The results are clear: a Nordic venture capital program leads to more funds raised within sustainability compared to national programs. It also increases the number of funds raised at a Nordic level.
“Nordic venture capital programs also result in more women coming into the venture space,” says Virginia Vegas, Director at the Venture Capital Challenge, while she highlights the main conclusions from the Nordic Venture Capital program.
She took part in the panel debate: Is the Nordic model for Venture Capital sustainable? organized by Nordic Innovation at the Norwegian democracy festival, Arendalsuka.
Nordic forum for venture capital to accommodate global competition
From 2022-2023 Nordic Innovation supported the Nordic Venture Capital Challenge – a competence program helping emerging managers in the Nordics to set up their first fund and a platform for sharing venture capital best practices across the different investment ecosystems in the region.
Nordic Innovation organized debates on venture capital at the democracy festivals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway with the aim to discuss how to ensure that more venture capital is used for innovation, gender diversity and the green transition with expert-perspectives from three different Nordic countries.
Peter Munch-Madsen, Senior Advisor at Nordic Innovation, highlights the importance of building a Nordic ecosystem on venture capital to accommodate global challenges:
“To create the best grounds for innovation in the Nordic region we need to focus on the opportunities resting with infusions of both public and private capital. Where in the value chain does public funding and private capital create the most added value and how can we build a Nordic ecosystem for venture capital supporting a sustainable, gender equal and green Nordic transition?”
“This question has been debated during the democracy festivals as the region is in constant global competition for attracting new and innovative solutions. It stands clear that a Nordic forum for alignment of venture capital challenges and opportunities within each of the Nordic countries would strengthen and benefit the region.”
Find recording of the session here
Hard priorities and Nordic collaboration are necessary to develop sustainable mobility solutions
Mobility plays a key role if the Nordics should reach the vision to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. Mobility is also an area where we expect to see enormous changes in the years to come, affecting both transportation of people and goods. With limited time on our hands, wise decisions have to be made.
At the Norwegian democracy festival, Arendalsuka, Nordic Innovation invited experts from the mobility and transport industry to discuss how Nordic collaboration within innovation is vital to achieving impact and results in line with the Nordic vision.
The panel discussed priorities and how to make change happen quickly enough. In which mobility areas does the Nordic region have the prerequisites to become world leading? Which criteria should future priorities be based on? Those were the overall questions raised during the debate.
In her opening remarks, Nina Egeli, Head of Program at Nordic Innovation, stated:
“In order for the Nordics to reach vision 2030 we need three things in place: a joint plan, good coordination and we need hard priorities.”
She also highlighted the importance of Nordic collaboration in solving future challenges:
“I think the Nordics are moving towards a new ‘heyday’. The wide array of challenges that we are facing is driving us together as a region. With climate and energy crisis, the pandemic, war in Europe and supply chain issues as prominent examples.”
“In the Nordic region collaborative traditions and structures are already in place, as well as the necessary trust base which gives cross-border collaboration initiatives a head start. Also, with the global challenges we are facing today, it is only natural to search for proximity and collaboration partners that are near and familiar to ourselves.”
Find recording of the session here
Nordic Innovation at the democracy festivals 2023
Through ten events spread over three Nordic countries, Nordic Innovation has contributed to the democratic conversation by inviting people to engage in a broad variety of topics within innovation and Nordic collaboration. We want to thank everyone who participated in our events. Whether you were involved in a panel discussion or came as a visitor, we appreciate your engagement and interest in Nordic Innovation.
"We are proud to participate with Nordic innovation's project in the Nordic tent. Together with our Nordic colleagues, we create a place for accessibility, conversations and meetings with the public and all our partners."
"For us, it is important to participate in the democracy festivals together with partners from our programs and conduct dialogue about concrete current dilemmas. We see it as a great opportunity to network, make new contacts, gather inspiration and communicate our project results," says Lena Henriksson, Head of Communication at Nordic Innovation.
See you next Summer!