The Nordic hardtech community
For everyone building hard things in the Nordics.
Hardtech is innovative, complex and physical. Nordic Hardtech exists so the people who build it, fund it and enable it can find each other.
The funding map
ALL 180 INVESTORS →Every Nordic investor with documented hardtech investments, plus the grants and public instruments that fund the other half of the road from lab to factory, with their deadlines.
Eurostars
Eurostars is a public EU/Eureka funding instrument, co-funded via Horizon Europe and national bodies including Vinnova, Innovation Fund Denmark, the Research Council of Norway and Business Finland. It gives non-dilutive grants to SME-led, cross-border collaborative R&D projects, with two calls a year. Between 20 and 30 Swedish companies get funding in new projects every year, alongside Nordic participants in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.
Nordic Foodtech VC
Early-stage venture capital firm investing in deep foodtech across the Nordics and Baltics, backing startups building new technologies for food and agriculture.
Noon Ventures
Copenhagen-based early-stage venture capital fund founded in late 2020, investing in deeptech and hardtech companies tackling climate and environmental challenges, with a concentrated portfolio of five companies where partners take an active, hands-on role with each founding team.
Nordic Makers
Nordic Makers is an angel led, Nordic early stage investor founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs behind exits like Zendesk, Just Eat and Sitecore. Based in Stockholm and Copenhagen, it now writes 500k to 1m euro checks into pre-seed and seed B2B software startups across the Nordics, with a handful of earlier bets touching nuclear, wearables and IoT hardware.
EIFO
EIFO (Danmarks Eksport- og Investeringsfond) is Denmark's national promotional bank and official export credit agency, formed by merging the Danish Growth Fund (Vækstfonden), the Export Credit Agency (EKF) and the Danish Green Investment Fund. It is Denmark's largest venture investor, deploying direct equity, loans, guarantees and fund commitments across sectors from deep tech and defence to green transition and life sciences, both by co-investing directly in companies and as an LP in venture funds.
Scale Capital
Investing in the critical technologies that Europe and the world will depend on. Seed and Series A. Deeply rooted in the Nordics.
EQT Ventures
EQT Ventures is the early-stage venture capital arm of Swedish investment manager EQT AB, domiciled in Luxembourg with investment advisors in Stockholm, Paris, London, New York, Berlin and Amsterdam, backing over 140 European and US founding teams from Seed to Growth with investment sizes ranging roughly €1-75M. It invests across sectors including deep tech, climate, fintech, consumer and AI, and in 2025 merged with EQT Growth into one unified early-stage tech platform.
Innovation Norway
Innovation Norway is Norway's state-owned national development bank and industrial bank, owned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (51%) and the county authorities (49%). It gives grants, innovation and risk loans, guarantees and advisory support, from startup grants of NOK 150,000 to billion-kroner loans under the Green industry financing scheme, such as the NOK 1.5 billion loan framework for Morrow Batteries and a NOK 400 million loan for Vianode. In 2025 it deployed NOK 9.4 billion, and applications are open year round.
Partners in Clime
Partners in Clime is a Weinstadt, Germany based climate tech investor founded in 2022, backing pre-seed and seed hardtech and greentech founders across the DACH region with capital and founder-to-founder mentoring. It runs an angel syndicate model and co-invests with firms like b2venture, Point Nine, 468 Capital and Climate Founders.
Aligned VC
Aligned VC is a Stockholm-based venture firm founded in 2019 by Eric Carlson Rydman and Christian af Jochnick. It invests from pre-seed and seed through early growth, with no sector focus and a portfolio mostly in software, consumer, fintech and health. Hardtech exposure is limited to a few companies such as Brineworks (direct air capture) and Dance (subscription e-bikes).
Vinnova
Vinnova is Sweden's government innovation agency, funding research and innovation projects that strengthen sustainable growth and competitiveness. It runs continuous, sector-agnostic calls for proposals, including a recurring deeptech acceleration programme, but does not publish a company-level portfolio list.
Norrsken VC
Impact venture capital fund investing in startups solving the world's greatest challenges.
The ecosystem
ALL 1255 COMPANIES →Who builds, supplies and enables hardtech across the Nordics, from garage startups to industrial giants. Browse by role, phase and vertical.
PROCADA
Procada AB offers additive manufacturing solutions, focusing on lightweight metal structures for terrestrial and space applications.
Oceans.io
Offers a social platform and smart dive computer for scuba divers, enhancing underwater experiences with AI-powered features.
Alcatel Submarine Networks Norway AS (ASN Norway)
Designs and manufactures fibre-optic sensing systems, including the OptoDAS distributed acoustic sensing interrogator used to detect whales, ships, storms and earthquakes on the Svalbard seabed cables, from its Trondheim (Tiller) facility.
Clavister
Provides cybersecurity solutions including firewalls and identity management systems.
Kista Science City
Promotes innovation and development in ICT and life sciences in the Kista region.
Lucy
Provides AI-powered apps for reporting, tracking, training, and information sharing for retail and brand teams. Formerly Goalplan.
