Our Nordic AI Predictions for 2025

The AI trends that will define 2025 for startups, companies, and individuals across the region.

Author

Peter Juel Jensen
January 09, 2025

Pioneer AI: Checking the Nordic AI Pulse

Welcome to Pioneer AI’s newsletter, The Nordic AI Pulse. We are a Nordics-focused AI investment fund.

We track, share, and analyse information and insights on Nordic-related AI news, deals, and trends.

📚 In This Issue:

  1. Our Scandinavian AI Predictions for 2025

  2. Nordic AI News

  3. Nordic AI Funding News

  4. Podcast Insights

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

Our Nordic AI Predictions for 2025

In less than two years, AI tools like ChatGPT have delivered something that can best be likened to the transformative "browser moment" of the internet. We have gone from the clunky experimental phase of Netscape 0.9 (yes, we’re old enough to have experienced this) to the polished performance of Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

At the onset of 2025, the Nordic region finds itself at the forefront of leveraging AI for societal impact, sustainability, and economic growth. Leading that charge is a range of exciting startups and companies that combine a strong tradition of innovation and design with the power of AI.

Here are our ideas on what AI developments 2025 holds in store for those companies, as well as the region in general:

1: A new AI unicorn

A flourishing startup ecosystem, top-tier talent, relatively high costs, and high salaries create fertile ground for transformative AI innovation. We expect at least one new example of a Nordic AI company reaching a market valuation of over one billion dollars and unicorn status in 2025.

2. AI to replace BI and dashboards

AI’s ability to provide real-time, context-aware insights will start to outpace traditional Business Intelligence (BI) tools and static dashboards. By transforming data into actionable recommendations, AI will also eliminate some manual interpretation needs. This creates new opportunities for AI startups in the space.

3. Focus on existing products

Today, AI solutions often focus on providing value by significantly improving the cost-point and performance of existing products. That's the first wave. The second wave will focus on completely new solutions. However, we expect that this won't start to really happen before 2026 and beyond.

4. The growth of “dumb” AI models

2025 could be the year of smaller, “dumber” AI models. By this, we mean industry and function-specific language models with more narrow/honed capabilities than LLMs. The reason is that LLMs are both too expensive and broad for many use cases and not always relevant to specific industries.

5. Disruption of disrupters

AI solutions offer individuals new opportunities and abilities that challenge companies' business moats. This includes companies that have disrupted traditional business models. For example, online legal services that enable people to fill out and download legal templates could be disrupted by AI models’ ability to let people do this process themselves.

6. Broad growth in proven use cases

The first generation of AI startups is already showing positive effects for clients and companies. Those use cases will see massive adoption as competitors play catch-up with the first movers, especially if the AI technology is integrated into the software platforms that companies are already using, making it very simple to adopt and upgrade.

7. Country and region-specific opportunities

In some ways, global AI solutions like Microsoft Co-Pilot are too broad to address region- and country-specific issues and opportunities. 2025 could begin a golden age for national large language models and AI models that can be targeted and tweaked to the needs of regional companies, organisations and consumers.

8. Regulatory pressures

National and EU regulatory pressure and developments are likely to become one of the biggest AI stories of 2025. Companies and startups must focus on adapting to such pressures to succeed with their AI initiatives and solutions.

9: Growth in AI agents

We could see AI agents have a breakout year. These agents are like the evolution of traditional chatbots, able to complete multi-step tasks autonomously. The agents will move from completing relatively simple, personal tasks, such as developing detailed travel itineraries and syncing them with a user's calendar, towards handling more complex, work-related tasks.

10. Robots + AI continues march

Robots have, in many places, already taken over the assembly line. Adding AI to the mix will push operators further off factory floors and into functions in front of the computer or new jobs.

What do you think? Any comments or thoughts? Let us know via email or contact us on the Pioneer AI LinkedIn page here. 

❄️Nordic News Roundup❄️

  • Danes are being asked to “donate their voices” to help train AI systems to understand regional dialects better. [DK] (DR)

  • Fewer women than men are using artificial intelligence solutions - and that may lead to future dangers, says new research. [SE] (Realtid)

  • It is especially women in the higher earning brackets that are at risk from AI. [SE] (Sveriges Radio)

  • AI systems are being used to improve the accuracy of MRI scans and make them less time-consuming for patients and healthcare professionals. [NO] (Forskning.no)

  • Danish company wins prize for its technology that uses AI to cut ventilation costs by as much as 50%. [DK] (TV Syd)

  • According to a Swedish expert, the gap between what AI can do and what people think it can do is the root cause of many failed AI implementations. [SE] (Telekomidag)

  • How AI investments are making waves in the Norwegian real estate market. [NO] (Kommunikasjon)

  • Swedish-Finnish IT company Klarna continues to cut its workforce by implementing artificial intelligence solutions. [DK] (Computerworld)

  • The use of AI is “exploding” among Swedish university students. [SE] (Aftonbladet)

  • Lawyers and firms not prioritising AI will be left behind, says a Finnish expert. [NO] (Advokatbladet)

  • Patients are getting personalised treatments that suit their specific pain and situation through the integration of AI at a Danish centre for back pain issues. [DK] (TV2 Øst)

  • Swedish municipality launches Bärta, “the country’s first municipal AI assistant.” [SE] (HD)

  • Three guiding principles and four strategic initiatives are to pave the way for artificial intelligence in Denmark. [DK] (Ritzau)

  • Is the problem for AI development in Sweden that companies live in the past and struggle to actively learn from the companies at the forefront of AI development? [SE] (Ny Teknik)

🚀AI Funding News🚀

Select Nordic AI-related deals, investments, acquisitions and insights. 

