STANDOUT NEWS

Standout News is a quarterly(ish) newsletter from Standout Capital about tech deals, trends and the latest posts from our blog. New subscribers can subscribe to the newsletter here.

Latest from Standout

We answer basic questions about our company, strategy and mission in "Standout Capital is Looking to Invest in Outstanding Companies"

Yes, we're hiring. Now recruiting members to our Investment Team, an Executive Assistant and Investment Interns. Check out open positions at Standout Jobs  

From mobile phones to e-commerce, new digital assistants emerge to help us. We sort out a developing trend in "The Meaning of Bots"

Tech deals in the Nordics

Asset management is the next financial market to be disrupted by technology, highlighted by Kinnevik's $65 million investment in Betterment, an automated fund manager.

Gambling gets mobile. Swedish Leo Vegas listed on First North in Stockholm, currently trading with a market cap of SEK 3.8 billion. Revenues in Q1 grew 86% to EUR 30 million.

Norway's largest fiber communications network Broadnet bought broadband provider PowerTech, in a move to consolidate the digital infrastructure in Norway.

Finnish company M-Files, software for Enterprise Information Management, gets €33 million investment, from France's Partech Ventures, Finnish Industry Investment and Britain's Draper Esprit.

Sweden's Paradox Interactive is listing on First North in an IPO expected to value the game company up to SEK 4 billion.  

Food is on the move. Finnish fast-growing food-delivery company Wolt has raised $10 million and is launching in Stockholm, competing with Delivery Hero-owned Foodora.  

Bonnier Growth Media sells Toca Boca, the kids apps maker, to toys company Spin Master, a global children's toy and entertainment company. 

Digital health is hot, and Nokia plans to acquire Withings, a "wearables company" with connected activity trackers, weighing scales, monitors and more.

Ebay, the US e-commerce company, acquired Expertmaker, a Swedish, Malmö-based company that will help power Ebay's platform with artificial intelligence.   

Qlik, the Swedish Nasdaq-listed BI software company, was rumoured to be exploring a potential sale after hedge fund Elliot Management acquired 9% of the company.

CLX, the Swedish listed enterprise SMS company, acquires US-based mobile messaging provider Mblox for $117 million in cash to build a global leader in cloud communications.

Everybody wants their own FinTech VC. Financial group Collector starts a FinTech investment arm with NTF Ventures, Nordnet is launching Nordnet Ventures to invest in financial tech companies and SEB Venture Capital is looking at FinTech again.

Public money gets active. The Swedish government proposes the SEK 3 billion "Fondinvest" for investments in VC-funds, while the Norwegian government presents a new NOK 400 million startup-fund.

Technology trends and research

Digital highlights: Dropbox reached 500 million users, Spotify has reached 30 million paying subscribers, Schibsted's digital revenue share is 62% while global PC shipments were down 10% in Q1 2016, and are now below 2007 levels.

Benedict Evans from Andreessen Horowitz has compiled another useful presentation about how Mobile is eating the world.

EU Digital Scoreboard 2015 shows how Nordic countries lead Europe in digital entrepreneurship.

GP Bullhound analyses public and private technology markets and lists success factors in the Nordic Tech Landscape report.

The European Tech Funding Report has tracked 790 deals worth €4.8 billion in a record-breaking Q1 2016.