Growth Companies Accounted For Half Of Employment Effect In Finland Between 2006-2009
As our partnership with Nexit Ventures is coming to an end, so are the items we'll be covering. In the second last item we're covering - we'll focus on the importance of startups in an ecosystem, such as Finland in this case with recently published data. The importance of growth companies to an ecosystem is mostly known by the entrepreneurs running these companies. They see the potential that so many others fail to see. The data in this post should strike as interesting to many, to say the least.
Mobile Computing Revolution
Mobile computing is said to be the third step in the evolution away from smartphones, according to a recent report by Morgan Keegan. We got our hands on this as part of our partnership with Nexit Ventures, who know this stuff by hard and have realised the potential there is in the market place. Mobile computing is thought to be the next step after the mobile investment theme, which succeeded the smartphone investment theme. Why is this significant then for investors and entrepreneurs alike?
Angel And Seed Rounds Increase In Size In The US
Fenwick and West have published another study full of interesting information regarding angel investments in the US. In the study titled Angel and Seed Financing survey in the internet/digital media and software industries they analysed the size of the rounds in 2010 as well as who lead the rounds among other things. There are some interesting findings here that possibly signal of new things in the horizon.
Venture Capital In Finland In 2010
In our previous story with Nexit Ventures we talked about how 2010 was a good year for venture capital in the US. This time, we're digging into the state of the venture capital industry in Finland. I again, turned to Artturi Tarjanne for some research data on the situation. Overall in Finland, 97 million euro worth of venture capital investments were made. This is little over 4% increase from 2009 when 93 million euros worth of VC investments saw day light.
2010 Was A Good Year For Venture Capital
I turned to Nexit Ventures for opinions on 2010 for the venture capital industry. I received both comments and a lot of good research data regarding VC investments in the US. The data is based on Fenwick's recent survey on Q4 VC activity. In short, 2010 was a good year for venture capital. Almost all metrics were pointing higher, except for one: raising funds for venture capitalists was still difficult and was at its lowest since 2003.
The Maths Behind Venture Capital
I want to be fully honest about this, but I'm really thrilled to be sharing information like this so openly about the venture capital business with the help of Nexit Ventures about the mathematics behind the venture capital business. While it's pretty straight forwards on a basic level, it's great to get these figures actually with comments from an actual investor. In this post, we'll look at the fundamental financials and why venture capitalists are looking for certain growth figures in the way they invest.
The VC Business Is Going Through A Big Change In Europe
In this post, we talk about how the venture capital industry is going through a change, perhaps one of the biggest it has had, since its founding days. By change we mean how the potential of business is diminishing to ever more smaller investors, such as angel investors. We talked about this choice from an entrepreneurs' point of view in more detail in a post back in December. Some investors in Northern Europe have gone as far as stopping new investments altogether.
2010 Mobile And Wireless Trends From The VC Perspective
As the year is coming to an end, I had a quick talk with Nexit Ventures about their view on 2010 and how the mobile and wireless space has changed and if there are any conclusions to be drawn for 2011. There are, both in terms of industry as well as deal sizes. If you've followed the startup scene in the last 12 months, these won't come to you as a surprise, but it's great to see these being acknowledged from investors as well.
Which One Should It Be - Angel Investors Or Venture Capital?
I wanted to talk to Nexit Ventures, as the year is about to come to an end, about the differences between angel investors and venture capital - how should the entrepreneur view the changing financial market, as well as what are some of the basic rules in deciding which of the alternatives in financing should the entrepreneur go for. We came up with five basic rules that differentiate angels from venture capital. Naturally these are simply generalisations and there are exceptions as always.
VC Investment Criteria
In this series, supported by Nexit Ventures, we today take a look at investment criteria that venture capitalists use to grade startups. While these are sure to slightly differ from company to company, you'll be very well off understanding the implications and criteria Nexit Ventures uses to grade their potential investments. There are six points that investors usually look at and we'll take a look at each of these in detail. The criteria are management, market potential, exit potential, business model, technology and finance.
Creating Value In High Tech - An Investors View
In our previous posts we have covered issues such as why being sold to the US is a big thing and who's doing all the buying. Another important aspect in all the M&A activity is to look at company valuations and what affects them, especially from an investor's point of view. In this post we cover valuable insight from Nexit Ventures on what creates value in startups.
To start off with, let's determine value. In basic form, there are two kinds of value - strategic and financial. Albeit financial being the one that interests most - startups have to understand that they can have two kinds of value accumulated inside their company. Below is a graph showing the strategic value curve, as well as the financial one and what affects them.
So Who's Doing The Shopping In The US? The Big Eleven
In our last post in the Nexit Ventures supported series we covered "why being sold to the US is a big deal". This time round we cover the companis and the M&A activity in more detail. Basically, there are eleven large companies who do the majority of the buying. These companies are Apple, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Qualcomm.
The big eleven are called the big eleven for the reason that their size and cash reserves enable them to do the majority of the acquisition activity in the States. There are a few key things that entrepreneurs should understand when looking at the M&A activity in the states.
