Meet the TOP 10 selected companies of the 12th Nordic Cleantech Open
TOP 10: Here they are!
Lund, April 15th, 2024 – We are delighted to announce the Top 10 companies of the 12th edition of the Nordic Cleantech Open.
Over the past 12 years, the Nordic Cleantech Open competition has served as a beacon, illuminating emerging cleantech trends towards a low-carbon reality. This year’s edition received 133 applications from across the Nordics and the Baltics, each one shaping the future in its own way.
We extend our congratulations to all 133 participants, including the Top 25, whose inspiring presentations at the Nordic Camp made a significant impact.
Held at the gorgeous Smygehus Havsbad hotel, the Nordic Camp provided a platform for these companies to pitch and present their cases to our esteemed jury panel, consisting of 70 professionals from various sectors — including industry, venture capital, public funding, and regional development.
So far, the Nordic Cleantech Open jury has cast 7,566 votes on written applications and 367 votes on pitch presentations, providing valuable feedback to each company. A rigorous process was followed, involving thorough reviews of all written applications and live presentations at the Nordic Camp. Ultimately, the top 10 companies were selected based on their exceptional innovation, vision, and readiness to scale. Here they are:
THE FINALS
The journey continues as the Top 10 companies prepare to deliver their final presentations at the 12th Nordic Cleantech Open Finals & Cleantech Capital Day, on May 14-15, in Helsinki – Finland.
We extend an invitation to all to join us.
This is our flagship event and you are invited to join us in celebrating these remarkable entrepreneurs at the Cleantech Capital Day. The event will feature the competition finals, engaging discussions on topics related to climate neutrality and company presentations.
In collaboration with Tesi, Nasdaq, Taaleri and Climate Point, and with an anticipated attendance of more than 200 participants from Europe, China, Middle East and North America, this event is a gathering of key players driving cleantech innovation forward.
And you can be a part of it.
EcoUp Oyj
EcoUp Oyj is a circular economy group. It promotes demolition waste recycling, urban mining and low-carbon construction.
FLOX Robotics
FLOX Robotics reimagines landscapes where humans and wildlife thrive together, transforming human-wildlife conflicts into coexistence.
Fusebox OÜ
Fusebox’s cutting-edge software bridges the gap between electricity consumers, producers, storage systems, and energy markets.
GREEN 14 AB
GREEN14 uses hydrogen plasma to enable the modular production of components for semiconductors, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries.
HEJMAS Agrifibre Technology AB
Hejmas Agrifibre Technologies AB makes the highest grade pulp from agricultural crop waste, instead of trees.
Over Easy Solar
Over Easy Solar makes the urban rooftop solar photovoltaic units, designed for buildings that are not suitable for conventional solar panels.
Re:Meat AB
Re:meat’s mission is to redefine how meat ends up on people’s plates. Same meat. New technology. 92% less climate impact.
Remoted
REMOTED is an urban mobility venture that operates shared, electric, self-driving shuttles and buses.
Reselo AB
Reselo makes a substitute for rubber out of residue from the forest industry, to be used in applications within footwear, tires and automotive.
Roofit Solar Energy OÜ
Roofit.Solar specializes in solar roofs to deliver a durable energy solution for homes and heritage buildings, combining aesthetics with functionality.
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Meet the TOP 25 selected companies of the 12th Nordic Cleantech Open
Meet the selected TOP 25
For 12 years the Nordic Cleantech Open competition has served as an observation tower for the up and coming cleantech innovation trends that will support the transition to a low carbon reality!
For 12 editions the Nordic Cleantech Open has brought together entrepreneurs, investors, industry and government to shape the innovation landscape with the goal of building a more sustainable future. The organizer of the competition, Cleantech Scandinavia, aims to bridge the gap between innovators looking for funding and venture capital looking for new opportunities of climate impact investments.
