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Iceland's startup ecosystem is growing, with Reykjavik being the main hub for innovation. As of 2023, Iceland is home to around 500 startups. The Icelandic government supports entrepreneurship through initiatives like the Icelandic Startups and the Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS), which provide funding, resources, and mentorship for startups. In 2022, Icelandic startups raised approximately €200 million in venture capital.
The Icelandic startup ecosystem comprises about 500 startups as of 2023. In 2022, these startups collectively raised around €200 million in venture capital, demonstrating a growing interest from investors. The relatively small but vibrant market shows significant potential for growth in the coming years.
Iceland's market boasts a highly educated workforce, a strong focus on sustainability, and a high quality of life. These strengths create a conducive environment for startups to innovate and thrive. Reykjavik, in particular, is known for its expertise in healthtech, fintech, and creative industries, attracting significant investments and producing notable startups like CCP Games and Controlant.
Reykjavik is the primary hub for innovation in Iceland. The city is a hotspot for healthtech, fintech, and creative industries. It attracts significant investments and fosters notable startups, including CCP Games and Controlant. Reykjavik's collaborative environment is further enhanced by the presence of world-class universities and research institutions.
While Reykjavik is the main innovation hub, other regions in Iceland are beginning to show potential. Smaller towns and cities are gradually developing their own startup communities, leveraging Iceland's strong educational system and entrepreneurial spirit. These emerging hubs are likely to contribute to the broader ecosystem in the coming years.
The Icelandic startup ecosystem benefits from a robust network of incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces. Initiatives like Startup Reykjavik and the Iceland Ocean Cluster provide mentorship, resources, and international exposure to entrepreneurs. Government support through entities like Icelandic Startups and RANNIS further bolsters these efforts.
Despite its strengths, Iceland faces challenges such as a small domestic market and geographic isolation. These factors can limit the scalability of startups and pose logistical challenges for international expansion. Additionally, the relatively high cost of living can be a barrier for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Iceland's startup ecosystem is poised for substantial growth, driven by continuous investment and technological advancement. The country's strategic location in the North Atlantic and leadership in renewable energy offer unique opportunities for international expansion. Iceland's emphasis on sustainability and green technology is driving innovation in sectors such as renewable energy and environmental technologies.
Iceland's startup ecosystem has shown remarkable resilience and adaptability. The strong network of support systems, combined with a collaborative environment, helps startups navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities. Iceland's pro-business policies and robust infrastructure further enhance its attractiveness for entrepreneurs and investors.
Iceland's startup ecosystem is vibrant and growing, with a significant presence of angel investors and venture capital firms driving innovation and entrepreneurship. The country's strategic location, strong emphasis on sustainability, and high quality of life make it an attractive destination for startups and investors alike. This text will explore the top angel investors, leading venture capital firms, investment size and scope, number of investments, future outlook, and the support and mentorship available in Iceland.
Some of the top angel investors in Iceland include Bala Kamallakharan, founder of Startup Iceland and Iceland Venture Studio, and Heida Thordardottir, a prominent investor with a focus on tech startups. These angel investors provide crucial early-stage funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities to promising startups, helping them navigate the challenges of the entrepreneurial landscape.
Iceland's venture capital landscape is dominated by firms like Frumtak Ventures, Eyrir Ventures, and Crowberry Capital. Frumtak Ventures focuses on growth-stage companies with a proven track record, while Eyrir Ventures targets high-tech companies with global potential. Crowberry Capital, led by three women, invests in early-stage tech startups across the Nordic region, providing not just capital but also strategic support and mentorship.
The investment size in Iceland varies widely, with angel investors typically investing between €50,000 to €200,000 in early-stage startups. Venture capital firms, on the other hand, invest larger amounts, ranging from €500,000 to several million euros, depending on the stage and potential of the startup. The focus areas include tech, healthtech, fintech, and sustainability, reflecting Iceland's strengths and priorities.
In recent years, Iceland has seen a steady increase in the number of investments in its startup ecosystem. In 2022 alone, Icelandic startups raised approximately €200 million in venture capital, with numerous deals across various sectors. The growing interest from both local and international investors underscores the potential and dynamism of Iceland's startup scene.
The future outlook for Iceland's investment market is promising, with continuous growth expected in the coming years. The country's strategic focus on sustainability, renewable energy, and technology positions it well for attracting further investments. Additionally, Iceland's robust support systems and pro-business policies are likely to drive further expansion and innovation in the startup ecosystem.
Iceland offers a strong support system for startups, including incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces. Programs like Startup Reykjavik and the Iceland Ocean Cluster provide valuable mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities. Government initiatives, such as those led by the Icelandic Startups and the Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS), further bolster the support system, ensuring startups have access to the necessary tools for success.
Iceland's startup ecosystem is thriving, thanks to the active involvement of top angel investors and leading venture capital firms. With significant investments, strong support systems, and a promising future outlook, Iceland is well-positioned to continue its trajectory as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. As the country continues to invest in its startup ecosystem, it will undoubtedly contribute significantly to the regional and global markets, fostering a dynamic and sustainable business environment.
