30-11-2021 11:45

Looking for an investor? Meet us at Slush

Nordea is also this year partnering with Slush, the world’s leading startup event. Our main activity at Slush is Investor Speed Dating, and this year we’ve already arranged more than 750 meetings helping entrepreneurs find the best possible match among potential investors.
Nordea at Slush

Over the past couple of months we’ve been running our Investor Speed Dating autumn events where we’ve arranged more than 750 meetings to match Nordic startups and scaleups with global investors.

“Our hybrid speed dating format where startups and investors can choose between meeting online or in person has been working really well, says Relationship Manager Teija Nousiainen.

“We’ve been able to connect bright Nordic ideas with relevant global funding, no matter how the coronavirus situation has looked like, and we now cover everything from very early stage startups who have barely had their first customer pilot to scaleups seeking to raise capital of half a million euros or more.”        

Carefully curated events

The first Nordea investor speed dating event was launched at Slush in 2018 and has since grown to include several events during both autumn and spring, with each event dedicated to the stage that the new businesses are in: one for startups, one for scaleups and often also one for startups that are still in the idea phase, plus a series of mentoring sessions.  

“With these even more curated events, we can focus and save time for both startups and investors. The investors know that they will be introduced to a number of suitable investment objects and can more quickly form a clearer picture of the opportunities and risks that they represent and of how mature they are. And the startups can tune in their pitches and be even clearer on their capital needs and expected growth,” explains Teija Nousiainen.  

We now cover everything from very early stage startups who have barely had their first customer pilot to scaleups seeking to raise capital of half a million euros or more.

Relationship Manager Teija Nousiainen

90 per cent gets a date in the calendar

The events attract more and more applicants every year and Nordea now also sees new investors joining:

“It happens mostly by word of mouth, and we do have many investors returning every year looking for companies in all growth stages. Sometimes it can be a business angel who wants to handpick a startup while it’s still in the early idea phase and follow it as it matures or a growth fund ready to boost innovation and growth companies within a certain sector, which we have seen more of lately,” says Teija Nousiainen and adds:

“The great thing for the startups is that all meetings are good meetings. They can plant a seed and then start up the dialogue with several investors. Getting the right and sufficient funding is a long and sometimes cumbersome process, but at Nordea we can help them: 90 per cent of all startups at our events have one or more meetings, and when we ask them afterwards 60 per cent of the respondents tell us that they planned a follow-up meeting with the investors.     

Investors are looking for sustainable growth

Next up in early December are two more investor speed date events at Slush where startups and scaleups focusing on healthcare and sustainable solutions can pitch their ideas to a number of carefully selected international venture capital or growth funds, which want to invest in companies that address global challenges. For Nordea, it’s the first time we have sustainability-themed speed dates, says Teija Nousiainen:

“We’re really looking forward to seeing what these two events will bring both in terms of ideas and funding. There’s huge interest among global investors in companies which are working on solutions to real-world problems, and in the Nordics we have a growing number of scaleups and startups that understand how to rethink the use of resources, farming and healthcare.”  

Entrepreneurship
Business growth