The 25 selected companies bring promising and ready-to-scale innovations and market proposition, and they were selected out of 133 applicants by a jury of about 70 international members from venture capital firms, multinational industries, the utility sector, development agencies and the public investment scene. These experts were the ones to analise the 133 applications based on their level of innovation, market potential and the ability of the team to execute.
BaseTracK
Estonia
BaseTracK provides trucking solutions, the same technology serving both human-driven and automated trucks.
Coatable A/S
Denmark
Coatable aims to reduce leakage in ventilation systems, reducing energy costs and improving the current infrastructure lifespan.
EcoUp Oyj
Finland
EcoUp Oyj is a circular economy group. It promotes demolition waste recycling, urban mining and low-carbon construction
Exaum
Finland
Exaum offers power grid balancing through its proprietary technology of power demand response, lowering electricity consumption.
FLOX Robotics
Sweden
FLOX Robotics reimagines landscapes where humans and wildlife thrive together, transforming human-wildlife conflicts into coexistence.
Fusebox OÜ
Estonia
Estoni Fusebox’s cutting-edge software bridges the gap between electricity consumers, producers, storage systems, and energy markets.
GREEN 14 AB
Sweden
GREEN14 uses hydrogen plasma to enable the modular production of components for semiconductors, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries.
Greencap Solutions AS
Norway
GreenCap Solutions develops a unique technology for carbon capture from low concentration sources, including direct air capture of CO2.
HEJMAS Agrifibre Technology AB
Sweden
Hejmas Agrifibre Technologies AB makes the highest grade pulp from agricultural crop waste, instead of trees.
IOTOI Oy
Finland
Iotoi Oy helps energy companies, property owners, and waste heat producers in harnessing the heat, normally wasted, from the return pipe.
Lithium 367 AS
Norway
Lithium367 ispecializes in sustainable recovery of lithium from battery production waste and end-of-life products.
Over Easy Solar
Norway
Over Easy Solar makes the urban rooftop solar photovoltaic units, designed for buildings that are not suitable for conventional solar panels.
QHeat – Quantitative Heat Oy
Finland
QHeat has developed a new geothermal heating system that enables large scale energy production and energy storage.
Raymond Solar AB
Sweden
Raymonds has developed the Smart Solar Roof, an aesthetic and high-efficiency generator, that can also reduce the footprint on the roofing and installation industries.
Re:Meat AB
Sweden
Re:meat’s mission is to redefine how meat ends up on people’s plates. Same meat. New technology. 92% less climate impact.
Remoted
Finland
REMOTED is an urban mobility venture that operates shared, electric, self-driving shuttles and buses.
Reselo AB
Sweden
Reselo makes a substitute for rubber out of residue from the forest industry, to be used in applications within footwear, tires and automotive.
REXCON
Denmark
REXCON develops and manufacture circular building systems based on wood for the construction industry.
Roofit Solar Energy OÜ
Estonia
Roofit.Solar specializes in solar roofs to deliver a durable energy solution for homes and heritage buildings, combining aesthetics with functionality.
Soraytec
Norway
Soraytec manufactures high frequency IoT sensors for metering and monitoring electricity distribution networks, improving its efficiency.
Steelleanel Ltd
Finland
SteelLeanel makes prefab walls designed for robotic manufacturing, its patented technology offer up to 80% energy savings for buildings.
Vidde Snow Mobility AB
Sweden
Vidde creates electric, sustainable and silent snowmobiles, an historically emission-heavy area.
XGeo (MontLibre Group)
Sweden
MontLibre Group presents xGeo, its tool for geological detection, analysis and 3D-mappinng of resources, aiming to lower the mining sector impact.
Voltan Lähienergia
Finland
Voltan provides sustainable heating and cooling solutions as a service for large properties, utilizing site optimized geothermal technologies.
ZParq AB
Sweden
Zparq provides electric motors for leisure boats and commercial vessels, enabling an environmentally friendly, efficient, and quiet propulsion.
