Nordic VC Challenge (Venture Capital Challenge) is a competence program to help emerging managers in the Nordics set up their first fund and a platform to share venture capital best practices across the different investment ecosystems in the region.
Nordic Venture is an emerging Venture Ecosystem, with more than 80% of fund managers managing three funds or less, and nearly 50% managing their first fund. As an emerging ecosystem, there is a need to support new and existing investors in the Nordic region with training, best practices and the best venture expertise to increase its competitiveness and attractiveness in the global Capital Markets. Also, there is an opportunity to support new funds incorporating ESG practices (Environmental, Social and Governance reporting) into their fund focus and investment process and encourage more funds become sustainable focused funds.
Nordic Venture is shaping the Nordic region. New Nordic funds are more likely to:
- Be Nordic focused fund. This is, to invest pan-Nordic versus investing in just one Nordic country
- Be sector focused funds, in areas such as Climate & Sustainability, Health or DeepTech. Verus being generalist investors
- Be more ESG focused, investing in one or more of the UN SDG and including at least one female in their partnership strucutre.
By working with emerging VC funds, we can accelerate the green and sustainable transition in the Nordic region.
The ambition in this project is to work with 60 new funds over a 3 year period that will invest in 900 companies in the region in the next decade.
Goals 2022 - 2023:
- Consolidate the program into a Nordic initiative
- Develop tools and guidelines to help more funds in the Nordics classify as article 8 and 9 funds according to SFDR
- Develop a recruitment process that guarantees gender balance in the program
Goals 2023-2024:
- Increase awareness of the importance of a common Nordic Venture Ecosystem
- Develop a process part of the program to support more funds in the Nordics become ESG focused funds or Impact Funds
- Develop new Venture Due Diligence guidelines that incorporate circular economy risks and other sustainable considerations
The first Nordic VC Challenge took place during spring 2023 with 25 emerging fund teams from all the Nordic countries. Over 10 sessions, the teams learned about venture capital topics such as sourcing and dealflow, portfolio construction, fundraising strategy and fund operations.
Read about the first VC Challenge here
Nordic Venture Opportunity
From 1. November 2023, the Nordic VC Challenge enters a new phase. The aim of the new phase is to:
- Start 6-10 new venture funds in the Nordics
- Identify the barriers and challenges related to the investment in Nordic venture funds with a clear ESG profile, including concrete recommendations on how to solve these challenges
- Create a tool to ensure that circularity becomes a part of the due dilligence-process of investors to make it easier for companies with circular business models to attract capital
Project partners
Background
The project is a funded under the Circular Business Models program which is one of the eight initiatives launched by the five Nordic ministers of trade and industry. The initiatives represent a determined advance towards a stronger and more sustainable Nordic region and support the vision for the Nordic region to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. They are also important steps in the quest to make Nordic business and industry green, circular, and carbon-neutral in line with the vision.
Read more about the Circular Business Models program
Contact
For more information, please contact
Virginia E. Vegas, e-mail: virginia@vcchallenge.com, phone: +47 940 83 633
