Thirty issues in.
Still building what matters.
Thirty issues in, and one thing’s clear: the Nordics keep building, even when optimism runs out. What started as a scene has become a muscle, and this week it flexes around one idea: resilience.
War, climate and shifting power lines are reshaping Europe’s priorities. The Nordics are responding by building harder than ever. The question is what we build when optimism runs out?
Also: A bold new piece of hardware drops on Kickstarter this Thursday. Details inside.
Nordic Hardtech Partners 🤝
Nordic Hardtech is a community for builders of complex tech companies based on physical products. Here are some of our outstanding partners.
- Lightbringer: AI-powered patent service helping tech companies protect their edge fast, with in-house legal expertise. Book an intro.
- Recuro: Growth partner for hardtech and deeptech. Scale with profit.
- SISP (Swedish Incubators & Science Parks): The network for 60+ incubators and science parks in Sweden. Find yours here.
- The Yard: Gothenburg’s hub for co-working, community, and serious hardware. Explore their memberships.
Transparent Launches an Aroma Diffuser
Stockholm-based Transparent, known for its modular speakers, is expanding its hardware ecosystem beyond audio. Their new Aroma Diffuser applies their circular design philosophy, challenging the disposable norms of consumer tech with materials like recycled aluminum and a system designed for disassembly and repair. The project launches on Kickstarter today at 1 PM CET. Explore their approach and secure early access here.
Nordic Hardtech Radar
This Week: Innovation under pressure.
Built to Endure: How Nordic Hardtech Turns Fear into Function
Optimism isn’t what drives Europe’s builders right now. Across the Nordics and beyond, innovation is shaped by uncertainty, security and proximity. Some of it keeps the lights on, some of it arms the borders. And all of it forces a new conversation about what progress really means.
For a long time, Europe’s tech story was about progress: faster chips, cleaner energy, smarter cities. Now the conversation sounds different. Terms like readiness, supply chain control and national autonomy are gaining traction. It is no longer only about what we can build; it is increasingly about what we must build to remain independent and viable.
As Will Blythe, co-founder of UK-based Arondite, recently put it at the Resilience Conference:
“Your ability to rapidly integrate systems that weren’t designed to be used together and get them working together effectively basically defines how fast defence can adapt once the war starts.”
That logic reaches far beyond defence. Across Europe, and particularly in the Nordics, the reflex to build for adaptability has begun to shape energy systems, materials engineering and infrastructure itself. Hardware is becoming the centre of resilience thinking rather than an afterthought.
In Finland, ICEYE has received more than €41 million in national R&D funding as part of a broader €250 million programme to scale production and develop new radar capabilities. Its synthetic-aperture satellites already serve governments and climate agencies, providing imagery during floods and natural disasters.
In Sweden, Nordic Air Defence is developing the Kreuger 100 drone interceptor, a low-cost, dual-use system designed to counter aerial threats in real time. Its work shows how Nordic hardtech is entering territories once dominated by major defence contractors, blurring the line between civilian and military engineering.
It’s not only defence startups that attract capital. Helsing, the AI-enabled defence company co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, recently raised €600 million at a valuation near €12 billion. The firm develops autonomous mission software and sensor systems for European forces. For some, Helsing represents a long-overdue industrial awakening; for others, a worrying sign that Europe is not just preparing for conflict but starting to invest in it. As Euronews put it:
“The tension between innovation and militarisation is becoming Europe’s new fault line.”
That tension is not limited to defence. When NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang told an audience at VivaTech in Paris that “AI is the greatest equaliser of people the world has ever created,” he was addressing an Europe scrambling to keep up in the race for computing power. His point was simple: infrastructure matters, and those who build it will define the next decade of competitiveness.
Energy infrastructure is being rebuilt with a similar mindset. Ingrid Capacity and Locus Energy are installing large-scale battery systems across Sweden to stabilize the grid. Unlike the drone projects, few debate whether this kind of resilience is desirable, yet all of it grows from the same soil of geopolitical anxiety.
In the Nordics, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Our legacy of open innovation, circular design and strong institutions gives us an advantage, yet this era demands urgency, scale and purpose — qualities that often swell in times of fear. The challenge is to keep our collaborative ethos while building faster and stronger.
Ultimately, the question is not whether we are building again, but what we choose to prioritize. Are we building for stability or preparing for confrontation? Probably both. What matters is to decide consciously.
When optimism fades, intent remains. And in Europe today, intent may be the most important raw material of all.
Lately ⏮️
Selected news from the hardtech ecosystem
- Speaking of resilience: Nordic pension funds are ramping up investments in defence and dual-use tech. Security and sovereignty now shape where the region’s capital flows.
- Sweden’s Gapwaves has received Vinnova funding to adapt its millimetre-wave antenna tech for defence use, marking another Nordic step into dual-use innovation.
- Sweden’s AI-native scene is also on fire. Funding hit €454 m this year, driven by Lovable, Legora and a wave of young builders skipping Silicon Valley.
- Denmark’s Danish Tech Challenge 2025 has selected 15 hardware startups for its growth programme at DTU Science Park. The cohort spans everything from green transition tech to advanced materials.
Up next ⏭️
What's brewing in the community?
- GomSpace is expanding. The Danish nanosatellite pioneer is hiring a Head of Innovation and Planning for its Advanced Space Missions unit, as well as a Hardware Engineer for in-house test systems. See all job openings.
- SeaPattern is hiring a Mechanical Structural Engineer to help shape its modular floating hydropower system. A chance to build real hardware for resilient energy. Apply here.
- Framdrift Innovasjon is building a new startup hub in Bergen with Farvatn, VIS and Fana Sparebank. They are hiring a Head of Community and a Startup Manager to shape the city’s innovation scene. Read more.
- The Nordics are ready for fusion. A new report from VTT shows that Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway all meet the criteria to host a commercial reactor, signalling how fusion energy is moving from research to real industrial infrastructure
Stay close to the capital
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