Aria Fund is a generalist multi-family office, looking to invest €1-5M tickets into companies with proven ability to sell.
They prefer technological hardware and software B2B and B2C solutions, but are interested in looking at marketplaces, non-tech, or B2G solutions in especially strong cases.
They have often been the lead investor, but are interested in co-investment and solo investment opportunities as well.
Salo IoT Campus is a community of high-tech companies, researchers and educational instutitions working together on a daily basis. They have over 100 companies and 2 000 people on working and studying on their campus.
They offer versatile premises, comprehensive services and an active expert community. They are seeking more companies and partners to join them in making a smarter future.
They’re based in Salo, Finland, approximately one hour from Helsinki.
Marubeni Corporation is one of the oldest ones in Japan with over 160 years of history. Their CVC arm is looking to co-invest €0.5M – 3M tickets into companies raising rounds of €3 – 50M. They look for scalable business models, and have invested into software, ecommerce, marketplaces, among others.
They are interested in smart city infrastructure (energy, EV charging etc.) and digital solutions (cyber security, entertainment, commerce, but not specializing in communication software).
The Founder Institute runs two pre-seed acceleration programs in Finland: a general one for all founders, as well as a Global Center of Excellence for Food Ecosystems, interested in all food-related solutions.
Their program works for all founders, even those who don’t have an idea yet, until the stage of having good sales and the first professional investor on board.
The programs cost €599/€799 (early bird/regular fee), with a possibility to get a stipend to cover the costs. The participants also commit to a 4% warrant.
Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator seeks innovative startups within four critical areas of the energy sector: oil and gas, new business models, digitization and renewables. Equinor is a leading energy corporation in Norway, and the program’s physical parts take place in Oslo.
Techstars is a leading startup accelerator that has invested into over 2,100 companies and helped them raise $9.3B since 2007. They run approx. 50 programs every year, each investing into 10 companies.
Their application period for 2020 program is open until 11.10.2020, and the next application period will be open from July to October 2021, for the program that will take place in February 2022.
Techstars acceleration programs include a $20k stipend for running expenses and an optional $100k convertible loan in addition to the programs’ coaching and the network membership, in exchange for a 6% stake in the company (or higher based on the conversion rate on next round).
Techstars Ventures also does follow-on investments into their best performing portfolio companies, having co-led an investment round with Equinor of €4M. Many other funds also invest into Techstars companies.
Ericsson Ventures is the CVC arm of Ericsson, the network company. They’re interested in everything very network-related: cloud technology, cyber security, AI, 5G etc. They’re focusing on B2B software, but will look at B2G and hardware cases as well. They look especially for companies who want into the telecom market.
Vitosha Venture Partners invests into startups that have a connection with Bulgaria, or willing to establish one. For example a sales team’s office or a development unit.
They do not invest into gambling or similar types of startups.
Startup Lions / Whitecoach invest into very early stage Finnish startups and helps them get more funding from banks, the state and other investors. They’re often the first investor, who helps the company get the business and further investments going.
Sector-wise they’re not investing into games, pharma or other very capital-intensive areas, but almost everything else is interesting for them.
Startup Lions and Whitecoach are two separate investment companies who share many key people and operating models. They seek a 10-50% ownership stake and board chairperson position in the companies they invest in.
Buildit Latvia is a hardware-focused accelerator in Riga, Latvia. They invest into many startups in their program. Among its usual benefits the program acts as a due diligence for both sides to see if it’s a good time to work together for a longer term and make and take the investment.
They invest €20-50k initially from their pre-seed fund on companies. They can later follow up with up to €250k with their seed fund. For the pre-seed investments, the teams need to incorporate in Latvia. At the seed stage, they don’t need to stay there. All the companies they take in have to be willing and able to move into Latvia.
They have a preference for B2B, but take in companies with all client types.
SCM Advisors is the UK-headquartered investment arm of the Ukrainian SCM conglomerate. SCM’s main industries are metals (especially steel), mining, and energy,. They also have a broad range of other investments e.g. in banking, retail and real estate.
They have a preference for B2B and data. About a third of their portfolio companies use AI or machine learning. They are interested in hardware investments too, especially on companies related to their group’s businesses. Health solutions like process automatization are interesting, but not pharmaceutical drugs.
They’re a co-investor, often the 2nd to 4th biggest investor on a round.