Nordics lead the way in Growth & SMEs momentum
By: Claire O'Halloran , Emerging Business International Lead
Tags: BizSpark, entrepreneurs, SMEs, start-up
Recently, we were reminded that the Nordic region is a vibrant community for technology innovation and entrepreneurs. We took part in two events in recent weeks: firstly the EBAN Winter University in Stockholm and Finland’s Money Talks Forum.
These gave us a chance to catch up with some of the 1000+ start-ups and almost 70 Network Partners that have signed up to BizSpark in the region in the past year.
Our tour kicked off with EBAN – the European Trade Association for Business Angels, seed funds and early stage market players – which held its annual winter university in Stockholm, this year’s holder of the EU presidency and one of the strongest technology hotspots in the region.The event was hosted by EBAN member, SVCA.
Microsoft works closely with EBAN to support Europe’s business angels, ensuring their members are aware of the programs that are relevant to them and their start-up companies: namely BizSpark and EU Grants Advisor.
Brigitte Baumann, President, EBAN, said: “Feedback from our members suggests that the partnership with BizSpark helps them find great companies to invest in, a top priority for all early stage investors.”
Almost 30 of EBAN’s members associations have now signed up as BizSpark Network Partners in 18 countries across Europe.
Some of the countries with Angels doing most with BizSpark enrolments include: Russia, Poland, Italy and Germany. Top of the list? Veraventure in Finland.
We caught up with Veraventure at the Money Talks Forum in Helsinki: billed as Finland’s number one matchmaking event, connecting investors with some of the region’s most promising mobile innovators. You can watch the interview with them below.
Money Talks is organised by another BizSpark Network Partner, Technopolis, which helps to incubate tech entrepreneurs, by providing business environments and services, ranging from comprehensive business and development services through to modern premises.
Read more about Technopolis in this time’s Futures magazine publication
“Money Talks Forum is a great platform to meet a wide range of influential people in the mobile business,” commented John Nogrady, representing Microsoft's Emerging Business Team as a keynote speaker at the event.
Veraventure has invested in several BizSpark member companies including Brieftec Ltd, Ecore Oy, Miradore Oy, Oy Clarovision Ltd and Techila Technologies Ltd.
We’re particularly proud of all these companies and want them to have the market recognition they deserve. This is why Microsoft Finland nominated Miradore Oy, a configuration management company, for Information Week’s Startup 50 project.
“It’s great that Miradore’s innovation is being recognized in this way,” says CEO Paul Palojärvi. “This is a major worldwide competition that will strengthen the global awareness and success of our technology, as well as spur us on as we work toward becoming a de facto standard management tool for managed service providers,” he continues.
“Through the Microsoft BizSpark program, we have been working closely with Miradore as they create and deliver innovative solutions for their customers,” says Mika Okkola, Director, Developer and Platform Evangelism at Microsoft Finland. “This nomination is well deserved for all of their great work in the managed services space.”
Looking ahead, we are anticipating even greater momentum around BizSpark in the region: the main focus for us is helping Nordic start-ups access government grants through our EUGA program, which is already very strong in Sweden and becoming stronger in Finland, as we partner with the Network Partner community and the Business Angel investors.
UPDATE:
In case you want to know more, here's a great video of Klaus Andersen, Microsoft's Western Europe VP, giving a keynote speech at the 2009 Global Forum in Finland.