Tobias Bengtsdahl

🌍 Navigating Seed Financing in Scandinavia! 🚀 Curious about how to secure early-stage funding for your startup in Scandinavia? Whether it's leveraging government grants, tapping into angel investors, or joining startup accelerators, there are numerous strategies to explore. Discover the unique opportunities available and how they can propel your business forward. Dive into the nuances and build your roadmap to success with insights from industry experts. Unlock the full potential of your startup journey here: https://lnkd.in/e4zycRvK #StartupFunding #Scandinavia #Entrepreneurship #SeedFunding #Innovation #BusinessGrowth

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Founders/CEOs/Investors/NEDs 👇🏻 Please take a few minutes to share your startup board experiences below. It’s super helpful so we can all work together to unlock the full potential of boards

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That damn product-market-fit - and what we do about it at KRING 👊 Building a startup is hard. Period. And the reasons for that are not sensational. We all know that getting product-market fit, go-to-market and the team right requires a lot of work. The top 4 reasons for startup failure are: 🧩 Poor Product-Market Fit (34%): This figure highlights the significant impact of misalignment between a startup's offering and the needs of its target audience. Without a deep understanding of your market and a product that resonates with customers, success becomes elusive.    🚀 Wrong Go-To-Market Strategy (22%): Even if you have a great product, how you bring it to market matters. A misstep in your go-to-market strategy can lead to missed opportunities, wasted resources, and ultimately, failure to capture market share effectively. 🦸🏽‍♀️Team Issues (18%): Building a successful startup requires a cohesive and talented team. Team dynamics, leadership challenges, and skill gaps can all hinder progress and contribute to startup failure.    💸 Fundraising and Cash Flow Problems (16%): Running out of funds is a common reason startups fail. Whether due to inadequate fundraising efforts, mismanagement of cash flow, or unforeseen financial challenges, a lack of capital can quickly derail even the most promising ventures. These typical reasons for startup failure is exactly why we have built our venture studio model and value proposition around: ✅ To navigate the product–market fit, we have developed our structured Speedbooting methodology with pretotyping (and created the company pree.to) to enable a proper validation of the market fit     ✅ To get the go-to-market right, we also use our Speedbooting methodology (https://lnkd.in/egm6im2s) to validate the strategy and benefit from our network of corporates and advisors to test the business model from different angles ✅ To address team issues we offer specialised recruitment support from a pool of talented individuals ✅ To take focus away from fundraising, we provide multi-round financing and can also support building external fundraising strategy if needed and connect with relevant investors Are you curious and what to learn more about building a venture with KRING? Reach out to our Head of Talent, Agnes Agada 👈 Do you have any reflections to share on how to mitigate the typical reasons for startup failure? We would love to hear from you! #venturestudio #startupstudio #productmarketfit Source: Exploding topics, Startup Failure Statistics 2023. Marina Miteva, Jacob Madsen, Jesper Kring, Thomas Krogh Jensen, Tommy Ahlers, Christoph Brandin, Thomas Hofman-Bang, Ulla Sommerfelt, Jacob Dahl, Kurt Bligaard Pedersen, Peter Mægbæk, Martin Bøge Mikkelsen, Betina Nygaard, Ole Herstal, Søren Thorsen, Jakob Bjerre Kistorp, Anders Colding Friis, Flemming Breinholt, Claus Rehfeld, Peter Midtgaard, Lars Thomassen, Lars Monrad-Gylling, Claus Omann Jensen, Erik Holm, Joergen Raguse, David Heinemeier Hansson

