Disclaimer: This article is targeted mainly for our Finnish readers. We’re working to survey the effects of the Vigo accelerator program on the Finnish startup ecosystem. Other nationalities will surely find it useful once we release the results.
Vigo accelerator program has been a much debated issue here in Finland. Rightly so. It has been promoted with a lot of noise and much to its cause, it is the biggest change in the startup ecosystem for years. Now that it has been up and running for a while, we’d like to know every Finnish reader’s opinion on the program and what you think and know of it. Continue reading »
The Nordic and Baltic startup scenes have come of age and ArcticStartup has grown with them. Much has been done, but there’s still much to do. I will outline some of the changes, improvements and future plans below, but there’s one message above else that should take priority: We are looking for a new member to fill big boots in our team. We are looking for a full-time co-editor for Sweden. This role is a big deal and it will also command equal compensation.
We will offer a modest monthly salary and equity for a suitable candidate who is a real self-starter and can take the lead in the Swedish market building a strong editorial side-by-side with the team in Finland, as well as develop the monetization and business areas, which we will identify together. We expect you to have:
Some previous writing experience (a personal blog or articles in other publications)
An interest in reporting on breaking stories
Familiarity with the Web and online business
Fluency in Swedish and English
An interest in entrepreneurship
An interest not only in journalism, but also in monetizing an online media
Also:
Previous work or connections with advertisers are a plus
We don’t care so much about what you have done before, but want to hear what you will do in the future as the co-editor of ArcticStartup. Send your application to editor(at)arcticstartup.com by 20 December 2009.
The co-editor will join a strong team. Antti Vilpponen has taken on an important role as our new CEO making sure the business stays on course. Antti will also have an active role writing stories just as before, and will keep our product development on schedule. What product development, I hear you asking.
We recognize that there are a number of ways we could help out the startups in their journey from an idea to a successful business. We have watched the space for quite a while and have subsequently identified the areas we believe we can really help out. It’s still early days regarding the product and we’ll be sure to let you try it, see it and comment on it when there’s something ready. I’m happy to announce that Karri Saarinen will lead our product development with the help of the rest of the team.
Further, Hendrik Morkel has joined us as our new cleantech writer to take the growing cleantech editorial forward with Päivi Kangasmäki and myself. Nick Mueller has also joined us to cover Sweden. We are really excited to welcome both writers to our editorial team (see everybody’s bios here). Welcome guys!
On the same note, we are sad to inform you that our Sweden correspondent Paula Marttila has left the team. We thank Paula for her invaluable contribution and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
ArcticStartup will be travelling to Tampere to tap into the entrpreneurial buzz there we’ve heard so much of. The evening will be an interesting one wrapped around the theme of Networking and Pitching. More specifically, we’ll be discussing the different ways entrepreneurs can take advantage networking to grow their business. We’ll have some very practical advice from industry heavy weights and local entrepreneurs. Continue reading »
We’ve never been too shy to promote our advertising solutions in the past and nor are we now! We’ve begun our autumn period with a very nice gain in our visitor statistics which only mean that there is a lot of demand for a media like ours. To be more specific, our visitor stats have improved over 60% compared to our July/August statistics. This of course makes our job easier here at ArcticStartup, but also guarantees a lot of great visibility for our advertising partners. We’re very proud to say that our monthly banner spots aren’t spoiled with high prices – they’re selling for only 400 € a month, that’s a mere 100€ a week!
Why am I bragging about our advertising solutions to you then? Well, I want to make an offer. The fastest to sign up with us in the coming weeks will be guaranteed to have their future ads running at 400€ a month, while the slower ones will have to dig a little deeper. We’re planning to re-check our prices in the coming month for the winter, so for all those thinking about the possibility of advertising with us – think no further, get in touch with sales@arcticstartup.com and we’ll be glad to tell you more.
We’re currently servicing close to 40 000 pageviews a month from over 100 countries. Just to be clear, these visitors aren’t the yellow press type, they stay on site and read – our average visit duration is over 1 minute 30 seconds. On top of the banner visibility, you’ll also get noticed in the two blog posts monthly where we thank our sponsors with a little custom message they may have to the startup community. So if you wish to reserve your spot in the sun, don’t hesitate to contact sales@arcticstartup.com or send us an inquiry through the contact form.
Arctic summer is in mid-season but ArcticStartup goes forward. I’m excited to present our new design which I have been working with for a while.
Our goal with the design was to make the content more appealing and declutter the site. In addition to design, I revisited our whole Wordpress installation, plugins and files to make the site faster and cleaner.
Another big change is that, due of requests from our readers, the content is now tabbed into categories: Digital (the ‘classic’ ArcticStartup) and Cleantech.
