Posts tagged:

week in review

Week In Review: Wherever You Go, There You Are

by Nick Mueller, December 11, 2009 — 1 Comment

buddha-head-handIf you’re an entrepreneur in the Northern Europe (and if you’re reading this, you probably are) you should be feeling pretty good about now. For example, growth companies are now the largest employers in Finland, and it turns out working in Silicon Valley isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. So much innovation gets started here, it’s not even funny. Companies like Stereoscape that push the frontiers of 3D movies, and Investors like Richard Youngman, who tells you where future developments are coming from (and why this big meeting in Copenhagen isn’t that important afterall). Just be sure to avoid the 10 most common mistakes entrepreneurs make, and you’ll be sitting pretty.

The Voxstone VoxTrac acoustic gas line measurement devices are selling like hotcakes!

Finland based AW-Energy harnesses energy from the motion of the ocean.

Even when it’s really cold in Finland, Beneq thinks the thinnest possible coatings are the best.

Steam Republic wants to help bands bring music directly to their fans.

Spotify wants to bring any music they can to fans in the US.

Netcycler -for all the free stuff you never knew you needed.

The upside to Upsido? You never have to use E*TRADE ever again.

Starting another company sound like too much work for you? Join a VC! They’re always looking for washed up entrepreneurs, just ask Nikolaj Nyholm.

Week In Review: Get To Work!

by Nick Mueller, December 4, 2009 — Leave a Comment

GetToWorkIt seems like everybody got new jobs this week. Spotify announced their new CTO, Oskar Stål, and took the fun out of guessing what their mobile strategy is (can you say, “transactional model”). Polar rose announced their new CEO, Carl Silbersky, and added fun to guessing who will be acquiring them in the next 12 months. The hotshots at Videoplaza announced they will be hiring ten (10!) new people before the end of Q1 2010.  We here at ArcticStartup are hiring too! We’re looking for a Stockholm based Co-editor, let us know if you’re interested.

Other interesting companies we met this week include Helsinki based FilmGator, a Last.fm for movies, and Tuxera, whose system interoperability software is in such a deep niche no natural light reaches them. The other hot new company of the week is Sofanatics, a Finnish social viewing service. How they will add value to watching teevee while Skype chatting with friends remains to be seen.

Of course, not everyone can be in the right place at the right time. For example Zipiko, the real-time social invitation service that was before it’s time and is now behind Plancast, Foursquare, Hot Potato and everybody else. Even the mighty Bonnier Group might be setting themselves up for a fall, with a “maybe” forthcoming e-reader. You be the judge.

Our cleantech team was all over Clean Tech Venture Day, and posted some great video interviews with Rene Savelsberg, CEO of SET Venture Partners on the topics of break through areas for 2010 and which markets to enter in cleantech.

We also introduced you to a couple of companies trying to clean the world up one boat at time. Faroe Island based GreenSteam is trying to help the maritime industry reach their goal of a 15% reduction in emissions by 2015. And Eniram, who doesn’t want to turn the marine industry backwards at all, but wants to use IT to help it save fuel and emissions.

Week In Review: Stand Out From The Crowd

by Nick Mueller, November 27, 2009 — 1 Comment

northkoreaimage1Here’s a fact: the future is in entrepreneurship. For Finnish Cleantech, the future is now.

Lucky for you, starting a company is easy, er, easier than you think. If the Bloglovin’ guys could do it, anyone can. Eventually though it pays to have some managerial talent, not just good ideas. But good ideas help, and there sure are a lot of them around, like AleLion, the Swedish company that wants to put lithium iron phosphate batteries in all the world’s golf carts, or TaxiPal, the Estonian service that lets you control a fleet of Parisian taxis with just your thumbs! Don’t forget Noko Jeans, the Swedish designed, North Korean made jeans that Kim Jong-il would wear, if he, you know, wore jeans.

Once that light bulb has gone off in your head and it’s time to start working, there will be plenty of other entrepreneurs to help you out. Like the guys at TimeGT, that started their company just to help you GET THINGS DONE. And to make sure your productivity doesn’t get interrupted just as you’ve entered The Zone, Numo solutions from Norway has caller ID search, so you only have to answer when your VC calls, and your mother-in-law can go straight to voicemail.

LOL @ Spotify for Symbian being released the same week Nokia drops it from more devices.

ArcticEvening Tallinn – 3 December!

Week In Review: Money Grows On VeeCees

by Nick Mueller, November 20, 2009 — 2 Comments

money on treesIt was a rollercoaster of a week, with some companies going up, some down, and some upside-down. Take Sopima, the Finnish online contract “bank,” this week they took €1m to the actual bank. Or Voddler, the Swedish “Spotify for movies” company that got 35 million kronor from a mysterious uncle.

Not everyone did so well. Like a certain moderately well known Finnish mobile phone manufacturer, that announced Symbian will be executed in 2012.

But, don’t waste time shedding any tears for Nokia, their future will be bright. So many new tools are there to help them, like Tietoset, a SaaS where industrial buyers are better able to source from the manufacturing field. They could learn a thing or too from Eric Ries about lean startupsas well, since every big company needs some intrapreneurs.

Sometimes, a distraction like some online gaming is all it takes to get the creative juices flowing again. There are plenty around whether your tastes are more intense, like the new MMORPG Hours of War, or casual social gaming like Planteo.

Cars are so 20th century. Use Me Mover, they’re so hot right now.

Google is so 5 minutes ago. Use Azouk, they’re so hot right now.

All you need to know about MetGen and their “enzymatic technologies in industrial processes” is that it’s a $2,000,000,000 a year market. I bet you’re interested now that you’ve finished counting all those zeros.