Cake
Cake designs and manufactures electric motorcycles, focusing on lightweight, high-performance bikes for urban and off-road use.
Cognite
Cognite is a Norwegian industrial software company building Cognite Data Fusion, an Industrial DataOps platform that helps asset-heavy industries like oil & gas, power and manufacturing contextualize and act on operational data.
ELFA Distrelec AB
Supplier of electronics, automation, and measurement technology products.
GlucoSet
GlucoSet is a novel dome-shaped hydrogel sensor that changes its volume and consequently its optical path length in the presence of glucose, built for continuous blood glucose monitoring in intensive care.
Bonevolent (Biomedical Bonding AB)
A Swedish MedTech company that develops cutting-edge medical adhesive fixators and novel surgical methodologies with focus on the ever-growing market of hard tissue repair.
Björks Rostfria AB
Ledande i Sverige på att utveckla, bygga och leverera membranfilteranläggningar för dricksvattenberedning, avlopps- och industrivattenrening.
One sharp email, every two weeks.
Hardtech news from the Nordics and beyond, new raises, events worth travelling for, and the deadlines you should not miss.
Open raises
SEE WHO IS RAISING →Raising for something innovative, complex and physical? Apply in five minutes. We curate, and your round reaches the readers of the newsletter, including the investors on the map.
The podcast
ALL 37 EPISODES →Conversations with the founders and funders of Nordic hardtech.
EP 23 Linda Krondahl från Things: Från hype till handling – hur deeptech blir business [SWE]
Avsnitt 23. Från hype till handling – hur deeptech blir business Linda Krondahl , vd på Things och medgrundare till Ignite Sweden , gästar podden och berättar om sin resa från solenergiprojekt i Indien till att bygga ett nav för deeptech i Sverige. Det här är ett avsnitt om hur affärer slår visioner – och varför svenska storbolag måste vakna. Vi pratar om hur Things blev en katalysator för hardtec
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EP 30 Per Brickstad – Transparent & the Quest for Timeless Tech
#30. The Quest for Timeless Tech Per Brickstad , founder and chief designer at Transparent , joins us in our 30th episode – a milestone worth noting. Transparent is on a mission to become the world’s first circular tech brand, building modular and upgradable audio gear that challenges consumer electronics’ throwaway logic. From a Stockholm design studio to a global hardware company, this is the st
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EP 8 Helene Winberg och Frontside: När fabriken växer av sig själv [SWE]
#8. När fabriken växer av sig själv Helene Winberg , vd och delägare av Frontside , intervjuas live på Evertiq Expo i Göteborg. Vi pratar om hur man skalar svensk kontraktstillverkning utan PR-maskin och hype, men med djupt fokus på kvalitet och kompetens. Frontside har producerat elektronik i Mölnlycke sedan 1990. Under ett tioårigt generationsskifte tog Helene över ledarskapet i familjeföretaget
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EP 5 Rickard Bröms och Vässla: Full gas till fritt fall [SWE]
#5. Full gas till fritt fall Rickard Bröms , grundare av Vässla , gästar podden och berättar hur bolaget gick från Blockets enda elmoppe till internationell elfordonssatsning – och till slut in i rekonstruktion. Vi pratar om produktstrategi, supply chain, kapitaljakt och vad som händer när verkligheten kör över visionen. Men också om hur en idé kan leva vidare, även efter en konkurs. I det här avs
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EP 21 Madelene Näslund: Business Region Gothenburg – Live from The Yard [ENG]
🤝 This episode is produced in collaboration with The Yard — a combined coworking space and machine hall for startups in Gothenburg. A unique workspace with industrial feeling. Check out their memberships or take a tour . Episode 21 – Gothenburg Rising: Where Legacy Meets Innovation Madelene Näslund from Business Region Gothenburg joins us to explore why the city is emerging as a leading Nordic har
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EP 3 Ulrika Tornerefelt och Stella Futura: Från grön vision till laddad expansion [SWE]
#3. Från grön vision till laddad expansion Ulrika Tornerefelt , grundare av Stella Futura , gästar podden och berättar om resan från hållbarhetsrådgivning till att bygga ett snabbväxande energibolag. Från Västafrika till svenska stödtjänstmarknaden, och från idé till skalbar affärsmodell inom “battery as a service”. Vi pratar om lönsam expansion, affärsmodellering, finansieringsstrategier och hur
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EP 29 Johan Outinen – Elvy & the Energy Subscription Play: 15 Years of Heat, Trust and Risk [ENG]
#29. Elvy & the Energy Subscription Play: 15 Years of Heat, Trust and Risk Johan Outinen , CEO and co-founder of Elvy Energy , joins the pod to explain why households should lock in their energy for the next 15 years, and how simplicity can unlock the transition. Elvy Energy is rewriting the rules of home energy with flat-rate subscriptions that cover installation, insurance, maintenance, and even
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EP 25 Joacim Westlund Prändel – Less is More: How Flic Pushed the Button on Scalable Hardware [ENG]