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📣 New Manifesto Alert: the Future of Work and Learning, by Emerge I had the pleasure of talking to Andreas Munk Holm 💖 of EUVC about our new manifesto, the future of learning and work and our three-pronged investment thesis, “Learn, Navigate, Work.” 🤔 Why Learn, Navigate, Work matters to ALL of us: - $56B invested in Gen AI since 2023 - SaaS used to augment humans, AI replaces them - AI will add $7 trillion to global GDP over the next 10 years. Much bigger projected impact than PCs/Internet combined - AI will change the way we work: roles will become broader and we'll do more with less - In the process, up to 2/3 of jobs could be automated by AI, creating huge potential disruption - However, those who embrace AI will be 1.5-3x more productive than those who don’t - The time to act is now to ensure access to that productivity gain is spread as widely as possible! ➡️ Our resulting thesis Learn, Navigate, Work. To adapt to this new reality, we need 1) access to learning 2) talent in the right places and 3) tools to empower us at work. - Learn: AI that lowers the cost and increases the quality of learning opportunities available to everyone - Navigate: AI that improves the efficiency and quality of some of life’s most important decisions: where we work and who we work with - Work: AI that empowers individuals to do more with less: eliminating repetitive, dull work and freeing up capacity to spend time on high-value tasks 🫶 Request for startups Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing specific requests for startups that fit into that thesis. For now, please enjoy this stimulating deep dive with Andreas - and leave your thoughts and perspectives in the comments! 💖

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𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽 The healthtech landscape in Europe and the USA is dynamic and evolving rapidly 🚀 By weekly healtech recap, I want to highlight the recent, interesting acquisitions in the sector. You all probably already know the “sleek, smart” ring which tracks sleep, activity and heart health. Well, last month Oura acquired Veri, the Helsinki-based startup behind the metabolic health product of the same name. About Veri: the platform tracks blood sugar levels and helps people improve their metabolic health. With the Veri mobile app, users scan a wearable glucose sensor to get actionable insights and recommendations on nutrition and their lifestyle habits.The Finnish company notes, “We help you stabilize your levels by providing the insight and guidance you need to find the right foods and habits for you.” The acquisition will allow Oura to launch Meals, a metabolic health offering for users to track how the timing of their meals affects sleep, recovery and stress metrics. Stay tuned for the weekly updates! 💡 Source : TechCrunch (link to the article: https://lnkd.in/d3Nt4sZp) 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝗶𝟱𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁: We are a corporate development firm with access to 150K+ top decision-makers in Strategy, Business Development, and M&A. We provide innovative tech founders with insights, expertise, and access to our network to take their companies to the next level. #healthtech #innovation #mergersandacquisitions

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Today I visited the GREENTECH FESTIVAL in Berlin with my dear friend Andreas. 💚 To make it short: Good vibes, busy floors and a big startup space. But tbh I wondered if it's really worth it for startups. I remember from my active time as an exhibitor that we weren't honest about the hard costs per lead. We argued a lot: being there is everything, you have to be seen, brand building is important, it's where the industry meets, serendipity happens, if we just get one big order it will pay off... not to forget the parties! That's all true, but the opportunity cost of attending a trade show is very high, especially for startups. And while this isn't meant to be a trade show bashing at all, here are a few suggestions from my experience, on how to make the most of it... - Train your team to proactively approach people. - Initiate a challenge to see who can get the most leads. - Prepare in advance and market your attendance by actively inviting customers. - Consider a small side event, such as a VIP dinner. - Try to book a package with a speaking engagement at the conference, that has always paid off for us. - Use the exhibitor directory for your own prospecting. - Calculate cost vs. lead conversion after the show with real data and decide whether to repeat. - Push your presence on social in real time. Good luck to all exhibitors and happy selling 🚀 ____________________________ Sharing my experience as an entrepreneur and angel investor. Investing in early stage B2B SaaS startups. Happy to connect 👋

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Made With Intent Seed round 🚀 I'm so happy to finally be able to share that Intent has raised £1.5m led by our new friends at Mercuri, with participation from Portfolio Ventures and, of course, us! 😀 Haatch was founded by ex-retailers who have lived and breathed the pain Intent aims to eradicate. Currently, the way e-commerce communicates with their customers is nothing short of inappropriate. Generic tools built solely for pushing people to checkout reduces store visitors to data points, so you easily forget that on the other side of the screen is a real human being. These solutions are designed for everyone, yet serve only the few. Introducing Made With Intent.... allowing eCommerce to move from this digital directness to something more personal by focusing on their customers and their intent. By predicting where people are in their purchase journey and treating them accordingly. 📈 🎉 --- #madewithintent #intent #seed #venturecapital #team