Discussion is something we very much like to encourage here in ArcticStartup. For that reason, comments are now threaded and separated from trackbacks. We’re also planning to bring some other improvements to make the discussion more meaningful.
If you need to browse older posts, the Archive is back. Team page is now merged with About page.
So what do you think? Did we nail it, or do you still prefer the old design? Give us your feedback, either to info at arcticstartup dot com or in comments.
ArcticStartup is continually growing and want to offer more to our readers. Päivi is doing great job covering the clean tech sector, but we feel that there are still a lot of startups that deserve to get coverage.
That in mind we want to open applications for a full position for a writer who know the software industry’s ins and outs. The emphasis is on business-to-business software (B2B), since historically that is the biggest exit market in the region and there is currently happening a lot in the space.
Naturally this means that you understand the technology and have an interest in the field. Ideally you would be interested in covering the larger Scandinavian and Baltic scene, but by no means is that a requisite. So if you swim deep in your home country’s software startup scene, that’s enough. If we find people in different countries interested in covering their own market, we might take on board more than one writer. We also see it as a big plus is you’re willing to do a video interviews here and there. Again, you don’t have to be a professional blogger or writer by any means: passion and industry knowledge is all it takes.
We can not pay you money at the moment, but as any startups we can offer you other perks along side with the high visibility you would naturally get as a profilic writer and a solid member of our editorial team. If you’re still reading, are interested to become an integral part of ArcticStartup team and think you’d fit the bill, write to us at info[at]arcticstartup.com. We know there’s a lot of talent in our readership and we’d love to hear from all of you!
Every company needs to grow and evolve or die, and so do we. Similarly no matter how many readers one has, she should always aim to improve the publication. And since we are writing this for you guys we would like to know what you’d like to read on ArcticStartup in the future, what you’d like to see more of and what less of. To walk to talk, we follow Neil Patel’s advice on TechCrunch and ask you directly:
On a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is most likely), how likely is it that you would recommend this blog to a friend or colleague?
How did you hear about it?
What led you to become a subscriber, versus just reading an article and leaving like everybody else? (Or, if you’re not a subscriber, what would it take to convince you?)
What do you hope to see here in the future?
Do let us know what you think in the comments or email us at info [at] arcticstartup.com. Even though we do have our own vision on where to take the blog, every opinion counts and we value your feedback tremendeusly. Along with all the startups out there, you’re the reason why we write this blog so please let us know where you’d like to see it evolve. Be vocal and lound. Now’s the change to influence what your getting in the future. Thank you! …and yes, we do love our job :)
The search has ended and we are happy to announce our Editor for our clean tech section. We received numerous high quality applications (Thank you everybody who applied!) and chose the one we thought was the best fit for ArcticStartup.
We welcome Päivi Kangasmäki to our team to be heading our reporting on the world of clean technology startup in the Northern Europe. We feel very fortunate to have her join our ranks.
Päivi is currently working as a Business Development Manager in Cleantech sector at Lahti Science and Business Park, where her current work is to build up and to boost the Finnish cleantech companies in their early stages.
She worked for financial industry for over 12 years. Her experience covers treasury and asset management, and both venture capital and equity market. Her entrepreneurship background includes developing of angel and venture backed brokerage house in Finland.
We have been slowly developing ArcticIndex with KiskoLabs to make it even more useful for the Nordic and Baltic entrepreneurship community, which seems to grow bigger and stronger by the day.
ArcticIndex is the primary information resource of Nordic and Baltic startups and the entrepreneurs behind them. It’s effectively your one stop shop for getting the latest information on the companies and people region, whatever your need.
The platform has developed nicely and the latest addition to the service, a job board, is starting to get traction and we’re seeing more and more activity in there.
Go and check out some very exciting opportunities that have been posted on the Job Board or post your own (here).
Update: The deadline is extended until May 13th.
The conference agenda can now be downloaded from the event home page (or use this PDF direct link).
ArcticStartup is proud to present an opportunity for all Baltic and Nordic startups to connect with and pitch to venture capitalists and compete for great prizes.
In alignment with the Second Annual Tallinn Conference organized by The International Technology Law Association in collaboration with Enterprise Estonia, ArcticStartup is cooperating to organize an Elevator Pitch Business Plan Contest with support from Connect Estonia. The contest is held in Tallinn, Estonia on May 26, 2009.
Prizes:
One full day of law consulting with Fish & Richardson P.C., Silicon Valley, worth $6000. The prize can be used as the winner wishes, e.g., to incorporate a subsidiary to establish operations in Silicon Valley. The consultation can be done in person or by Skype or Polycom video. Consultation with the Munich office of Fish & Richardson P.C. may also be included, subject to availability and requirements of the contest winner.
