Breaking the boom in the Nordic startup ecosystem

Always a great time, the Slush conference took place last week in Helsinki and, as always, was a showcase of the growing power of the European ecosystem.

The Nordic countries, in particular, are having a moment, this time led by beloved Swedish programmer Lovable, often seen as an example of the ecosystem’s growing success. Other notable, albeit older, names include Klarna and Spotify.

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

He attributed the success of the ecosystem to a few things, including the social safety in the region that allows young people to take risks without fear of losing everything.

“The new founders, the new generations, are becoming more optimistic and taking ownership,” he told Equity. “In 15 years, I haven’t seen anything [like] What happens now?”

It has become a hub for deep tech and artificial intelligence, one report said, and is now valued at half a trillion dollars, with Nordic startups receiving just over $8 billion in venture capital in 2024. The government is also playing a role in these companies, providing funding to startups, like Green-Leiber, to help founders grow their companies.

In some ways, Greenlepper agrees with others that the ecosystem is a few years behind, but at the same time, “we are moving much faster.”

We can’t leave the conversation without talking a little about AI. When asked if we are in a bubble, the Green Leprechaun said he doesn’t know. “There are a lot of opportunities that have not been explored yet,” he said, adding that it is true that some people invest their money in bad things, but “that is just the risk of venture capital.”