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To find out what's happening in a booming tech sector, we explored the VR industry in "Fasten Your Headsets - Entering the Nordic Virtual Reality" 

We are happy to welcome Filip Lidman (previously BCG, Via Equity and Google) to our investment team, get to know him in "Looking Forward to an Exciting Journey Ahead"

Our mission is Investing in Nordic Growth Stories. If you want to learn more, we have a handy web page with Facts About Standout Capital.

Tech deals in the Nordics

Online food on the move - Sweden’s Axfood acquired online grocery Mat.se adding to its portfolio of chains (Willys, Hemköp and Tempo). Meanwhile, competitor Mathem raised another SEK 160M from Norwegian investment company Ferd and others. JustEat, founded in Denmark in 2000, pays up to £240M for DeliveryHero’s UK business in a regional consolidation of the online food market.

China rising - Finnish company Rightware (automotive user interface software) was bought by China-based Thundersoft for $68M, and Chinese investment fund An Xin Capital acquired Sweden-based Norstel (materials technology). DJI, a Chinese drone company, bought a majority stake in Swedish legendary camera maker Hasselblad. Verlinvest and China Resources invested in Sweden’s dairy-free products company Oatly, to finance expansion in USA and China.  

USA is active in the Nordics - Microsoft buys Donya Labs (brand name Simplygon) a Swedish developer of 3D-optimisation software, based in tech hotspot Linköping. Swedish SF cinemas were bought by AMC Theatres, the world's largest chain. Google acquired the Umeå-based startup Limes Audio, their software Truevoice enables better sound. Meanwhile, US private equity group General Atlantic made two deals; Danish hip juice bars Joe & The Juice and Swedish online real estate platform Hemnet.       
 
Gambling deals - Swedish Catena Media, the online marketing company for gambling sites, acquired US iGaming affiliate sites for $15M, and Stockholm-listed betting company Betsson acquires the British gambling operator NetPlay TV for £26M.
 
Online health goes mobile - Min Doktor, a mobile health clinic, raised SEK 45M from EQT Ventures and others, while Doctrin, a mobile patient tool for submitting medical history, got a SEK 7M new cash injection.   
 
Nordic FinTech expanding - Stockholm-based Klarna is acquiring German payments company BillPay for a reported £60 million, while FinTech startup Qapital has raised a further SEK 41M from Silicon Valley-based Rocketship and others for further US expansion.
 
Telecom is busy - Sweden’s CLX Communications acquires Sinch, the Rebtel spin-off, at a SEK 130M valuation, and also buys Xura Secure Communications, a German solutions company. Twilio (US) acquires Malmö-based messaging provider Beepsend to integrate their SMS delivery platform. Truecaller, the Stockholm startup, raised SEK 100M from Zenith Ventures.
 
Enterprise software consolidation - The fragmented enterprise software market is always active. For example, Lundalogik acquired field service management system RemoteX Technologies, Visma bought HR tool Logbuy and Hexagon paid $834M for MSC Software (US).
 
E-commerce is hot - Babyshop raised another SEK 18M at a valuation of SEK 752M, Furniturebox was sold to Bygghemma in a large transaction, Adlibris Group acquired online store Roliga Prylar, e-commerce company Outnorth raises 40MSEK from Danish media group Egmont and Refunder gets new funding from eEquity.

Technology trends and research

Virtual Reality is growing big in the Nordic nations 

Mobile is eating the world, an updated presentation from Benedict Evans 

Global PC shipments keep declining, according to Gartner

Brief: Europe’s VR ecosystem has grown to nearly 300 companies

Everything you need to know about corporate venture capital in Europe

Instagram now has 600 million monthly active users
 
Report: Stockholm & Scandinavia, global locations for the tech industry

European Tech Exits: In 2016, Tech.eu tracked 658 deals worth €160 billion

An extensive list of European AI tech startups to watch in 2017

The Finns consume enormous amounts of data