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Very proud to announce emma Ventures’ first Direct Venture Secondaries deal! 🚀   Great to combine our vast experience in the Secondaries space with our activity in Venture Capital and to create a win-win situation for the company, the seller and emma Ventures as the buyer! 🤝   Venture Secondaries are on the rise – at a time when companies are staying private for longer, investors increasingly embrace the Secondaries markets as a practical third option to liquidity where they are able to control the timing of their exit, unlike in a traditional IPO or M&A. ↗️   By purchasing from early shareholders seeking liquidity, Secondaries buyers can acquire stakes in potentially high-growth companies at reduced risk and an attractive pricing - thereby supporting the company as long-term partner in the next phase of growth. ⚙️

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Another good tip for first-time founders: Always set clear KPIs for your tech team. Vague goals lead to vague results. Set specific, measurable targets so everyone knows what success looks like and how to get there. Clear KPIs keep your team aligned and help you track where improvements are needed to reach your goals. Google’s OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a good example of how measurable targets can drive a team toward fast, focused growth. “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” — Zig Ziglar

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Want to build a successful, sustainable company? These are the kinds of milestones you should set: Land X paying customers Increase revenue by Y% Become profitable Reach $Z ARR Instead, too many startups set their milestones based on getting from one funding round to the next. You'll probably have to raise outside capital at some point to achieve those operational milestones. But raising that capital shouldn't be your end goal. You don't need to run on the VC hamster wheel!

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🌶 Our portfolio company Niimblr is fundraising! 🌶 In case you have not yet gotten the memo, then Niimblr is fundraising and they've announced it on their LinkedIn's 👩‍🚀 (so sharing it here as well ;) The facts; Niimblr — B2B SaaS based in Denmark 🏝 They help media production companies manage all media feedback and approval processes in one place — and have been rocking it since their first campaign launched in December 2023! 📈 800+ active users from 40+ countries and growing by the day 🔄 Their viral loop is more fruitful than they dared to dream of 💰 Their ask? $1.2 Million - with 60% already committed!🔥 And closing as soon as they find a relevant investor for the 40% ⏰ Want to buy into a founder team with 45 years of combined tech success and industry experience? CEO / CTO; Per Lohmann Poulsen CMO; Celine Fosse CPO; Mads Lyngvig Jespersen Reach out to [email protected] (or me) if you'd like more information! Let's go 🌶🌶 #PreSeed #Investors #SaaS #B2BSaaS #Fundraising #ReviewPlatform #ContentCreation #CreatorEconomy #DigitalFeedback #Founder

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In recent months, the Swedish startup ecosystem witnessed the unfortunate downfall of three promising companies: Mycorena, Coloreel, and &Repeat. These startups, with unique value propositions, faced challenges that led to their bankruptcy. Let's analyze the common factors contributing to their struggles. Mycorena aimed to revolutionize the food industry with sustainable mycoprotein products. Despite the growing demand for alternative proteins, scaling issues, high operational costs, and intense market competition hindered their success. Coloreel brought innovation to the textile industry with its coloring technology for textile threads. However, intensive R&D, supply chain disruptions, and slow market adoption contributed to its downfall. &Repeat focused on a circular economy for disposable food packaging but encountered challenges in driving behavioral change, navigating regulations, and securing funding. Key themes among these startups include financial strains, market entry barriers, and external factors like the pandemic and regulatory changes. Their experiences highlight the importance of effective financial management, strategic scaling, and adaptability to market conditions for long-term success. While the bankruptcy of these startups is a setback, their innovative spirit leaves a lasting impact. Their journey provides valuable lessons for future entrepreneurs to learn and grow from, shaping a more resilient startup ecosystem.

