TECH TOUR SEEKS 30 MOST PROMISING EMERGING NORDIC TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES. Call for Applications for 2010 Nordic Tech Tour: Deadline is April 15, 2010

Transcription

1 Press Pack

2 Media contacts: Jarkko Virtanen Laurian Krell President Marketing Communications Manager Nordic Tech Tour European Tech Tour TECH TOUR SEEKS 30 MOST PROMISING EMERGING NORDIC TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES Call for Applications for 2010 Nordic Tech Tour: Deadline is April 15, 2010 Stockholm and Tallinn, March 8, 2010 The European Tech Tour today announced the 2010 Nordic Tech Tour will be held June in Tallinn and Stockholm. The Tech Tour will pair the most promising early and later stage growth companies with representatives from leading cross-border venture capital and global corporate firms. The Funds that will be present at the Tech Tour represent over 10 billion worth of investment capital. Companies from across the technology spectrum based in, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Estonia can register to compete to become one of 30 finalists. Finalists will be chosen from a pool of over 400 applicants. The deadline for applications is April 15, Jarkko Virtanen, who has 20 years of experience advising companies and investors in investments in technology companies, will serve as President of Nordic Tech Tour. He acts currently as a Senior Advisor for CapMan, a leading alternative asset house in Nordics and Russia and also runs his own angel investor and consultant company. Prior to that he was one of the founders of SFK Finance Oy in Virtanen will be joined by Co-Founder and General Partner of Veturi Venture Accelerator Jussi Harvela, who will serve as Vice President of the Selection Committee. The selection committee will consist of over 20 Nordic senior venture capital and industry experts. The Nordic Tech Tour 2010 will be a significant technology innovation and promotion event for Nordic and Baltic technology companies and will attract international leading technology investors and corporations. said Jarkko Virtanen. Virtanen added This industry and the investment community is changing. There will be perhaps 50% fewer funds investing in growth technology companies in the few next years. Therefore we are happy to offer this venue for revitalising the continuous cooperation between different industry players and the best of breed technology companies in the region following the 2009 financial crises. NORDIC TECH TOUR Page 2 Sven Lingjaerde, President of the ETT, commented: After 11 years the Tech Tour continues to innovate and we are very pleased to be returning to the Nordics with our new format. Having a Tech Tour that groups the Nordic regions will provide a richer deal flow and more competition for an event with international reach. Registration Applicants can register for the Tech Tour at As part of the process applicants must submit a company profile, business plan and draft presentation together with the registration form.

3 Selection criteria Applicants will be assessed on the uniqueness of their technology, the strength of their business model, vision, capability to execute on the business plan and the quality and track record of their management. Submissions will be reviewed by the selection committee, which is comprised of 20 senior business leaders from various backgrounds including venture capital, technology, research and economic promotion. Rewards for finalists The selected 30 finalists will each have a twenty minute slot to present their business plans to senior partners, vice presidents and CEOs from the global venture capital and technology industry, as well as service providers and academics. In addition, they will benefit from networking opportunities, local and international media exposure and potential opportunities to secure funding. New format for Tech Tours The Nordic Tech Tour is the second event with ETT s new formats which combine geographic regions. ETT will visit six defined regions on a three year rotation, giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet international investors more frequently and facilitate investor access to a wider range of start-ups. This change also reflects VC s desire for more cross border investment opportunities. About the European Tech Tour The European Tech Tour Association (ETT) was founded in Geneva in 1998 in response to the growing interest in emerging technology companies in various European regions. ETT is an independent, not-for-profit organisation composed of key contributors to the high technology industry. The Association recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today's innovative projects into tomorrow's global technology leaders. For further information, please visit