Blyk Opens Office In Singapore
Blyk is looking to expand its business to Asia with the opening of its office in Singapore. Blyk, which pivoted some years back from a virtual mobile network operator to a service platform offering companies a way to talk with young adults through different campaigns, has previously built its business in Europe with Vodafone in the Netherlands and Orange in the UK. Susanna Hasenoehrl has been appointed to lead the operations in the Asia Pacific region. She has mobile industry experience from Nokia Siemens Networks, having worked in Thailand, Singapore and Germany.
Will 2010 Be The Decade Of The Mobile?
According to Nexit Ventures, the decade we're currently living, will be the decade of the mobile. Their research shows that every decade dating back to the 1960s can more or less be symbolised with a certain wave of technological development (and adoption for that matter). In the 1960s it was the mainframe computers, 1970s saw those getting smaller while 1980s to the mid 1990s was the decade of the personal computer and from there onwards we've seen the wave of desktop internet. According to Nexit's analysis 2010 onwards is strongly looking to be the decade of the mobile.
Why Being Sold To The US Is A Big Deal
Nexit Ventures is one of the most prominent mobile and wireless investors around. They naturally do a lot of research to analyse their business and opportunities. We've managed to get our hands on some of their research material and we want to share it with you. One of the key issues in venture businesses is how you build your business towards an exit (and how you prepare for it). For entrepreneurs looking at the US market, this post is good news.Blyk Closes A Whopping 17M€ Investment
The Finnish mobile media startup, Blyk, has closed a very impressive 17 million euro investment lead by Nexit Ventures and other individual investors. Blyk started off its path in 2006 as an ad supported virtual mobile operator, which was later pivoted to focusing on the mobile advertising platform as a business of its own. Blyk's revenues in the recent years have averaged around 12 to 22 million euros with over a six hundred thousand euro profit in 2009.
Reminder: ArcticEvening In Stockholm On September 7th!
ArcticEvening Stockholm is less than a week away, so it's time to mark down the 7th of September from 6pm to 10pm for a relaxing evening with like-minded entrepreneurs, investors and others in Obaren, Stureplan 2, Stockholm. We have a very interesting panel discussion lined up for the evening - it's a very high profile discussion on venture capital with professionals from Ambient Sound Investments (Estonia), Nexit Ventures (Finland) and Creandum (Sweden) on the spot to answer your questions.
ArcticEvening Stockholm - 7th of September
ArcticEvening Stockholm is just around the corner! We have a very good lineup for Stockholm in order and honestly speaking, I hope we could have this panel in Tallinn and Helsinki as well.
Our theme for Stockholm will be Venture Capital and its state in the Nordics and Baltics.
Part of the questions will be provided by the moderator, but this time we'll try something new as well. Since we have the top venture capital companies of the region in our panel - we want to open up the possibility for the community to ask your questions as well. Therefore, do leave your questions in the comments of this post and we'll pick the best and most suitable ones.
Rightware Buys Futuremark's Mobile Unit And Closes A €3m Investment
Finnish startup Rightware acquires Futuremark's mobile and embedded business unit.
Rightware is really a spin-off from Futuremark that was just founded at the end of 2009. At the same time the company announced the deal with Futuremark, they announced a closing of a €3m investment from Inventure and Nexit Ventures.
With the funding, Rightware will accelerate development and marketing of Kanzi. Kanzi is a taylor made solution specifically for mobile phones and automotive applications as well as Futuremark’s established device performance measurement products and services for mobile and embedded industries. Kanzi enables manufacturers of mobile phones and automotive display & infotainment systems to create richer and more intuitive user interfaces in radically less time than it takes with conventional tools and methods.
Michel Wendell On The Big Opportunities In The Mobile Space (Video)
We bumped into Michel Wendell of Nexit Ventures (a VC firm focusing on mobile and wireless communication) during our Silicon Valley trip and asked him where does Nexit Ventures see the next big opportunities in the mobile space. See the video below.
Nexit Ventures Invests In Open Smartphone Platform
Today Nexit Ventures announced an investment of €3 million to a Finnish Oulu based Aava Mobile (PDF here).
Aava Mobile develops smartphone platform designs based on open technologies such as Linux and Android. The open platform technology will provide more flexibility for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and mobile operators to incorporate their own brand, user interface, content, and services into the devices.
The platform includes both hardware and core software components, and thus according to the companys accelerates the development of new handset models significantly. Similarily flexibility of the open platform design brings new business opportunities for application developers as well as mobile operators.
We did an video interview with Artturi Tarjanne, General Partner at Nexit Ventures, just before the news on Aava Mobile broke. You can find the video here and here.
Artturi Tarjanne of Nexit Ventures: Finland Has Superior Technology Skills
Last week I talked to Artturi Tarjanne, a venture capitalist and a General Partner at Nexit Ventures in Helsinki, Finland.