Congratulations to all of the founders and teams!

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

1: Wearables + AI at $5.2 billion valuation
Ōura, a Finnish health technology company renowned for its smart rings that monitor sleep, activity, and overall health, has secured $200 million in a Series D funding round. The investment elevates Ōura's valuation to $5.2 billion. The company plans to utilize the funds to expand its product line, invest in AI capabilities, and explore potential acquisitions.

Ōura's success can be attributed to its innovative approach to wearable health technology, offering a discreet and user-friendly device that embodies Nordic design principles and approaches to data security. With the new funding, Ōura is well-positioned to expand its world-leading position in the smart ring market, tapping into the increasing global demand for advanced health monitoring solutions.

2: AI increases the abilities of small marketing teams
Big Audience Machine (BAM), a Stockholm-based AI startup, has secured €350,000 in funding. This investment will accelerate the development of BAM's AI-driven content marketing platform, designed to help small marketing teams efficiently create high-quality, on-brand content. The platform is being tested with pilot customers, and a broader rollout is planned for spring 2025.

BAM's innovative approach empowers small marketing teams, including those at AI startups, by enabling them to produce professional-grade, impactful content early in their development. This capability can help nascent companies extend their reach, establish their brand presence, and compete in crowded markets despite limited resources. With increasing global demand for efficient, intuitive content creation tools, BAM may also have the potential to expand beyond the Nordic region.

🎧Listen To🎧

Nordic AI news and analysis for your ears.

  • EDB 5.0 [DK] - Interview with Sebastian Blæsild Krogh, who has developed a fully automated AI news aggregator.

  • Digitaliseringspodden [NO] - Angela Wong, CTO of the cybersecurity company Defendable, shares insights on why AI is far from the biggest cyber risk companies face today.

  • AI Podden - Swedish podcast examines Uber's entry into AI data labelling and Google DeepMind's Genie 2 for training AI in simulated environments.

📅Training, Meetups & Conferences📅

Conferences

  • February 3-7: AI Week 2025: Massive conference with broad line-up and programme exploring AI’s impact and potential across industries, functions, and society. [Oslo, Norway]

  • February 25: Cybersecurity and AI: Cybersecurity conference focused on the impact of AI on cyber threats and defences. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • March 12: AI Marketing Conference: A conference filled with concrete strategies and implementable tips from leading experts in AI-driven marketing. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • March 17-20: IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence: Research conference focused on sharing research concepts and results and fostering an environment for future collaborations. [Tromsø, Norway]

  • March 19-20: OffDig 2025: A conference focused on digitisation, including the use of AI, in public organisations. [Aarhus, Denmark]

  • April 3: Applied AI Nordics 2025: Explore real-world case studies, results and learnings from the business implementation of AI across industries. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • April 11: Gothenburg AI Alliance Conference: One-day conference exploring various aspects of AI implementation. [Gothenburg, Sweden]

  • May 7-8: Data Innovation Summit: Large conference for exploring ways to accelerate AI-driven transformation throughout companies, industries and public organisations. [Stockholm, Sweden]

  • May 12-14: AI and Machine Learning for Healthcare: Research conference exploring advances in deep learning and neural networks for the development of intelligent healthcare systems. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • May 13-15: International Congress on Industrial AI and eMaintenance: Congress focused on industrial artificial intelligence, or IAI. [Luleå, Sweden]

  • May 14-15: Stockholm Tech Show: One of the Nordic region’s largest events and meeting places for professionals involved in new technologies, including AI. [Stockholm, Sweden]

  • May 15: Data Centres Denmark: Industry conference that includes looks at how AI is driving the exponential growth in the data centre industry. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • May 15-16: International Conference on AI and Soft Computing: Scientists, researchers, and research scholars come together to exchange and share experiences and research results regarding AI and soft computing. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • May 22: AI Compute Summit: Examines the future of AI computing, addressing the challenges of building scalable, sustainable systems. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • June 2-3: NORA Annual Conference: An annual event for the Norwegian AI research community where participants can interact and share research, ideas, and new perspectives. [Oslo, Norway]

  • June 11: Scandinavian Creative AI Summit: Newest in an event series designed to showcase how professionals in the creative industries embrace the power of generative AI. [Copenhagen, Denmark]

  • June 12-13: DevSum 2025: One of Sweden’s most prominent tech conferences, including many workshops and speakers focused on AI. [Stockhold, Sweden]

Meetups

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

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

Reply to this email or connect on LinkedIn.

Until next time,

Pioneer Venture AI,