One full day of law consulting with Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, worth $3000, to be used as the winner wishes. The consultation can be done in person (location negotiable) or by Skype or Polycom video.
The jury:
Martin Hauge, Managing Director, Creandum, Stockholm
Allan Martinson, Managing Director, MTVP, Tallinn
Artturi Tarjanne, Managing Director, Nexit Ventures, Helsinki
Rick Marshall, Managing Director, Intelligent Capital, San Francisco
Sten Tamkivi , Chief Evangelist, Skype, Tallinn
Ott Parna, Managing Director, Estonian Development Fund, Tallinn
Richard Allan Horning, Principal, Fish & Richardson P.C., Silicon Valley
Growth-oriented technology startups from all Nordic and Baltic countries are welcomed to apply. Five firms will be selected to present a 5-minute pitch at the event. The judging criteria include the expected success of the firm, growth potential, differentiation and competitive advantage, risk and financial viability, and the management team.
Please note the contest rules and other information in the Invitation. Any questions about the contest can be sent to miikka(at)arcticstartup(dot)com.
Please send your application toevents(at)arcticstartup(dot)com latest by May 13th 6:00 PM EET. Finalists will be announced on May 14th.
Coaching and training for preparing the pitches are available to all chosen finalists prior to the contest, provided by Connect Estonia and members of the International Technology Law Association Luiga Mody Hääl Borenius and Raidla Lejins & Norcous, either online, in Tallinn, or in the participants’ home country, depending on possibilities.
Not only did we held a very succesfull ArcticEvening event in Stockholm last week, we are also very exited to announce that Paula Marttila will join our editorial board from Stockholm, Sweden.
Paula is an online strategist who loves Jaiku and all electronics with an Apple logo. A Finn living in Sweden. She’s also survivor of the 24 Hour Business Camp and co-organizer of the Geek Girl Meetup in Stockholm, Sweden. Previously she spent eight years on developing online media and payment services at Aftonbladet, the largest daily newspaper in Sweden. At the moment she’s helping out at Swedish Skincare System.
Paula will direct most of her attention on what is happening in the Swedish startup scene since she knows the ins and outs of the scene. Paula is a great addition to the team as currently we are slightly Finland heavy, but now Paula will balance the game. Warm welcome to the team Paula! We’re lucky to have you.
If you think you have a startup based in Sweden and think you are the next big thing, register your startup at ArcticIndex (here) and then email Paula at info[at]arcticstartup.com and write your company name followed by Sweden on the subject line and she will take a close look at what you’re cooking.
Small Change Venture Capital is launching MicroFundr which will invest up to €14,000 Euros (USD $18,500) in Micro blogging start-ups and uses Twitter for funding process.
The Invest Fund raised just under €14 million (USD $18m) from a group of small banks and informal investors. A joint group of European blogs, including ArcticStartup(that’s us!), The Next Web, TechCrunch Europe and TechCrunch France are happy to announce the launch of the MicroFundr investment fund aimed at European small, mini and micro start-ups. We are honored to be part of such a high quality group of European blogs.
We are also excited about the new innovative way a startup can submit its application – via Twitter! As this was presented ot us it only made sense, since the best startups can communicate all they need to only in a few slides anyway, so why not to use something that helps the startups to be consice. We reiterate what Dick Vogels, VP for Small Change Venture Capital, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, says:
ArcticStartup is evolving as any healthy venture needs to. After talking to a lot of our readers we are ready to expand our editorial scope towards covering more of what all of us here are so passionate about, not just one industry but startups in general.
We chose the direction that we’re most excited about apart from the area that we already cover. We’re going for cleantech (or greentech depending on what you want to call it)! Irrispective of what you call it, we are now looking for a writer to join our ranks here at ArcticStartup and be a full fledged member of our editorial team.
Not just any blogger though. We are looking for the same passion that drive us each and every day. Naturally, we expect you to know the area of expertise and have something to show for it, be it a job, a resume, magazine articles, a blog, an event you organized, you name it. We are not particularly interested what you’ve done or what you do, as long as you’re passionate about cleantech and everything around it, and want to share what’s happening in the cleantech startup industry in the Northern Europe with our readers.
Some of you might have justified fear what happens to the current editorial that revolves around internet, mobile software startups and growth entrepreneurship. It gets stronger, that’s what! Each week we get a deeper and better view into the Northern European internet and mobile startup industry and each day we are more excited about it. We keep blogging and pushing the scene stronger than ever, now we just have the Northern Europen cleantech startup industry growing with us.