🤝 This episode is produced in collaboration with Lightbringer – the patent service helping founders move faster. With AI at its core and senior attorneys in-house, they streamline the patent process and set a new standard for how growth-stage teams secure what’s theirs. Episode #25 Less is More: How Flic Pushed the Button on Scalable Hardware What if turning off a light or flipping a music sheet c
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EP 2 Pär Hedberg och Sting: Startupmaskinen som aldrig stannar
#2. Startupmaskinen som aldrig stannar Pär Hedberg , grundare av inkubatorn Sting , gästar podden och delar insikter från 20 år i svensk startupfront. Vi pratar om varför deeptech kräver en annan sorts investerare, hur man skapar tillväxtbolag i serie och varför varje team behöver någon som gillar fakturering. Sting har sedan starten 2001 blivit en av Europas mest respekterade inkubatorer, med röt
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EP 33 Leo Ballesteros – Atonemo & When to Ignore the Market (At First)
#33: When to Ignore the Market (At First) Leo Ballesteros , founder of Atonemo , joins the podcast to share a brutally honest take on what it actually takes to build a consumer hardware company from scratch. From feature overload to ruthless simplification, this episode is about learning by doing. Every single day. Atonemo is building consumer electronics at the intersection of hardware, software
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EP 35 Tomas Becklin – Teaching Infrastructure to Speak Animal with Flox
#35. Teaching Infrastructure to Speak Animal with Flox Tomas Becklin , CTO and co-founder of Flox , joins our podcast to explain how AI, acoustics and edge computing can reduce conflicts between wildlife and critical infrastructure. Flox builds systems that identify animals in real time and play sounds they instinctively understand, guiding behavior without fences, barriers or harm. In this conver
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EP 4 James Campion och TERASi: In i hjärtat av svensk deeptech
#4. In i hjärtat av svensk deeptech James Campion , grundare av TERASi, gästar podden och berättar hur det är att bygga ett deeptech-bolag i Sverige – med rötterna i forskning, blicken mot 6G och finansieringsgapet ständigt närvarande. Vi pratar om teknik, produkt, kapital och politik. Om att utveckla kommunikationssystem för nästa generations nätverk, och varför det ibland känns som att förklara
LISTEN →Insights
ALL INSIGHTS →What we have learned about building, scaling and funding hard things in the Nordics.
Beta-perioden är över - vad nu?
Under våren har vi spelat in fem avsnitt av Hårdvarupodden för att testa konceptet.
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INSIGHT The Hard Way: The Nordic Way
Nordic hardtech founders keep choosing complex, regulated, physical-world industries over easy, fast-scaling opportunities.
READ →When infrastructure thinks like nature
Flox's CTO explains how edge hardware, acoustics and AI guide wildlife away from roads, railways and airports.
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INSIGHT Now Launching: Nordic Hardtech
READ →Less is More: How Flic Pushed the Button on Scalable Hardware
How Flic turned a simple Bluetooth button into a profitable, VC-free global hardware business.
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INSIGHT Norway Isn’t Loud. That Might Be Its Advantage.
A guest essay on why Norway's understated hardtech ecosystem in defence, robotics and energy is becoming strategically important.
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INSIGHT The Nordic Heat List: Ten Nordic Companies Turning Heat into Hardtech
Profiles ten Nordic companies turning industrial and household heat into hardtech-driven climate solutions.
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INSIGHT Vi är live!
På rekordtid (?) har vi gått från idé till handling och skapat Hårdvarupodden.
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INSIGHT Snart nytt år – vem ska jag prata med?
Hårdvarupodden ångar vidare in i 2025 och stora nyheter utlovas i Q1. Samtidigt söker vi fler som vill intervjuas i podden. Vem ska jag prata med i 2025?
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INSIGHT Built to Endure: How Nordic Hardtech Turns Fear into Function
Explores how fear, war, and geopolitical uncertainty are reshaping Nordic hardtech into a driver of resilience and dual-use innovation.
READ →Why IP Is Your First Investor: And Your Strongest Advantage
Dominic Davies argues founders must treat IP as an early strategic asset, not a legal afterthought, to win investor trust.
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INSIGHT The New Industrial Stack
Nine Nordic startups are building the software layer that lets factories be programmed like computers.
READ →Partners keep this open
The funding map, the podcast, the events and the newsletter are free for the whole ecosystem, made possible by partners who build Nordic hardtech with us.
AI-driven patent filing for tech companies. Protect what you invent, at software speed.
OFFER: Free intro call with Lightbringer's patent team → LIGHTBRINGER.COM ↗Swedish Incubators and Science Parks, the national infrastructure for innovation environments.
SISP.SE ↗Kept accurate by the community
Anyone can suggest an investor, flag an error, or submit an event, a job or a raise. Every suggestion is checked and prepared before it goes live. Nothing publishes unreviewed.
One sharp email, every two weeks.
Hardtech news from the Nordics and beyond, new raises, events worth travelling for, and the deadlines you should not miss.