4 Media contacts: Jarkko Virtanen Laurian Harry President Marketing Communications Manager Nordic Tech Tour European Tech Tour EUROPEAN TECH TOUR NAMES NORDIC S MOST PROMISING HIGH GROWTH TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES; SELECTED COMPANIES STAND TO BENEFIT FROM $10 BILLION IN INVESTMENT CAPITAL Tallinn & Stockholm, June 15, 2010 The European Tech Tour today announced the 30 selected companies of the Nordic Tech Tour The finalists represent the region s most promising, high-growth, early- and expansion-stage technology companies. The 30 companies all of them based or incubated in Denmark, Sweden,, Norway, Iceland and Baltic countries were chosen from a pool of over 500 companies. The selection was based on detailed reviews by the Nordic Tech Tour s Selection Committee in a four month process, comprising of 30 senior global venture capital and technology industry leaders. The distribution of the selected companies is roughly start-up and expansion stage companies, also indicating the main growth areas of software, media & internet and cleantech in technology segments. The reviews assessed the uniqueness of their technology, strength of their business model, market size and growth with go to market strategy, the quality of management team and international development potential. We were impressed of the amount of high quality innovations and companies identified in the Nordic s and Baltic s said Jarkko Virtanen, president of the Nordic Tech Tour The 30 selected finalists all represent their technology segment s innovation leadership locally with great potential to expand and grow internationally. This will have an effect on Europe s broader recovery in the high tech segment with innovation leadership, since 25% of Europe s high tech companies are located in the area. -MORE MOST PROMISING NORDIC COMPANIES ANNOUNCED Page 2 And the selected companies are The Nordic Tech Tour 2010 finalists span several technology sectors, including new materials, semiconductors, nanotechnology, electrical devices, telecommunications & mobility, enterprise software, internet & media, IT system software, medical devices & IT and cleantech.

5 This is who they are and where they are from: Company Location Company Location 2cureX Denmark PlusFourSix AB Sweden Axel Technologies Oy QuestBack Norway Beneq Oy Regio (Reach-U) Estonia Canatu Renewa Oy Cint AB Sweden Replisaurus Sweden ClimateWell AB Sweden Senseg Confidex Ltd Shark Solutions A/S Denmark Eniram Ltd SmartOptics AS Norway Fortumo OÜ Estonia Sulake Corporation Oy IT2 Treasury Solutions Denmark Supponor Junglemap AS Norway TaxiPal Estonia Mendor There Corporation Microtask Ltd Tobii Technology Sweden Nanoradio AB Sweden Zeropex Norway PhotoSolar A/S Denmark ZeroTurnaround OÜ Estonia Nordic Tech Tour in three capitals The Nordic Tech Tour 2010 is being held in Helsinki on June 15 and 16, followed by an evening event in Tallinn and the final day to be held on June 17 in Stockholm. During that time selected companies will have twenty minutes to present their business plans to 70 international delegates consisting of senior partners, vice presidents and CEOs from the global venture capital and technology industry, as well as advisors and academics. They will benefit from networking opportunities, local and international media exposure and opportunities to secure funding. There is over 10 billion worth of investment capital present at the Tour. About the European Tech Tour The European Tech Tour Association (ETT) was founded in Geneva in 1998 in response to the growing interest in emerging technology companies in various European regions. ETT is an independent, not-for-profit organisation composed of key contributors to the high technology industry. The Association recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today's innovative projects into tomorrow's global technology leaders. For further information, please visit

6 PRESENTING COMPANIES Company Logo Company overview Headquarters First product to screen all colorectal cancer treatment regimens used in DK and US for resistance and efficacy in cells from the individual cancer patient. CEO: Ole Thastrup Birkeroed, Denmark Axel aims to be game changer of TV and Video consuming with mobile and portable devices. Axel provides highly innovative and comprehensive TV and video application that combines broadcast TV, internet TV/video and social media. Turku, CEO: Petri Kalseke Beneq is a nanotechnology driven supplier of industrial equipment and technology for global markets. CEO: Sampo Ahonen Vantaa,

7 Canatu s new materials and processes are used to create critical thin film electrical, optical and energy generation and storage components that are lower cost, higher performance and more environmentally friendly. CEO: David Brown Stage: Scaling for Production Espoo, Cints runs a "rights" exchange, where the traded asset is the right to access a private individual for the purpose of doing market research. CEO: Bo Mattsson Stockholm, Sweden ClimateWell sells the SolarChiller, the leading solar powered air-conditioner. CEO: Per Olofsson Stockholm, Sweden Confidex has the capability to design best performing RFID tags and manufacture those in very high volume with costefficient operations. CEO: Timo Lindstrom Stage: Pre-IPO ITampere