Long story short, If you understand cleantech, are passionate about cleantech startups and would like to share your insight with the world, write to us at info[at]arcticstartup.com. There’s 30 000+ page views a month and 130+ countries following after all, so you’re set for a wide readership. If you’re not sure whether you qualify, write to us anyway. If in doubt whether you know enough about the startup industry in cleantech, write to us anyway. Only thing we absolutely require is passion.
Kind of a catchy title, but it caught your eye – right? Dopplr has just added a new feature titled the Social Atlas. Social Atlas is a simple, yet very useful tool for sharing the places you’ve been to and liked.
It’s an ingenious step towards a new model for sharing and suggesting places around the world. Once you have large anough group of people who share places with you they’ve been to and liked – Dopplr is able to start using these recommendations to filter the locations and make them more relevant and useful for you. A simple, crowdsourced, alternative for a recommendation engine.
We’ve also had a chat with our friends at Dopplr and created a group called ArcticStartup. Feel free to join the group and share your travels with us. The reason is simple – you can see the whereabouts of other people in the field and if you happen to be in the same city, go for a beer. This falls well inline with our mission to enable and promote entrepreneurship in the Nordics and Baltics through better networking. Enjoy!
Here’s some sights, sounds and sentiments from ArcticEvening that was held this Tuesday in Dubrovnik, Helsinki. As Antti wrote, the event was a real success. The next one is going to take place in Stockholm, Sweden on the 2nd April. Hope to see a lot of people coming together across the Nordics and Baltics to meet the Swedish startup scene. I can reveal that the event’s topic will revolve around the future of mobile and startups. More on that later. Thanks again for showing up this Tuesday. We love you people.
ArcticEvening – 3rd March 2009 from CityVice on Vimeo.
Also, write to us at sales[at]arcticstartup.com if you’d be interested in Sponsorship opportunities for the ArcticEvenings. Thanks!
Sponsors
Our event is made available by our Sponsors. Do take time to get to know them – they are one of the most interesting organisations in the industry. We hand pick our sponsors to bring value to the evenings – these guys are truly worth your time.
Sombiz
Sombiz is a Social Media Business Network of Finnish social media & Web 2.0 companies, research institutions, and other organisations and individuals operating in the field of social media.
Sombiz provides a network for organisations to collaborate, learn from each other, and create partnerships. By connecting business with research Sombiz is stimulating the creation of new innovations. The ultimate goal for Sombiz is to find new business opportunities and help companies to grow and go international.
Sombiz operates as a thematic network of the Finnish Digibusiness Cluster and is a part of the government funded Centre of Expertise Programme (OSKE). In 2008 the building of the Sombiz network was selected as the national “OSKE Top Project”. The project is funded by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
Hammarström Puhakka Partners
Hammarström Puhakka Partners, Attorneys Ltd is a law firm specialised in business law. The firm has a good corporate practice with experienced M&A advisers acting constantly for domestic and cross-border clients. Specialists provide M&A services to public and private companies relating to assignments concerning private equity and venture capital transactions. The firm is constantly involved with complex transactions in connection with private equity firms and experienced in advising private equity/venture capital investors in divesting their investments.
Vera Venture
Veraventure Ltd is a public venture capital company making investments in innovative Finnish enterprises at their early stages. Veraventure is fully owned by its parent company Finnvera Plc.
Disclaimer: This article is targeted mainly for our Finnish readers. We’re working to survey the effects of the Vigo accelerator program on the Finnish startup ecosystem. Other nationalities will surely find it useful once we release the results.
The Nordic and Baltic startup scenes have come of age and ArcticStartup has grown with them. Much has been done, but there’s still much to do. I will outline some of the changes, improvements and future plans below, but there’s one message above else that should take priority: We are looking for a new member to fill big boots in 
Arctic summer is in mid-season but ArcticStartup goes forward. I’m excited to present our new design which I have been working with for a while.
ArcticStartup is continually growing and want to offer more to our readers. 
Every company needs to grow and evolve or die, and so do we. Similarly no matter how many readers one has, she should always aim to improve the publication. And since we are writing this for you guys we would like to know what you’d like to read on ArcticStartup in the future, what you’d like to see more of and what less of. To walk to talk, we follow Neil Patel’s 
The search has ended and we are happy to announce our Editor for our clean tech section. We received numerous high quality applications (Thank you everybody who applied!) and chose the one we thought was the best fit for ArcticStartup.
Not only did we held a very succesfull ArcticEvening event in Stockholm last week, we are also very exited to announce that 
Small Change Venture Capital is launching MicroFundr which will invest up to €14,000 Euros (USD $18,500) in Micro blogging start-ups and uses Twitter for funding process.
Kind of a catchy title, but it caught your eye – right? 
Unita
Arch Red Oy
