“Over the last couple of years, we have seen the virtual investor speed dates work really well as we can match up investors all over the world and entrepreneurs from around the Nordics more freely when there are no physical limitations,” explains Deal Flow Manager Teija Nousiainen and continues:
Global ideas
“Most of our global investors are quite interested in the Nordic startup and scaleup environment as it’s characterised by entrepreneurs who are able to combine for example advanced technology with solutions within sustainability or health that are not limited to a certain market. And when we look at the startups and scaleups applying for our events, we really see great ideas that are not only linked to the Nordic market, but are born global from the beginning so there are great opportunities for a match.”
Returning investors
Last year Nordea arranged more than 750 investor speed dates, and 90 per cent of all companies attending got one or more meetings booked with an investor afterwards. The reason behind the high match rate lies in the selection process, tells Teija Nousiainen:
“It’s carefully curated events. The meetings are pre-booked as one-to-one discussions between companies and investors, where they have 20 minutes to see if there is potential for future collaboration and if they should meet again. Our goal is to make the event the most efficient 2½ hours of the year for the entrepreneurs and investors. Many of our investors are now returning year after year as they know there will be highly interesting candidates.”