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Today is the big day! We’re launching Tailent on Product Hunt! Please support us here: https://lnkd.in/dK_qKnRH Tailent can help you hire developers 5-10 times faster, easier and without bias. AI-HR assistant will create a vacancy for you based on your needs, impartially choose candidates out of 150,000+ CVs, check their skills and give you the top 10 most motivated ones. Tired of looking through tons of CVs? AI will do it for you! 🎁Especially for Product Hunt users, we suggest 20% OFF for one of the plans. Find the special link in the first comment. Please support us using the link: https://lnkd.in/dK_qKnRH #producthunt #hr #hiring #ai

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As an angel investor, I've had several times to lead a syndicate to be able to invest together with my other angel friends and reach the minimum check size in some investments. Great startups with great traction don't want to bother with a big amount of small investors and can afford bigger investors and thus raise their min check-size sometimes up to 100k or more at seed stage. Legally setting up those syndicates is a very big hurdle and pain point, especially when you start handling multiple of them. Auptimate https://lnkd.in/gvTgSivP is the first super easy "Syndicate as a Service" platform to finally relieve all of us from the creation of SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles entities, or Syndicates) from scratch. I can finally create and manage them in just a few clicks! Cherry on the cake, both investors and founders can use them to create syndicates! Check their site out here: https://auptimate.com/ Thanks Olivier Too for the great platform! (And of course I'm also an investor in Auptimate itself) #spv #syndicate

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We just launched a voice AI You can call it at +45 52 51 70 82 and ask anything about Alvas.ai With the help of Eric André and Rasmus Hovøre Their newly launched product Kiku is helping Alvas speak There is no doubt that AI Voices will be fully integrated into our lives soon Now is the time to play around and see what use cases are going to be smash hits Feel free to try it out, and any feedback on how it can be improved would be awesome Please shoot a comment 🦄 #founder #StartUp #ai #voice 

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✨ Breaking: Maki.vc Fund III Announces New Fund.- Maki.vc Fund III Maki.vc's third fund, at €100 million, targets Pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups in the Nordics and Northern Europe, focusing on environmental and social impacts. https://maki.vc Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups#Venturecapital

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The Spotify Founder, Daniel Ek, is building a new company. Early customers are calling it the "Apple of Healthcare." It's Neko Health. Neko offers advanced, preventive health screening. Each appointment gives you access to instant results, scans, and benchmarks against other patients your age. Neko developed non-invasive health scanners (futuristic looking airport security machines) that collect millions of datapoints externally and use AI to map critical biomarkers. When combined with a traditional blood draw, physicians are able to get a complete picture of your health in a few minutes. Neko currently has two locations, in Stockholm and London. Almost everyone I know in the US would pay a lot for a wellness membership that enabled consistent, proactive, full body checks for cancer and other deadly diseases. At roughly $300 per hour visit, Neko seems to be the ideal model. Would you pay for a Equinox/Costco style membership to something like Neko? If you liked this video, make sure to follow me at Kane K. so LinkedIn knows to send my videos to you. #tech #health #danielek #neko #healthcare #innovation

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🌟 Final Day at SLUSH 2024: Today marked the last day of SLUSH 2024, packed with a wide range of sessions covering everything from AI to startup growth strategies. Here are just a few of the many highlights: 🤖 Unlocking AI's Potential Itxaso Araque (Head of AI GTM, Google Cloud) shared some powerful AI advances: Google Translate has 130+ million users who love to translate "hello," "how are you," and "I love you." Google DeepMind is making strides in breast cancer detection, global weather forecasting, and reducing traffic emissions. 💡 Lessons from Justin Kan (Founder of Twitch & Stash) "Focus on your customers and learn from them." "Build something from your own need and knowledge." 🏆 SLUSH 100 Startup Competition Congrats to Nema Salami, co-founder of Oasys Now, for winning the €1 million prize! A special thanks to Google for Startups for their support throughout SLUSH 2024. It has been an incredible experience filled with insights, inspiration, and innovation. What was your favorite session or takeaway from SLUSH 2024? #SLUSH2024 #AI #Startups #Innovation

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A founder with a previous exit is raising a pre-seed round from angels for his new venture. He is not participating. Two things come to my mind: A) The exit was not a real exit, little or no cash. So why talk about it? B) He does not fully believe in what he is doing and wants to derisk. It somehow created a bad feeling. Putting my own money in as an exited founder is a massive signal for me. Red flag? ____________________________ Sharing my experience as an entrepreneur and angel investor. Investing in early stage B2B SaaS startups. Happy to connect 👋

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