You can find the first part of the interview here. In the second part (see video below) we discussed on what kind of companies Nexit is looking for and how you can approach Nexit if you're a startup.
We touched on the quality of current and past deal flow in Finland. Tarjanne told me that even if we may lack in business skills vis-a-vis say the US, our technology skills are very strong even compared the Silicon Valley. This is the same message that for example Richard Allan Horning, a Principal at Fish and Richardson, a very prominent law firm in Silicon Valley, echoed in Tallinn just last week when we met him.
Video Interview With Artturi Tarjanne of Nexit Ventures (Part I)
Venture Capital is in flux. Some say it's frozen over and funds are pulling back, and some say it's the best time to invest and find the next Googles and Facebooks. Everyone, including us , has an opinion on the topic.
Earlier this week I talked to Artturi Tarjanne of Nexit Ventures and asked what Nexit is doing in the current down market. Tarjanne has been one of the most active actors in the Finnish venture capital market and pivotal in building the emerging US-style venture capital market in Finland. We talked about how Tarjanne ended up to be a venture capitalist, what lead to Limbo to merge with Brightkite and why Nexit Ventures operates in two very different locations: here in the Nordics as well as in the Silicon Valley. We also discussed Nexit's investment strategy and how they see the current handset market. Check out the video below.
Conformiq Closes 3 Million Euro in Funding, Goes After Global Markets
Despite the economical climate and the horde of naysayers, a Finnish based software company, Comformiq secures 3 million euros in investment round lead by Nexit Ventures Oy. Funding mainly comes from Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy(‘Finland’s industry investment Ltd’) and unclosed group of US angel investors.
According to their press release, with this new funding, Comformiq plans to transfer its business executives to US, but retain the product development in Espoo, Finland. Apparently they are also getting a new CEO, A .K. Kalekos, and former CEO, Antti Huima, will step down to CTO.
Conformiq focuses in model-based testing tools, with their main product Conformiq Qtronic. The real innovation with this product is that usually you would need to write tests, but Conformiq Qtronic generates and executes tests itself based on the design model. A recent study(pdf warning) suggested that Test-Driven Development(TDD) takes 15-35% longer but leads to 40-90% fewer bugs. Conformiq says that they can decrease development time by speeding up the test design by 20-fold.
It’s great to see yet another funded software company that breaks free from the arctic blizzard. As myself, I see the software industry as a something what we arctic dwellers could really excel in global scale. Hopefully more great people and funding find this sector.
Axel Technologies Raises EUR 2.4M for Mobile TV Technology Commercialization
Axel Technologies, a Finnish multistandard mobile TV technology startup, has received EUR 2.4 million Series B investment from Nexit Ventures and Finnish Industry Investment Ltd. The investors are the same as in the first round approx a year ago. The funding will be used to strengthen Axel’s sales and marketing operations to cover the global market, and to "intensify R&D efforts focused on anticipated developments in the mobile TV market", i.e., bridging the gap between the fragmented regional and global mobile TV technology solutions and standards.
Axel Technologies develops mobile TV technology enabling device manufactures to bring mobile TV to all portable devices, like mobile internet devices, portable media players, netbooks, and car navigators. Axel claims to support all most important mobile TV standards, and provides also Java and native UI client with features like service guide, purchases, live TV and on-demand video. Axel also statedly has the world’s only authentic DVB-H field test network.
So far mobile TV hasn't taken off that well globally outside Japan and South Korea, although Axel Technologies' press release quotes estimates that mobile TV subscribers are forecasted to reach 250 million by 2010. There are quite a many obstacles still in getting profitable business running around mobile TV, though, as the value chain is pretty long and complex with many stakeholders (manufacturers, wireless carriers, content providers, technology providers, broadcasters, ...). Even in South Korea the popular services are apparently not profitable. Anyway, Axel aims to remove the technology bottleneck, after which "the content offered by broadcasters and operators will determine the success of the service” as Pekka Salonoja, General Partner of Nexit Ventures and the Chairman of Axel Technologies, comments.
Full press release.
Axel Technologies Gets Venture Funding
Nexit Ventures, a venture capital firm stating to offer Nordic mobile companies a bridge to Silicon Valley markets, has announced an investment in Axel Technologies, a Finnish developer of mobile TV technologies. Other investor in the funding round led by Nexit is the company’s existing investor, a government-owned investment company Finnish Industry Investment Ltd. According to ITviikko the round was worth over one million euros.
Axel Technologies will use the financing to growth and internationalization, focus being on developing sales, marketing, and customer support.
The company provides mobile TV middleware and client solutions, and is targeting to get on the wave of first commercial digital mobile DVB-H standard TV services expected to be launched in Europe during 2008. So far there have been only 3G-based services available.
According to Pekka Salonoja, General Partner, Nexit Ventures, Axel Technologies is already one of top five developers of mobile TV middleware globally, customers including AMD and Thomson. Potential clients for the firm are mobile phone manufacturers, semiconductor suppliers, and mobile operators.
Nexit Ventures' press release.
