Half of the European deals made by Softbank in the first five months of the year are from the Nordics. We made a quick overview of them + the usual weekly intel.

 

---

 

Active investors

🇬🇧 Stride Ventures
🇫🇷 Kima Ventures
🇦🇹 Speedinvest
🇨🇭Carole Ackermann
🇮🇪 Des Traynor
🇫🇷 Guillaume Lestrade

 

🇯🇵 After a period that was rather marked by portfolio restructuring and the WeWork scandal (still active), Softbank seems to be back with a vengeance on the investment scene from Europe.

This year it was involved in 7 late-stage deals: 

🇳🇴 AutoStore - $2.8bn (secondary deal)
🇸🇪 Sinch - $1.1bn (following a $380M in November 2020)
🇫🇷 Contentsquare - $500M
🇬🇧 Oneweb - $400M
🇳🇴 Kahoot - $150M (secondary deal)
🇳🇴 Oda - $120M
🇪🇸 Jobandtalent - $119M

Notice the Nordic appetency? On top of that, they're said to be leading the new mega round of Klarna at a $40 billion valuation, 2 months after Klarna was valued at $31bn.

Also notable this year, Softbank was part of an early stage deal in a German company called Plan A, a Berlin-based SAAS developer for carbon-neutral analytics. 

 

🌐 Besides Softbank, a quick look at other international investors active in the Nordics this year shows Singapore's Temasek - active in 3 deals (Sinch, Einride and Oura) together with an American crossover who's been keen of the Nordics for the last 18 months: Lugard Road (growth deals in Attensi and Ageras and early stage in Bookis).

With one exception, those are late stage deals and look like the result of a pre-emptive position securing in the more interesting Nordic assets, don't them?

Some of the late stage deals those three investors were not involved in include Wolt ($530M), Epidemic Sound ($450M), Kry ($312M), Illmatar ($240M) and Cognite ($150M).

To date there are thirteen $100M+ deals closed in the Nordics this year. 

Other active international investors besides Softbank, Temasek and Lugard include Atomico (2 growth rounds - 1, 2 - and one super early via its angel program), the Dutch Rockstart which followed on 3 startups it previously accelerated and the Hong Kong-based Makers Fund which backed 3 gaming startups from Finland.

 

🇬🇧 In 10 to 20 years time you’re going to get a whole new different type of investor in Europe, says Saul Klein of LocalGlobe.

 

🇬🇧 Balderton promoted a partner and hired an associate in Berlin to get better grip of the local market.

 

🇺🇸 KKR has registered its sixth European upper-mid-market vehicle, KKR European Fund VI, according to a regulatory filing.

 

🇪🇸 Ysios Capital closes its third fund at €216 million.

 

🇮🇹 Riello Investimenti Partners expands into venture capital, launches its debut VC fund, Linfa Ventures, with an €80 million target.

 

🇮🇪 The Yield Lab Europe announced a €50 million second close of its agrifood tech fund.

 

---

 

Interesting startups

 

🇫🇷 Café
verticals: SAAS
HQ: Paris
founded: 2020
investors: Kima, angels
raised: $1 million

Café, founded by Arthur Lorotte de Banes and CEO Tom Nguyen, is a new gen light SAAS developed for hybrid teams i.e work both remotely and in an office. It is a scheduling & light project management tool keeping employees connected with their teams.

Café just raised $1 million.

 

🇵🇱 Electron Square
verticals: B2B marketplace
HQ: Poznan
founded: 2017
investors: RST Ventures for Earth

Electron Square developed a Rapid Prototyping Platform which allows engineers, developers and learners to rapidly develop a wide variety of fully functioning electronic systems. 

 

🇫🇷 Moonoa
vertical: consumer health tech
HQ: Barcelona
founded: 2020
investors: 4Founders, angels
raised: $2.2 million

Moonoa is a French startup founded by CEO Pablo Szefner, Caroline Jacquet, Fanny Dubrule, and David Rodriguez Ureña, developed an application that allows its customers to improve the quality of their sleep without drugs. For this, Moonoa uses the digitization of CBT-i (cognitive and behavioral therapies for insomnia), made available in a mobile app that acts as a tool to improve sleep without drugs or side effects.

The company is operated from Barcelona and just raised $1.9 million.

 

🇫🇷 Purchasely
vertical: B2B SAAS
HQ: Paris
founded: 2020
investors: Stride VC, Kima, angels

Purchasely, founded by Jean-François Grang, Nicolas Tissier and Romain Salles, developed a software tool that can help merchants with streamlining their in-app purchase process, via a simple software integration solution.

They just raised a seed round.

 

🇬🇧 Kitt
verticals: marketplace SAAS
HQ: London
founded: 2018
investors: Barclay Ventures
raised: $7..5 million

Kitt, founded by Lucy Minton and Steve Coulson, developed a real estate digital marketplace that connects landlords with tenants directly, with the aim to provide a fully customizable workspace solution.

The company operates via a digital tool providing a VR-based access to the spaces for sales facilitating, and via a mobile app available for clients looking to benefit from perks including app-based entry systems, remote receptionists and security systems. 

Kitt works with customers including Oatly, Nested and PZ Cussons Beauty and just raised $5 million.

 

🇸🇪 Juni
vertical: B2B SAAS
HQ: Stockholm 
founded: 2020
investors: Cherry Ventures, angels
raised: $2.4 million.

Juni, founded by Anders Orsedal and Samir El-Sabini, work for the development of a financial platform for e-commerce and online marketing professionals. The platform's purpose is to be a dashboard aggregating information and data such as payment support, performance marketing networks, suppliers, and expenses.

 

---

 

Did you find it useful? Have your colleagues and friends sign up too.