There’s Riivo Anton giving tips on how much money to raise, from whom etc.  Martin Goroško, the new lead investor for EstBAN syndicate for sTARTUp Day 2022, explaining on how to choose the best investor for your company, Yrjö Ojasaar, Will Cardwell and  Saga Forss getting more technical on fundraising terms and contracts and many more experts sharing their know-how so YOU, a current or future founder would have the necessary tools to get yourself ready for growing your company using angel investors and help from venture capitalists. 

See the videos here, give them a go in a random order, back to back or however you wish. There is gold in each one of them.

In case you have any additional questions or wish to raise funding from EstBAN angels, drop us a line and fill out an application! For FiBAN, check out their webpage and get in contact here.

Happy viewing! 

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It was amazing to see so many people face-to-face as opposed to through the screen and have a good time before the summer holidays! The collaboration between EstBAN and FiBAN has been ongoing for years within different projects and everyday communication, and it is evident that there will be more in the future. During New Nordic Leads 133 startups participated in the trainings, 96 mentors from across borders were involved in the program, so it is safe to say that there are ties formed for the long-run.

More than 30 speakers spoke at the 16 trainings and meetups. Several startups received funding during the program – Raiku and VocalImage as the latest additions, and gained a lot of international attention by the investors. Here’s to more success stories from those 133 companies to be heard in the nearby future! Photos by Wasim Al-Nasser, FiBAN

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Estonian-based startup Vocal Image App was crowned as the most promising startup of New Nordic Leads program’s last batch – an investment readiness program led by FiBAN and EstBAN. The final pitch took place at Latitude59 event in Tallinn, where the top ten startups took the stage in front of international investors.

Vocal Image provides a speech training and voice therapy app for speakers and singers. The jury consisting of three experts, Turo Numminen (Partner at Sofokus Ventures), Marko Kuisma (Partner at Courage Ventures Funds) and Aive Uus (Founder and CEO at Kofounder) was convinced by their clear value proposition, product and the well-motivated team with a proven ability to execute ambitious plans.

“Vocal Image had a clear value proposition in the field of education and self-development. Covid has increased the amount of vocal “knowledge” and expertise needed, and trends point out even more vocal and visual communication in the future, so the market is growing fast”, describes Turo Numminen the discussions made in the jury.

“The product has gained good traction in more than one market, but growth is only beginning. Unlocking the US market will be a big market opportunity while other languages are also good opportunity to expand to less competed markets”, describes Turo Numminen.

Nick Lahoika, CEO at Vocal Image tells that joining New Nordic Leads became a great opportunity to meet new people and build relationships: “We are surprised by the speakers and mentors’ high level and program organization quality. Even though we had received funding before, we got a lot of new insights and knowledge about fundraising. The main value of the program is people; it gave us the fantastic opportunity to build strong connections with real professionals.”, says Nick Lahoika, CEO at Vocal Image.

Interested in Vocal Image?

If you are interested in discussions with Vocal Image, please contact Anu Oks or Johanna Ahtiainen. You can also meet the top startups, and investors at the New Nordic Leads summer kickoff event in Helsinki during the Artic15 week on June 8th, 16:00-18:00!

Register here.

More information:

Johanna Ahtiainen, Training & Development Manager, FiBAN
johanna@fiban.org

Anu Oks, Managing Director, EstBAN
anu@estban.ee

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The post Vocal Image App awarded the best startup in New Nordic Leads batch 4 appeared first on EstBAN.

During the 8-week program these promising startups will go through a series of training sessions and talks that provide the founders know-how and tools on attracting angel investors. The covered topics include e.g. investors’ mindset, founders’ health, performance management, and startup financials. Altogether 42 mentors will be supporting the startups with 1-on-1 mentoring tailor-made for each startups’ needs. You can find the list of our New Nordic Leads trainers and topics here.

In May, the most promising startups pitch at the Latitude59 side event in Tallinn with the aim of successfully closing a cross-border deal.

Startups in Batch 4 

Aerospace
Missing-Link

Blockchain
Cryplect

Cleantech
Achuk Environmental Solutions, NOETON

Edtech
Big Ear Games, Corrsy,  Kodarit, UpMatched, Virtual Dawn, Vocal Image

Energy
Greenele, Rexplorer, Soleaas

E-commerce
Manfli

Fintech
Fintellect, Haslle, PriyoShop, SigningSerivces, WineFortune, Xuach

Food, Beverage & Wellness
Ketokamu

Healthcare & Medical Devices
CureAIR, ONIT Sport, Razgovor.mk, SmartClast, Vilim ball 

HR and employment
MARLEQ, RecruitLab, todZ

 Manufacturing
ReFaMo Oy

Maritime
Harbour AR

Marketing
Muna.io

Transportation and construction
GlobalTech Group, Machineric

Travel & Hospitality
HotelBuddy

Congratulations to all selected teams, let’s make your New Nordic Leads journey an awesome one!

