Nordic Startup Awards highlights region as alternative to Silicon Valley for tech

On Wednesday October 18, Nordic Startup Awards held its Grand Finale in Stockholm, Sweden, an event honoring the Nordic region’s thriving startup ecosystem. 

Nordic Startup Awards, an organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is one of the regional arms of the Global Startup Awards, that shines the spotlight on innovation and talent from four regions and 25 countries across the globe to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and startups.

Kicking-off the day was a networking event, designed to connect Nordic talent and investors not only with neighboring regions, but with the global startup community. Hosted by Business Sweden, the morning saw the Pop House Hotel transformed into an international startup hub, with key players from Global Startup Award´s partners in South East Asia, Central Europe, the SAARC region, and more all in one room. The event was a unique opportunity for new businesses to network, scout out future partners, impress potential investors and showcase innovative ideas.

The driving purpose of Nordic Startup Awards was to develop cross-border relationships between founders, stakeholders, and investors involved in the tech-sector. However, the event extracted the framework further to accommodate new regions around the world. The Grand Finale highlighted the global impact and international success of the organisation.

“The interest has been enormous, and the concept has spread to Southeast Asia, India and Central Europe. The whole thing is started and controlled from Denmark, helping to brand the Nordic region as an alternative to Silicon Valley and attract even more of the talents that the startup industry craves,” said Kim Balle, CEO of Nordic Startup Awards in a press release.

After networking, the national winners, chosen from the best pool of talents in each Nordic country, gathered eagerly for the main event — the Grand Finale Gala, where these finalists would be awarded individually for their achievements and compete for the titles of Startup of the Year, Investor of the year, Best Newcomer, and many more.

The winners were selected by a panel of judges, each with proven experience and skill in recognizing the potential of a startup. These choices were based upon the nominee’s quality and impact within their industry or field.

Min Doktor , Sweden’s first and largest digital health care provider, took home the winning title – ‘Startup of the Year’. Founded in 2013 in Malmö, Min Doktor allows patients to interact 24/7 with a doctor or physician via their gadget of choice through an asynchronous chat service. The startup technically won two events in the night as Magnus Nyhlén, co-founder of Min Doktor was awarded ‘Founder of the Year’.

‘Investor of the Year’ went to Swedens’s Hampus Jakobsson, a Malmö entrepreneur and investor recognized for his 65 investments, plus co-founding the VC firm Nordic Makers. ‘Best Accelerator Program’ was awarded to Accelerace from Denmark. Founded in 2008 in Copenhagen, their industry-specific teams have helped over 250 startups raise over $269 million in funding.

‘Best Newcomer’ went to Kubo Robotic from Denmark, ‘Best Startup Ecosystem Initiative’ to Frumbjörg from Iceland, and ‘Best Social Impact Startup’ to TRINE from Sweden.

These top regional champions won the honor of representing the Nordic Region at Global Startup Award´s Grand Finale that takes place at the end of each year. After a round of public voting through Global Startups online system, Global Startup Award will invite a jury to decide the global winners of this intensive competition which began in March 2016 in over 45 different countries.

The Nordic Startup Awards’ Grand Finale ended in celebration at the Grand Finale afterparty, where these talented individuals and global influencers let loose after an impressive and insightful day of showcasing the accomplishments of the Nordic startup ecosystem.

The Global Startup Awards stands to represent the entire startup and tech community — from the startups themselves, through to the people behind them, and not forgetting the organisations and investors that work alongside these creative visionaries.