The 12th Nordic Camp is coming up!
Nordic Camp is coming up!
We have the pleasure to host this unique, all-inclusive* event at Smygehus Havsbad.
You will meet the best Nordic and Baltic cleantech start-ups as well as a selected group of international industrials and investors.
Nordic Camp always proves to have great outcomes, fun and useful networking!
Participation is by invitation only.
*Cleantech Scandinavia covers the costs of ONE participant per organization (Members and the Top 25): bus transport from Malmö C <>Smygehus, accommodation and catering of April 3rd and 4th.
Who will be there?
- The Top 25 finalists of the Nordic Cleantech Open
- Members of the Nordic Cleantech Open Jury
- Potential additional investors
Program
OPTIONAL – Tuesday, April 2nd
14.00 – 18.00 – Pitch Training for the TOP 25 interested companies
Venue: Elite Hotel Savoy – Right in front of Malmö Central Station – Link to Google Maps
18.30 – 21.00 – Welcome gathering with possibility to have drinks and dinner (at own expense) for all of those who arrive on Monday.
Venue: The Bishop Arms – Link to Google Maps
Wednesday, April 3rd
08.00 – Cleantech Scandinavia provides a bus transportation from and back to Smygehus Havsbad. Bus departure from Malmö Central Railway Station, meeting point in front of Elite Hotel Savoy (link to Maps)
09.00 – Installations and Coffee
09.45 – Welcoming words – Magnus Agerström and Laura Fostinone, Cleantech Scandinavia
10.00 – Round of quick intro from all participants
— Top 25 Pitch Presentations —
Each company has 5 min to present, and the audience has 5 min to ask questions. It is very high paced so if you have additional questions, take notes and address them at the individual opportunities or in your feedback annotations. Top 25 companies are expected to send their presentations before the day starts.
10.10 – Top 25 presentations with Q&A, Group 1
- BaseTracK
- Coatable A/S
- EcoUp Oyj
- Exaum
11.00 – Networking break
11.25 – Presentation
- Bring Ventures, Siri Marie Hagen, Investment Director
11.30 – Continuation of Group 1
- FLOX Robotics
- Fusebox OÜ
- GREEN 14 AB
- Greencap Solutions AS
- HEJMAS Agrifibre Technology AB
12.20 – Lunch
13.20 – Presentation
- Nina Berchoux, Danske Bank
13.25 – Top 25 presentations with Q&A, Group 2
- IOTOI Oy
- Lithium 367 AS
- MontLibre Group ( MontLibre Holding AB)
- Over Easy Solar
- QHEAT – Quantitative Heat Oy
- Raymond Solar AB
14.25 – Networking break
14.45 – Presentation
- Natalie Milde, Future Energy Ventures
15.00 – Top 25 presentations with Q&A, Group 3
- Re:meat AB
- REMOTED
- Reselo AB
- REXCON
- Roofit Solar Energy OÜ
15.50 – Networking break
16.15 – Top 25 presentations with Q&A, Group 4
- Soraytec
- SteelLeanel Ltd
- Vidde Snow Mobility AB
- Voltan Lähienergia
- Zparq AB
17.00 – Startups Q&A to Investors
- Natalie Milde, Future Energy Ventures
- Wouter Van de Putte, Capricorn
- Siri Marie Hagen, Bring Ventures,
- Ben Murphy, Kiko Ventures
17.30 – Evening program with networking, sauna and refreshments.
19.00 – Dinner
Overnight at Smygehus Havsbad
*Cleantech Scandinavia covers the costs of 1 participant per organization (Members and the Top 25): bus transport, accommodation and catering of Apr 3rd and 4th.
Thursday, April 4th
08.00 – Breakfast
09.00 – 10.00 – Presentation: Potter Clarksson
“Creating value from innovation: Capturing and communicating how the IP strategy supports the business plan”.
