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 157 INVESTORS →Every Nordic investor with documented hardtech investments, plus the grants and public instruments that fund the other half of the journey from lab to factory.
North Ventures
Danish venture capital firm investing in early-stage tech startups across the Nordics.
Walerud Ventures
Family-backed investor supporting early-stage deep tech startups focused on sustainability and innovation.
Turbine Capital
Venture capital firm investing in Nordic tech companies solving global issues through innovation.
Norrsken VC
Impact venture capital fund investing in startups solving the world's greatest challenges.
Noon Ventures
Early-stage VC backing sustainable innovations and companies addressing major societal challenges.
Starbright Invest
Invests in early-stage startups that use technology to solve pressing global challenges.
Dacke Industri
Dacke Industri is a Swedish industrial holding group, owned by Nordstjernan since January 2016, that acquires and grows Nordic and international engineering companies with proprietary hardware products across four divisions: Air & Mechatronics, Power & Motion, Measurement & Control, and Precision & Protection.
Kick Kapital
Kick Capital is a Swedish business angel investment vehicle backed by 35 regional business angels and the state venture capital firm Saminvest, run jointly by Blekinge Business Incubator, Kalmar Science Park and Företagsfabriken i Kronoberg. It invests 300,000 to 500,000 SEK via convertible loans exclusively in startups admitted to these three incubator programs in southeastern Sweden.
STOAF
Stockholm Business Angels fund investing in early-stage high-tech growth companies.
SuperHero Capital
Helsinki-based early-stage VC investing in bold founders from Finland and the Baltics, especially in SaaS and deep tech.
Icebreaker VC
Icebreaker.vc is a Helsinki-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests in idea-stage and pre-seed teams in Finland, Sweden and Estonia, with first tickets up to €1.5M. The firm has supported over 100 teams since inception and its second fund is backed by the European Union's InnovFin Equity programme under Horizon 2020 and EFSI.
Chalmers Ventures
The startup incubator and investment arm of Chalmers University, supporting deep tech ventures from research to market.
The ecosystem
ALL 1012 COMPANIES →Who builds, supplies and enables hardtech across the Nordics, from garage startups to industrial giants. Browse by role, phase and vertical.
Fineline Nordic AB
Supplies printed circuit boards (PCBs) and offers technical expertise and logistics support.
AQ Group
AQ Group is a global manufacturer of components and systems for demanding industrial customers, covering areas like wiring systems, sheet metal, and electronics.
Blueye Robotics
Blueye Robotics designs and manufactures professional underwater ROVs in Norway, providing reliable and user-friendly underwater technology for various applications.
TerraBarrier
TerraBarrier develops an inward-growing coating technology that gives stainless steels and nickel alloys superior resistance to corrosion, hydrogen permeation and embrittlement for use in hydrogen, chemical processing, energy and manufacturing applications.
Peak Energy
Peak Energy focuses on advancing sodium-ion battery systems for renewable energy storage solutions.
Uppfinnare.se
Swedish Inventors Association promoting innovation and supporting inventors across Sweden.
Wavr
Provides virtual reality solutions to reduce patient anxiety during medical procedures.
Magstrom AB
Develops Active Magnetic Balancing technology to enhance performance of electric generators.
GreenCap Solutions
Provides carbon capture and storage solutions for reducing industrial CO₂ emissions.
Etronix
Supplies tools, consumables, and equipment for electronics production and testing.
Everon
Provides digital welfare technology solutions to enhance safety and independence in care environments.
Boule Medical AB
Boule Medical AB develops, manufactures, and commercializes diagnostic devices, reagents, and controls for human and veterinary hematology testing, contributing to improved healthcare access globally.
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 list is open for the first entries.
The podcast
ALL 37 EPISODES →Conversations with the founders and funders of Nordic hardtech.
EP 13 Giovanni Fili från Exeger: att bygga ett imperium cell för cell [SWE]
#25. Att bygga ett imperium cell för cell Giovanni Fili , grundare och vd för Exeger , gästar podden och berättar hur bolaget tagit fram en helt ny typ av solcell – och byggt en fabrik runt visionen. Det här är berättelsen om hur svensk deeptech trotsar oddsen: från egenutvecklade nanopartiklar och patenterade elektroder till en fullt automatiserad fabrik mitt i Stockholm. Powerfoyle, Exegers ljus
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EP 12 Dora Palfi and imagi: From Neuroscience to Neon Pixels
Episode #12: From Neuroscience to Neon Pixels with imagi Dora Palfi , co-founder and CEO of edtech company imagi , joins the podcast to talk about building tools that make tech education more accessible, playful — and empowering, especially for girls. With a background in both neuroscience and computer science, Dora shares her journey from research to entrepreneurship, and how imagi is redefining
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EP 31 Mala Valroy – Industrifonden & the State of Deep Tech 2025
#31. Industrifonden & the State of Deep Tech 2025 Mala Valroy , Investment Manager at Industrifonden , joins the podcast to share her journey from biochemistry and startups to leading investments in deep tech. With Industrifonden’s unique evergreen model, she breaks down what it really takes to earn a term sheet in 2025, why relationships matter more than pitch decks, and how resilience and sustai
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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 37 Lisa Eriksson (KTH Innovation) – Building Europe’s Deeptech Pipeline