8 Eniram s solutions enable fuel efficiency, environmental protection initiatives and intelligent reporting of vessel and fleet performance, delivering cost efficiencies onboard and onshore. CEO: Philip Padfield Fortumo develops and provides an online mobile payments creation platform It allows everyone to create a new mobile payment service in 35+ countries in 5 minutes. No startup fee. No monthly fee. Instant activation. Tartu, Estonia CEO: Martin Koppel IT2 is a core front, middle and back office treasury management workflow control system for the needs of Corporate or Financial Institution treasury departments CEO: Kevin Grant Stage: Growth Copenhagen Denmark With its NanoLearning method and platform, Junglemap reinvents and rejuvenates enterprise learning. CEO: Dan Ove Skaalerud Oslo, Norway

9 Mendors goal is to provide diabetics and care givers innovative and user friendly blood glucose meters and software that make life easier for diabetics and healthcare personnel every day. CEO: Matti Vaheri Pay-as-you-go cloud labor in a commodity form, which means greatly lowered fixed cost of employment and offices, and enables new kinds of growth businesses. CEO: Harri Holopainen Nanoradio provides a unique Wi-Fi solution, making high speed wireless internet access possible in mobile terminals. Nanoradio s WLAN chipset is the world s smallest and features the lowest power consumption. CEO: Tord Wingren Kista, Stockholm Our mission ist to deliver a truly building integrated product that offers simple and effective solar shading and transforms sufficient solar energy to create a good indoor climate and to minimize energy consumption for air conditioning in nonresidential buildings globally. Taastrup, Denmark CEO: Carsten Haake

10 PlusFourSix provides various white-label music subscription services as turn-key fully managed service. CEO: Niklas Stalberg Sweden, Denmark QuestBack provides online survey services and Enterprise Feedback Management for gathering, analyzing and responding to business critical feedback. CEO: Ivar Kroghrud Stage: Pre-IPO Oslo, Norway Middleware and applications for mobile operators to launch location-based services to their subscribers. As experts on maps, we take care of content of the system, and deliver turnkey solution to the mobile operators. Tartu, Estonia CEO: Teet Jagomagi Renewa Oy is a Finnish energy technology company that is growing rapidly and expanding internationally. We offer advanced combustion solutions utilising renewable fuels for local energy production. CEO: Tuomas Timonen

11 Replisaurus provides a revolutionary combination of hardware and consumables: advanced copper pattern transfer hardware modules with a unique high margin consumable technology to deliver superior copper layers on semiconductors. Kista, Sweden CEO: Daniel Carl With the touch user interfaces being a rising mega trend, Senseg s technology is the only truly scalable solution to these markets thanks to its proprietary E-Sense technology. CEO: Ville Makinen Shark Solutions operates technology to take PVB waste from established glass recyclers who is now only putting this PVB waste to landfill or for incineration and recycle into a range of industrial raw materials e.g. as pellets for plastic industry or into powder for solvent based paints or into dispersion for water based paints. Svinninge, Denmark CEO: Jens Holmegaard The product mix is split into Optical transceivers, Passive and Active WDM, Storage connectivity (SAN) and Solution and Services. Competitive advantages throughout technology lead and cost performance. Oslo, Norway CEO: Terje Hallan

12 Sulake is an online entertainment company focused on developing and operating online communities and social games. CEO: Timo Soininen Stage: Pre-IPO Supponor enables clubs, leagues, federations and right holders to multiply the revenue from their advertising rights. CTO: Chris Buckley Stage: Growth Espoo, We provide a free mobile application for consumers that help them order local taxi services in their own language, no matter where they travel; using GPS, address and POI data to facilitate the ordering. CEO: Raoul Järvis Tallinn, Estonia Our vision is to provide Home Energy Management Solutions based on an expandable integration platform with open interfaces. This allows us and our partners to offer sustainable future proof Smart Grid solutions and services to our clients CEO: Kaj Rönnlund / Expansion

13 Tobii s mission is to bring eye tracking into broader use and the company offers market leading eye tracking technology to industrial partners within areas such as gaming, diagnostics, car safety and computer control. Danderyd, Sweden CEO: Henrik Eskilsson Stage: Pre-IPO Improve sustainability and profitability of communities and industries with a unique power generating device for existing infrastructure. CEO: Tor Albert Ersdal Stage: Start up Sandness, Norway ZeroTurnaround uses cutting edge technology to disrupt the Java development and middleware market. CEO: David Booth Tartu, Estonia