New Nordic Leads creates cross-border opportunities by sharing best practices, educating lead angels, and improving startups’ investment readiness. This project is put together by FiBAN and EstBAN and is fueled by Central Baltic Interreg.

More information: 

Johanna Ahtiainen, Training & Development Manager, FiBAN
johanna@fiban.org

Anu Oks, Managing Director, EstBAN
anu@estban.ee

The post New Nordic Leads: Announcing the flourishing startups of Batch 4! first appeared on EstBAN.

The post New Nordic Leads: Announcing the flourishing startups of Batch 4! appeared first on EstBAN.

Helsinki-based eMobility API platform eMabler has raised €630,000 in funding from several angel investors, Sofokus Ventures, Nidoco AB, and Business Finland. The funding will be used to continue developing and commercializing its software, and further drive growth in the Nordics and rest of Europe.

In the fall 2020, eMabler took part in the 8-week New Nordic Leads program aiming at improving investment readiness of startups based in the New Nordic countries. CEO and Co-Founder Juha Stenberg tells he is content with the mentoring and facilitation that the program offered:

“We were really pleased with the program, and the timing was perfect for us as we just started our fundraising after the program. New Nordic Leads is a valuable hands-on program regardless if you are fundraising for the first time or have previous experience”, says Stenberg.

Accelerating the electrification of transportation

eMabler has developed a SaaS API-first platform that makes it fast and simple for energy companies, electric vehicle operators, infrastructure service providers and charge point manufacturers to integrate electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure into their other business systems such as mobile applications, existing customer base platforms, and payment solutions.

For the drivers of electric vehicles, a smoother user experience is created by the ability to seamlessly use charging stations from different operators with just one mobile app and get billed in just one place.

“Our primary goal is to help our customers improve the user experience of charging, accelerating the electrification of transportation,” tells Stenberg.

“Electric vehicle charging needs to be as convenient and reliable for the consumer as filling up the tank with fuel. Our primary goal is to help our customers improve the user experience of charging, accelerating the electrification of transportation,” tells Stenberg.

Convenient payment benefits both eMobility operators as well as EV drivers

Electrification of transportation impacts positively on the climate as fossil fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions decrease. Founded in 2019, eMabler’s notable customers include the Finnish infrastructure service company Destia and the Norwegian electric vehicle charging company Movel.

Complex charging environments pose challenges for electric vehicle drivers. For example, Finland has more than 10 different charging applications and new ones are constantly released. With eMabler, it is possible to pay for charging with existing payment applications or through other services. All charging applications don’t require registration. Convenient payment benefits both eMobility operators as well as EV drivers.

“The electrification of transport requires an actor that can unify the entire ecosystem and create new possibilities through API economy models. We have many values and ideas in common with the eMabler team. We want to help advance the company’s story through both the investment and especially our expertise on developing digital business,” says Turo Numminen, Partner at Sofokus Ventures.

More information:

Juha Stenberg
CEO, eMabler
juha@emabler.com
www.emabler.com

The post New Nordic Leads participant and eMobility software startup eMabler raises €630k in funding first appeared on EstBAN.

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In the second batch of New Nordic Leads, we are proud to have a record-breaking number of countries represented. Altogether 34 teams come from eight countries: Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Romania. We are especially proud that female or mixed-gender founder teams make up 30% of the teams accepted to the program, which exceeds the recent European average of 15,4% (of teams that raised funding in 2020, source: Atomico).

8 weeks, 34 startups, 4 training sessions

During the next two months, these 34 rising startups will attend 4 investment readiness training sessions designed to give them the best know-how and tools to attract investors and boost growth. Throughout the program, EstBAN and FIBAN angel investors will be supporting these innovative startups with 1-on-1 mentoring tailor-made for each startups’ needs. At the end of the 8-week investment readiness program, the top startups will pitch to potential investors with the aim of successfully closing a cross-border deal!

Together with experienced angel investors and industry experts, we help startups acquire more knowledge on the areas they need help in, such as different funding instruments and performance management. You can find the list of our New Nordic Leads trainers and topics here. 

Are you a startup interested in joining the next batch? You can apply to the third batch, which will start in Autumn 2021. Apply HERE. 

Investor, are you interested in enhancing your lead angel skills through hands-on case studies? Join our upcoming lead angel training sessions: 

April 21st – NNL Masterclass no. 1 – Step-by-step syndication process. Read more and sign up here!

June 9th – NNL Masterclass no. 2 – Due Diligence: Digging in Case Studies with investors. Read more and sign up here! 

About New Nordic Leads: 

New Nordic Leads creates cross-border opportunities by sharing best practices, educating lead angels and improving startups’ investment readiness. This project is put together by FiBAN and EstBAN and is fueled by Central Baltic Interreg.

More information: 

Johanna Ahtiainen, johanna@fiban.org

Anu Oks, anu@estban.ee

The post New Nordic Leads Batch 2 kick off! first appeared on EstBAN.

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