduled for February 8th. Five AI startups will take the stage and pitch for a one million kroner investment from Pioneer AI, coupled with a membership at Talent Garden Denmark.

Here’s a link to the Million AI Pitch Competition sign-up page.

With that in mind, here is our overview of five things you need for AI startup success.

1: Your idea: AI advances mean the technical bar for launching a startup has lowered. As a result, it could even be argued that if you have a great idea, partnering with the right collaborators provides the rest of the optimal foundation for success. Your idea should combine the following elements:

• How you leverage AI

• Your business advantages and moats

• Your market fit

• What problems does it solve for the target groups

2: Your business model: How you plan to transform your idea into a viable business. The model should clearly outline how you intend to create value and stand out. Consider how you plan to stand out in a busy market space and what makes you different from others building on similar technological foundations.

3: Your team and partnerships: AI is just one aspect of your likelihood for success. Assembling a team with diverse skills is crucial. Here, early investors and partners can be invaluable, providing not just capital but also mentorship, resources for team building, and marketing insights to help your startup gain traction.

4: Your data and MVP: It is crucial to move fast, demonstrate agility in handling data, and develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Develop a strategic approach to data acquisition, curation, and maintenance and create an MVP. Having a fully polished MVP is not a prerequisite for securing funding. Instead, investors are often more interested in the startup's clear roadmap to launching an MVP and its potential for rapid iteration and enhancement based on customer feedback.

5: Marketing and business development: A robust marketing strategy is vital to introduce your startup to the market and build a customer base. Understanding your target audience, crafting compelling messaging, and effectively leveraging AI in your marketing efforts can significantly enhance your visibility and impact.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the list. Let me know on the Pioneer AI LinkedIn page here. 

🎙Nordic News Roundup

• How this Danish football team is using AI to get better. [DK] (Bornholm.NU)

• A new study explains why AI isn’t coming for your job - at least just yet. [SE] (Breakit)

• Will exams still be a thing in five years? These scientists believe that AI means the answer is no. [NO] (Document)

• 50% of developers say their companies use generative AI to be more efficient. [DK] (Gamereactor)

• Researchers predict when AI will surpass humans in various fields and skills. [SE] (Computer Sweden)

• If you’re looking for a PC capable of handling AI, these are the specs you need to focus on. [DK] (Computerworld)

• Thanks to AI, this app can tell if you’re sick from a single cough. [NO] (TV2)

• Danish IT organisation proposes five initiatives to ensure Denmark embraces the potential of AI and future technologies. [DK] [ITB]

• Public organisation employees identify how and where to deploy AI to save thousands of work hours. [DK] (Berlingske) (Paywall)

• How AI helps avoid the overuse of precious sea resources. [NO] (TU)

🛠️ Cool Tools & Companies

• EQL GLobal from Sweden provides short-form, AI-generated stock analysis in real-time.

• Arealize from Norway generates layouts for floor plans using artificial intelligence.

• Selma AI from Sweden uses conversational AI to engage, nurture, collect intel, and convert customers for sales.

• Comparables from Finland has developed an AI-augmented company analysis platform to find and compare 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 "SoloAIde," an AI solution that empowers solopreneurs. SoloAIde acts as your AI assistant, managing various aspects of business operations. Delegate scheduling, email management, customer service, and basic marketing efforts and get the freedom to focus on core business activities. SoloAIde's growth potential includes adding advanced analytics for business insights, integration with e-commerce platforms, and financial management tools. The startup's business moats centre around its proprietary AI algorithms and user data insights.

🚀AI Funding News

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

• Ward 24/7 from Denmark

• Trustrace from Sweden

• Artelize from Denmark

• Wudpecker from Finland

• Kuva Space from Finland

• ProptechOS from Sweden

• proemial from Denmark

• 1X from Norway

• Human Touch Robotics from Norway

• Biila from Finland

Congratulations to all of the founders and teams!

Pioneer AI top 3 deal and funding highlights and insights: 

1: Wudpecker raises €330K in pre-seed funding. The company’s knowledge management tool uses AI to extract high-quality notes from various data sources. Unlocking the value of existing documents and streamlining information handling and follow-up are huge pain points across industries. While the market is crowded, Wudpecker has a strong foundation for success.

2: Ward 24/7 has raised €3.4 million. Its AI systems for patient monitoring are another example of a vibrant AI health tech scene in Denmark. Globally, healthcare professionals are under increasing pressure and workloads. AI technologies can lend a helping hand and help improve patient treatment and care while lowering pressure on staff.

3: Artelize raises €1 million. Its solutions for audience growth and engagement for the arts are a great example of an AI company “going deep” instead of wide. Targeting specific industries and combining deep expertise and insight with AI solutions is a business approach that I think will prove a winner in the competition with industry-agnostic AI-powered marketing and audience engagement solutions.

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

🎧 Listen To

• AI Podcast Denmark [DK]- takes an in-depth look at what the EU AI Act will mean for companies and entrepreneurs.

• In Good Company - The CEO of the Norwegian Wealth Fund talks to Daniel Ek, Founder and CEO of Spotify, about his take on AI and the future of music.

• AI Sweden Podcast [SE] - examines the lessons learned from two public organisation projects using AI.

📅 Training, Meetups & Conferences

Conferences

• 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]

• 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]

• 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,

PeterHer