Corporate venture arms investing in Nordic hardtech

Bring Ventures is the corporate venture arm of the Norway Post Group, investing in early-stage companies focusing on sustainability and digitization within logistics and related sectors.

Equinor Ventures is the Stavanger, Norway-based corporate venture capital arm of Equinor, investing since 1991 in early-phase and growth companies developing renewable energy, low-carbon and energy-transition technologies, with a portfolio concentrated in Europe and North America.

Backed RayGen, Hysun, Oxford PV, EcoLectro, Beyonder, Corvus Energy

Ericsson Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Ericsson, deploying capital directly from Ericsson's balance sheet (not raising from external LPs) to back startups strategically relevant to its wireless/network infrastructure business, with operations spanning Stockholm/Kista, Sweden and Santa Clara/Palo Alto, California, New York, Beijing and Barcelona. It focuses on next-generation networking, IoT, AI/ML for network automation, edge/cloud-native infrastructure, cybersecurity for connected devices, and next-generation wireless hardware, investing mostly at Series A/B alongside occasional seed extensions.

Backed ChipAgents, Fabric8Labs, Einride, Nubis Communications, Pensando

Eviny Ventures is the ~50 MEUR corporate venture capital arm of Norwegian energy utility Eviny, based in Bergen, investing from Seed to Series A in startups accelerating the electrification and energy transition across the Nordics and northern Europe, with roughly 20 portfolio companies and 3 exits to date.

Backed Heimdall Power, Zinus, Really!, Cartesian, Photoncycle, Tequs

JM is the largest residential developer in the Nordics, active in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Its corporate venture arm is a young, low profile initiative launched in late 2023, led by Johan Wiksell and Torbjörn Glad, making its first investments in 2024 with a focus on contech, proptech and industrialized, sustainable construction along JM's value chain.

Backed Made of Air, Cemvision

Saab Ventures is Saab's corporate venture arm, set up in 2001 to spin out technology from Saab's engineering base into independent companies and to spin in outside startups that complement Saab's core business. It runs from Sweden with a portfolio that currently spans ten active holdings, including Applied Actuators, ReVibe Energy, MicroDri and Wheelscanning, alongside spin-outs such as Minesto and Cold Cut Systems, and its parent Saab has also made direct strategic bets like the USD 10 million lead investment in rocket company Pythom Space.

Backed Applied Actuators, C-Leanship, Cind, ReVibe Energy, Cold Cut Systems, MicroDri

Scania Invest is Scania's in-house, global corporate venture capital arm, investing across all stages in energy and infrastructure, autonomous and supply chain, asset management and circularity, and deep tech. Scania also runs Scania Growth Capital, a fund managed by East Hill Equity that has backed nine companies since 2016 including sennder, Northvolt and H2 Green Steel, and a venture building arm that manages home-grown ventures such as Erinion and Scania Industrial Batteries.

Backed Erinion, Scania Industrial Batteries, Scania Autonomous Solutions, Nyobolt, Black Semiconductor, SiB Solutions

Corporate venture capital arm of SINTEF, one of Europe's largest independent research organizations. Commercializes IP and spins out deep tech ventures from SINTEF and NTNU research, investing through successive seed and early-stage funds (SINTEF Venture III through VI).

Backed Sonair, Cartesian, Hystar, MoreScope, Mia Health, poLight

Volvo Cars Tech Fund is Volvo Cars' corporate venture arm, based in Sweden and active since 2018. It makes minority investments in early stage mobility and automotive technology companies, covering electrification, autonomous driving, digital mobility services and manufacturing or supply chain efficiency, giving Volvo Cars strategic access to the technology it backs.

Backed Riiico, Altris, Niron Magnetics, Forciot, NEURA Robotics, Breathe Battery Technologies

Corporate venture arm of Volvo Group, founded in 1997 and based in Gothenburg with a second office in Greensboro, US. Invests in startups across electrification, logistics services, site solutions and climate tech, with over 80 investments to date including direct startup stakes and commitments to sector-focused venture funds.

Backed CPAC Systems, Peloton Technology, Momentum Dynamics

Venture arm of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland's state-owned applied research institute, spinning off deep tech and industrial hardware startups from its own IPR.

Backed Steady Energy (compact nuclear district heating reactors), IQM Finland (superconducting quantum computers), TactoTek (structural electronics), Hypermine (mineral processing tech), SemiQon (semiconductor quantum processors), Solar Foods