10.00 – 11.30 – One-on-one meetings, “walk and talk” at the beach with Cleantech Scandinavia’s members and more networking.
12.00 – Departure, back in Malmö Central Station at 13.00
Other important info:
- This will be a physical, in-person, event – we want to meet you!
- We do not have an specific recommendation of Hotels for other nights, but we can assure the Centre of Malmö has many options, so it will be easy to meet up for our activities.
- What to bring with you?
- Bathing suit; there is an opportunity to have sauna and enjoy the beach and pool on Wednesday evening after a full day of talks and presentations.
- Some outdoor clothes if you wish to stroll/exercise outside. Check the weather forecast.
- Accepts cards, if you wish to buy some extra drinks during your stay. For Swedish, SWISH is also accepted.
Confirm your attendance
This event is by invitation ONLY! Answer below our registration form and the rest will be taken care of!
(Scroll down this box to answer or access the registration form here)
Launch of Cleantech for Nordics
We are proud to announce that Cleantech for Nordics was launched at Cleantech Capital Day in Oslo on October 25th!
Cleantech for Nordics is a coalition of investors and others seeking to closely engage with policymakers to ensure that the Nordic region becomes a global hotbed for cleantech innovation, jobs and economic growth. Our objective is to remove costly barriers and uncover new opportunities that can develop and grow the cleantech sector. Cleantech for Nordics aims to pioneer globally competitive industries that can slash carbon emissions, while also increasing energy security across the Nordics and Europe more broadly.
Cleantech for Nordics is supported by Breakthrough Energy and powered by Cleantech Scandinavia.
11th Nordic Cleantech Open
137 applicants – WOW!
The applicant’s companies of the 11th Edition of the Nordic Cleantech Open represent not only the very best from the Nordic and Baltic Cleantech Startup scene, they also represent a wide variety of solutions to problems using an equally wide variety of technologies. This year 137 companies have applied, coming from 8 countries and the jury is getting ready to get to them and dive into each of their cases.
The Nordic Cleantech Open is a great way to gain insight in the developments in the cleantech start up landscape of the Nordics and Baltics. We are very impressed with the lineup of the applicants and look forward to meeting the entrepreneurs.
We offer in the images some of the statistics of this batch: The two leading sectors this year are Recycling and Waste solutions (where all prevention of waste and better use of resourced can also fit in, like Circular Economy), and Transportation and Logistics (e-mobility, charging solutions and logistics!).
With a competition focus on early stage to ready to scale startups, half of this batch is still validating their products and business models, which not surprisingly 95% are looking for funding (here is the hint, investors!).
Next to this phase, the Jury will have the whole summer to evaluate the companies based on their Innovation, Team and Market and by mid-August we will announce the TOP 25 companies to continue in the Nordic Cleantech Open Experience.
To know more, visit the website or contact Laura Fostinone.
New podcast: Innovations with Impact. Bintel
How can data help us manage our waste more efficiently and help us reduce emissions? The first episode on the Innovations with Impact from Impact Cafe will answer this questions thanks to Michael Wictor, CEO of Bintel, a new solution that aims to increase recycling rate and household waste reduction. Click and listen!
Who is in the podcast today?
Michael Wictor
CEO
Bintel
Alicia Requena.
Host. Impact Assessment Manager.
Cleantech Scandinavia.
NEW REPORT ON PRIVATE CLEANTECH INVESTMENT TRENDS IN 2021
2021 sees remarkable growth in cleantech investments.
With a total of 6.46 Billion € invested in Nordic and Baltic cleantech startups, this year marks a transformation for the cleantech ecosystem. This trend is in line with a booming European venture landscape as funding for European startups overall increased by 159% this year. By comparison, private investments in the Nordic cleantech sector increased by 241% from 2020 to 2021. Considering both the Nordic and Baltic countries, this figure reaches an impressive 252% increase. This growth is driven by an increase in larger deals, where 2021 saw a doubled share of deals ranging from 10 M € to 20 M €. Investing strategies are shifting in response to emerging regulations such as the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the accelerated focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in private markets. 2021 boasts many encouraging signs that high-impact innovations will get the funding they need to scale up and lead the transition to low-carbon economies.