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London, U.K. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Future Of Work • Medical Devices (& Hospital Services) • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Mobility
Partner at Index Ventures
Martin Mignot serves as a Partner at Index Ventures. He also serves as Advisory Board Member at TheFamily. He specialises in SaaS, marketplaces, bitcoin and mobile. He worked on 50+ transactions to date, including Assistly, Auxmoney, BaseCRM, Cloud.com, Codecademy, DimDim, Factual, Farfetch, Flipboard, Funding Circle, Gluster, HouseTrip, Just Eat, Lookout, Nasty Gal, Notonthehighstreet, onefinestay, PeoplePerHour, TrustPilot, Soluto and SoundCloud. He is actively looking after Index's investments in Algolia, Capitaine Train, Drivy, Rad and Swiftkey. Prior to joining Index, Martin was in the TMT team at UBS Investment Bank and cofounded the beauty subscription business Boudoir Prive (acquired by Joliebox/Birchbox) and a student web radio service.
London, U.K. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Future Of Work • Medical Devices (& Hospital Services) • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Mobility
General Partner, Index Ventures
General Partner, Index Ventures
Palo Alto - California, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • PropTech • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Medical Devices (& Hospital Services) • Real Estate (& Construction) • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Mobility • Consumer
Anand Rajaraman serves as Co-Founding Partner & Vice President at Cambrian Ventures. Rajaraman also serves as Co-Founding Partner at Rocketship.vc. He also serves as Special Partner at Neotribe Ventures. He serves as Founding Partner at Cambrian Ventures. He also serves as a Co-Founding Partner at Milliways Ventures. He is a Founding Partner of @WalmartLabs and has served as a Senior Vice President. Prior to founding the firm in 2000, he was the Director of Technology at Amazon.com and was responsible for technology strategy and advanced technology initiatives. He helped launch the transformation of Amazon.com from a retailer into a retail platform, enabling third-party retailers to sell on Amazon.com's website. He came to Amazon.com in 1998 through the $250 million acquisition of Junglee that he co-founded. As the Chief Technology Officer, he played a key role in developing Junglee's award-winning Virtual Database technology. He has research and development experience at Stanford University, AT&T Bell Labs and Xerox PARC. He serves as a Consulting Assistant Professor at Stanford University's Computer Science Department. He has numerous publications, patents and awards at leading academic and industry foru He has been featured in articles in Business Week, the San Francisco Chronicle and other leading national publications. He obtained M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where he won the President of India Gold Medal for graduating at the top of his class. He served as an Adviso and Board Member at ClearStory Data and is a board member at Gradiance. He serves as the board member at Transformic. He is also an Angel Investor.
Menlo Park - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Businesses Solutions • Consumer
Partner at Sequoia Capital
South San Francisco - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
Media • Businesses Solutions • A.I. (& Big Data) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Future Of Work
Index Ventures
Most Interested In
Open Source
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
BioTech • Businesses Solutions • A.I. (& Big Data) • DeepTech
Daniel Gross the founder of Greplin, a search engine. Greplin operated by linking together various online accounts into one search experience. For example, a customer could search their Facebook, Gmail and Dropbox accounts from one unified service without check each individually. In 2011, Greplin raised $4 million in funding from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Gross was one of Sequoia's youngest founders at the time. They introduced a premium offering at $5 a month, which allowed customers to link enterprise-facing services like Salesforce. In 2012 the company renamed itself to “Cue” and launched an additional predictive search features. In addition to search, Cue offered customers an automatic and intelligent agenda of their day. This included files, emails, addresses, phone numbers and more that were deemed algorithmically relevant. Cue was a similar product to Google Now. He is Y-Combinator's first Israeli.
, U.S.A. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
Hardware (& Manufacturing) • IoT (& Wearables) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Material Science • DeepTech
Principal at Lunar Ventures - DeepTech VC Investor
San Francisco Bay Area, Israel - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Businesses Solutions • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Consumer
CEO/Founder of OurCrowd | Serial Entrepreneur | Venture Capitalist | Angel Investor
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Woman Focused
Most Interested In
I love creating something from nothing. Health and Wellness Productivity
Denver - Colorado, U.S.A. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
PropTech • AgroTech • CleanTech • Impact • Real Estate (& Construction)
President PeakChange
Social Venture Investor, Tech Executive & Leadership Mentor
Malta, Malta - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland, Monaco
AgroTech • Sales (& Marketing) • CleanTech • A.I. (& Big Data) • Gaming (& eSports) • Advertising • Logistics (& Distribution) • Messaging • Mobility
Co-Founder & CMO at Mox
Most Interested In
Digital marketing and mobility/transportation companies based in Spain.
Not Interested In
Companies not based in Spain, Singapore, Portugal or Malta.
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Media • Online Social
Digital Platforms, Services, Brands and Lifestyle
Gordon Rubenstein serves as Managing Partner at Raine Ventures. He was a Board Member at Plexchat. He serves as the Board Observer at Amuse. Gordon is the Managing Partner of Raine Ventures where he leads Raine's venture capital group. Prior to joining Raine in 2013, Gordon founded and managed Pacific Partners, an operationally-focused venture capital partnership with backing from George Soros, Sam Zell, leading technology executives and entrepreneurs as well as partners from KKR, Silver Lake and Freeman Spogli. In addition, Gordon co-founded Astro Gaming (acquired by Skullcandy (Nasdaq: SKUL)), and Rave Digital Media (acquired by AMC Entertainment). Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of Tastemade Inc. and Prism Skylabs and was involved at the board level and / or actively involved with Machinima, ZEFR, eHarmony, VivaReal, Audience Science, BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and Convio (listed publicly on Nasdaq, then acquired by Blackbaud (Nasdaq: BLKB)). Gordon has an A.B. from the University of Michigan.
