Breaking down the increase within the Nordic’s startup ecosystem

The always-a-good-time Slush conference took place last week in Helsinki and, as always, it was a showcase of the growing power of the European ecosystem.

The Nordics, specifically, are having a moment, led this time around by Sweden’s vibe-coding darling Lovable, often regarded as an example of the ecosystem’s growing success. Other standout, albeit older names, include Klarna and Spotify.

On this week’s Equity, we sat down with Dennis Green-Lieber, the founder of the AI company Propane, to talk about the booming success of the Nordic ecosystem. Green-Lieber is based in Denmark and has been building in the ecosystem for the past 15 years.

He chalked up the success of the ecosystem to a few things, including the region’s social safety that lets young people take risks without fear of losing everything.  

“The newer founders, new generations, are being way more bullish and taking ownership,” he told Equity. “I have not seen, in my 15 years, anything [like] what’s going on right now.”

It’s becoming a hub for deep tech and AI, as one report put it, and is now valued at half a trillion dollars, with Nordic startups receiving a little more than $8 billion in venture investments in 2024. The government also plays a part in these companies, providing funding to startups, like Green-Lieber’s, to help founders grow their companies.

In some ways, Green-Lieber agrees with others that the ecosystem is a few years behind — but, at the same time, “we’re moving tremendously a lot faster,” he said.

We couldn’t leave the conversation without talking about AI a little. When asked if we were in a bubble, Green-Lieber said he didn’t know. “There’s tons of opportunities which haven’t been explored,” he said, adding that it’s true that some people are just putting money in bad stuff, but “that’s just the risk of venture capital.”