37. Building Europe’s Deeptech Pipeline Lisa Eriksson , Head of KTH Innovation and CEO of KTH Ventures , joins the Nordic Hardtech Podcast to discuss what it takes to turn world-class research into venture-backed companies. KTH Innovation supports hundreds of founders, researchers and students every year, helping transform ideas into startups across fields such as AI, energy, semiconductors, life
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EP 28 Dominic Davies – Lightbringer & the Patent Reboot: From Legal Grind to Founder Speed [ENG]
Episode 28: From Legal Grind to Founder Speed Dominic Davies , co-founder of Lightbringer , joins the pod to talk patents, automation and founder-first IP. With a background in both software and patent law, he’s now building a system that aims to replace the traditional patent firm entirely — starting with the needs of deeptech startups. From knowledge graphs to GPT-3, Lightbringer was born out of
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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 27 Karoly Szipka – IPercept & the CNC Whisperers: From PhD to Predictive Power [ENG]
Episode #27 – IPercept & the CNC Whisperers: From PhD to Predictive Power Karoly Szipka , founder and CEO of IPercept , joins the podcast to share how a research project on machine efficiency became a fast-scaling deeptech company with some of Europe’s largest industrial players as customers. With AI, patented hardware, and a “fitness tracker” for CNC machines, IPercept is redefining predictive ma
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EP 36 Monica Bellgran – Produktionsänglar & Sveriges bortglömda konkurrensfördel [SWE]
36. Produktionsänglar & Sveriges bortglömda konkurrensfördel Monica Bellgran , vicerektor för innovation vid Mälardalen Universitet och medgrundare av Produktionsänglar , gästar podden för att prata om en av hardtech-världens mest underskattade utmaningar: att gå från prototyp till produktion. Från industrialisering och leverantörskedjor till automation, AI och geopolitik förklarar hon varför så m
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EP 32 Daniel Wentz – Greenely & the Rise of the Virtual Power Plant
#32. The Rise of the Virtual Power Plant Daniel Wentz , Chief Product Officer at Greenely , joins the podcast to unpack one of the most interesting shifts in consumer energy: the rise of home batteries, intelligent orchestration, and virtual power plants. With a background leading global connected-device software at Electrolux, he shares why trust and control are the foundation of any energy produ
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EP 15 Ola Wassvik & Flatfrog: Att äga vägen till skalbarhet [SWE]
Ola Wassvik , medgrundare av Flatfrog , gästar podden och berättar hur bolaget tog en optisk multitouch-teknik från ett labb i Lund till en global marknad. I dag används Flatfrogs lösningar i allt från klassrum till styrelserum – men bakom framgången finns en annan avgörande faktor: patenten. Med över 300 patent i ryggen använde Flatfrog IP som ett strategiskt verktyg för att skydda sin teknik, sä
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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
LISTEN →Insights
ALL INSIGHTS →What we have learned about building, scaling and funding hard things in the Nordics.
Gothenburg Rising: where legacy meets innovation
An analysis of how Gothenburg's industrial legacy and collaborative culture are fueling its rise as a Nordic hardtech hub.
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INSIGHT Höstens åtta avsnitt – här är lärdomarna och råden
Under hösten det släppts åtta avsnitt där jag intervjuat ledare för hårdvarubolag. Det har varit åtta unika samtal, med gemensamma nämnare. Vad kan andra (hårdvaru)bolagsbyggare lära sig?
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INSIGHT Congrats Lovable – A Cautionary Tale for Deeptech?
Lovable just became Europe’s latest unicorn – and it’s a win for Swedish innovation. But deeptech founders, take note: speed isn’t everything. If capital keeps chasing AI hype, critical climate and resilience tech may get left behind.
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INSIGHT Glasses to ashes: why AR, VR and AI wearables keep failing: until they don’t
A decade of failed AR, VR and AI wearables shows execution, not vision, is hardtech's hardest problem.
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INSIGHT Human-in-the-Loop: The Economics of Staying in Control
Argues Nordic automation succeeds by keeping humans in the loop, turning oversight into a strategic economic advantage over full autonomy.
READ →Print, Charge, Scale: Then Go Again
How Exeger's Giovanni Fili built a flexible solar cell platform and factory from scratch against the odds.
READ →From Cockpit to Cap Table: Inside Nordic Defense Tech
A fighter pilot turned VC explains why defense tech founders validate with the wrong people.
READ →
INSIGHT Nordic Hardtech x Lightbringer: IP just got interesting!
Tired of slow, expensive patents? Lightbringer flips the script. Discover how AI-driven IP can help you protect ideas, raise capital, and build real leverage.
READ →Karoly Szipka on Making Machines Talk: and Building a Business Around It
IPercept's founder explains how CNC diagnostics and machine data could save Europe's aging industrial expertise.
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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 Gillar du podden? Betygsätt den!
Hårdvarupodden har funnits sedan juni 2024. Vi kommer fortsätta expandera under 2025 och fler nyheter kommer inom kort. Podden finns för lyssnarna – inget annat. Så, hur kan vi bli ännu bättre?
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INSIGHT Emilia Brandt on Why Growth Needs More Than Grit: and How Recuro Delivers
Recuro's new CEO explains why smart structure, not brute force, is what actually drives hardtech growth.
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.
LIGHTBRINGER.COM ↗ SISPSwedish Incubators and Science Parks, the national infrastructure for innovation environments.
SISP.SE ↗ RECUROGrowth partner for tech and media companies, from strategy to execution.
RECURO.COM ↗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.