A venture landscape increasingly dominated by non-Nordic investors.
The share of investment rounds that included non-Nordic European investors doubled compared to 2020, while the share of rounds that included non-European investors increased by 5 percentage points. Together, investment rounds that included non-Nordic investors represent 87% of the total amount invested. In order to better understand the origin of the funding, we collected new data on up to five investors per round. This analysis revealed that investors from 30 different countries were involved in the 311 private venture rounds collected this year.
Sweden’s cleantech innovation scene faces increased competition from its Nordic and Baltic neighbours.
While Sweden still claimed the lion’s share of investments this year, the Nordic leader is facing increasing competition from its neighbours. Norway experienced the strongest growth in investments amongst Nordic countries, with a total of 929 M € invested. Looking at the Baltics, Estonia is attracting an increasing number of deals. The Baltic champion raised 75 M € through 21 deals providing growing competition to Finland and Denmark.
Investment focus in line with net zero targets?
The Transportation and Logistics sector dominated the scene this year, with an 82% increase in its deal volume, now representing 16% of all deals. While this sector has a key role to play in the transition to low-carbon economies, e-mobility solutions are enjoying a hype which comes at the expense of other high-impact technologies. While showing a similar deal volume, significantly less was invested in the Agricultural sector this year, despite the world’s food systems being responsible for more than one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Large emission-reduction opportunities are left untapped and accelerated action is needed in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and industry to reach our climate goals. Investors need to target nascent technology areas with high impact potential to accelerate sectoral tipping points.
The race to net zero without women?
Brand new statistics that we have developed this year show that there is a major funding gap in the Nordic Cleantech Ecosystem. Female-led startups receive an insignificant share of the capital invested in the sector. While Nordic countries have long been championed as leaders in gender equality, this is not reflected in investment activities. As a whole, Nordic countries show the same funding disparities as the CEE region. Interestingly, Denmark stands out from its Nordic neighbors with more than one third of funding going to female-led startups. We are still, however, far from achieving equality and women are missing out on a chance to shape our future. Failing to address this gap constitutes a big risk as greater female representation is not only a key driver for performance but also essential in building an inclusive, sustainable future.
Download the Report
We’re proud to announce the 3 winners!
THE 3 WINNERS OF THE 10th NORDIC CLEANTECH OPEN ARE ANNOUNCED
It is our immense pleasure to announce the three winners of the 10th edition of the Nordic Cleantech open. For 10 years the Nordic Cleantech Open competition has served as an observation tower for the up and coming cleantech innovation trends that will support the transition to a low carbon reality.
The Top 10 companies pitched at Cleantech Capital Day which led to the selection of the three winners. This was the final stage of the 10th Edition of the Nordic Cleantech Open where 139 cleantech companies from the Nordics and Baltics competed. Big congratulations to all Top 10 Companies and to UP Catalyst for winning the 1st prize, NextFuel for taking the 2nd prize and Enerpoly for winning the 3rd place!
UP Catalyst is an Estonian based startup, which produces sustainable carbon nanomaterials directly from CO2 or from waste biomass for a vast range of applications ranging from green advanced battery technologies to biomedicine. UP Catalyst’s mission is to become the first and leading European industrial scale manufacturer of sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite thus providing a strong alternative to environmentally harmful materials used today.
NextFuel AB has developed a highly scalable new technology for converting fast growing grasses, and other types of crops, into a clean copy of coal. This new process starts by using CO2 rich energy crops like elephant grass or different forms of abundant agricultural/biomass waste, like bagasse from sugar cane, low quality wood or wood waste, as raw material. They are giving the world a clean alternative to burn.
Enerpoly is a next-generation energy storage technology company pioneering rechargeable zinc-ion battery chemistry. Enerpoly innovates in battery components, production methods, and designs, and employs agile research and development techniques to rapidly deliver batteries that are suitable for the grid, industrial, commercial, and residential uses.
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THE RACE TO NET ZERO WITHOUT WOMEN?
Cleantech Scandinavia
By Aziliz Le Rouzo | March 8th, 2022
In the midst of a global climate crisis, where and to whom capital is allocated is key in determining whether we can reach our climate goals. The lack of female representation – at the level of investors, venture capital funds, and companies – constitutes a major risk, as women’s representation is an essential condition for innovation, catalyzing economic growth, productivity and cohesion. While female-led businesses outperform in capital productivity by 96%, this incredible potential is left untapped. Recent statistics from 2020 in Central and Eastern Europe (CCE) show that women-founded startups received only 1% of the funding, 5% went to mixed-gender founding teams, and 94% to all-male teams1.
For the first time this year, we are publishing statistics on the gender funding gap for the Nordic cleantech ecosystem. Underrepresentation of women in the tech, industry 4.0 and energy sectors is particularly problematic, and we are excited to present brand new statistics from these areas. The study below looks at the distribution of venture funding across funding stages, countries and cleantech segments based on gender representation within the founding teams.
Overview of the funding landscape
This graph shows that in the Nordics in 2021, investments made in companies founded by women represent 6% of the total amounts invested. 13% of the deals went to companies with at least one female founder while 4% of the deals went to companies with two female founders or more. The lion’s share of investments went to all-male founding teams in which 94% of the capital was invested.
Inequalities across funding stages
What stands out from the two graphs below is that the distribution of funding across funding stages is identical for companies with all-male founding team versus companies with at least one female founder when you look at the deal volume or number of deals. What differs is the distribution of value across these deals. 82% of the capital going to all-male teams comes from later-stage deals, while this figure is only 26% for female-led teams (by this, we mean teams comprising one or more female founders). Female-led teams get most of the funding from early-stage deals, that is Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types ranging from 2.5 M € to 12 M €. This suggests that even when female-led startups do receive later-stage funding, the size of the deals is likely to be smaller than for all-male founding teams.
Inequalities across countries
Looking at the distribution of investments across countries, Denmark clearly stands out from its Nordic neighbors. Denmark shows the best statistics in terms of gender equality with 31% of deals going to female-led teams, representing 41% of the total amount invested. Norway, on the other hand, shows striking inequalities with a similar funding distribution as that of the CCE region.
Inequalities across cleantech segments
Disparities across cleantech segments are also striking. While as much as 40% of the deals in the agricultural sector went to female-led startups, other segments show figures closer to 15% and the Energy Storage and Energy Infrastructure segments did not have a single deal going to female-led startups. Looking at the percentage of funding going to female-led teams, figures show even greater inequalities. In the Transportation and Logistics sector for example, while 23% of deals went to female-led teams, this represented only 12% of the amount invested in the sector.
Our research shows that there is a major funding gap in the Nordic cleantech ecosystem. Female-led startups receive an insignificant share of the capital invested in the sector. While Nordic countries have long been championed as leaders in gender equality, this is not reflected in investment activities. As a whole, Nordic countries show the same funding disparities as the CEE region. Interestingly, Denmark stands out from its Nordic neighbors with more than one third of funding going to female-led startups. We are still, however, far from achieving equality, and women are missing out on a chance to shape our future. Or rather, we are all missing out on a better future shaped by women. Failing to address this gap constitutes a big risk, as greater female representation is not only a key driver for performance but also essential in building an inclusive, sustainable future.
References:
1 European Women in VC; Unconventional Ventures; Experior Venture Fund. (2021). Funding in the CEE region – Through the lens of gender diversity and positive impact. https://ceereport2021experiorvc.unconventional.vc
