Skyfall Ventures

Over the weekend, Finansavisen featured Skyfall Ventures in an interview with our Managing Partner, Espen Malmo. The piece underscored our dedication to partnering with top-tier Nordic founders in areas such as artificial intelligence, climate tech, and blockchain/web 3. While we are pleased with our first fund's 4x return so far, we aim much higher. However, it's the realized returns that count, real money in the bank for our investors, so the final verdict is still some years down the road.   You can explore the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dhcB3imF

Great to see industry experts recognizing the amazing Cardboard as one of the most exciting fintechs in the Nordics 🚀💥 (We would say ..."in Europe")

💡 "What will define the next chapter of Norway's economy? Founders and venture capital." 💡 In the next 10-15 years, entrepreneurs and investors will play a crucial role in transforming the Norwegian economy. 🚀 Last week, Jon Kåre Stene, partner and co-founder of Skyfall Ventures, shared perspectives at Venturekonferansen 2025 on how founders and venture capital will be pivotal in shaping Norway's future. Thanks to pioneers like Henrik Langeland from Enode, Marit Rødevand from Strise, Jonas Helmikstøl from Starflow, Trygve Karper from Databutton, Knut Sandven from Sonair, Lauren Pedersen from SportAI, the rest of our incredible portfolio founders and every bold tech founder across Norway. Your journey to build the next generation of Norwegian companies is inspiring—and impactful. 🌟

2024 has been an exciting year at Skyfall Ventures! We’ve invested in six new transformative startups in the fields of AI, B2B SaaS, climate tech, crypto, and robotics. Which six, you ask? 📊 Cardboard: We led the €1.9 million seed funding round for Cardboard, a SaaS subscription management platform that uses smart virtual cards to automate payments and streamline receipt collection. Cardboard addresses the complexities caused by the rapid growth in SaaS subscriptions by businesses. 🏦 Januar: We invested in the €1.5 million seed extension round in Januar, a financial infrastructure service for crypto businesses. Januar, which holds a payment institution license with the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, offers fiat business accounts and payments solutions that integrate with crypto wallets. Their all-in-one platform enables seamless and compliant fiat-to-crypto money flows and currently serves customers all across Europe. 🤖 Sonair: We led a $1.6 million seed extension funding round for Sonair, contributing to a total of $6.8 million raised. Sonair is developing breakthrough 3D ultrasonic sensor technology to enhance spatial awareness in AMRs, self-driving vehicles, and humanoid robots, with the goal of propelling the mobile robotics industry into a new era of sensing technology. 🎾 SportAI: We led a NOK 20 million seed round for SportAI, whose mission is to bring elite sports technique analysis to everyone, starting with your tennis swing and soon expanding to all racket sports. Using machine learning and computer vision, their software analyzes video in real-time to deliver personalized feedback for players, insights for equipment brands, and enhanced commentary for broadcasters. 🌟 Starflow: We led a NOK 20 million pre-seed financing round for Starflow, which is developing the Energy Hub, a platform that optimizes energy flows between solar panels, EV chargers, and home batteries to promote energy independence for homeowners. Starflow’s Energy Hub has the opportunity to become a key component in accelerating the adoption of solar and battery storage, decentralizing the energy system, and helping stabilise the grid. 🦾 Unannounced investment: Led a pre-seed round in a moonshot company within the robotics space. Stay tuned! Our active portfolio now counts 37 companies. We’re incredibly proud to support these exceptional teams in their journeys to transform their respective industries 🚀. Happy new year to all 🥳🎊 Lauren Pedersen, Felipe Longé, Trond Kittelsen, Andreas Thome, Espen Agdestein, Mikael Buch Smedegaard, Andreas Keinicke Gustavsen, Marcus Mølleskov, Simon Ousager, Rasmus Bjerregaard, Stein Magnus Jodal, Jakob Gerhard Martinussen, Vidhi Kumar, Andreas Røyrvik, Knut Sandven, Dag Wang, Britta Grennberg Fismen, Espen Halsaa Albrektsen, Frode Tyholdt, Ole Marius Hoel Rindal, Tor Odland, Shermine Gotfredsen, Jonas Helmikstøl, Ola Stengel, Nikolai Konopelko

In the latest episode of the Scandinavian Product Podcast, Cecilie Skjong dives into all things venture and product. She shares the key characteristics we look for when investing in companies - the surfers catching the perfect waves🏄♀️ This applies to founders building their own companies, cross-functional teams developing new products in scale-ups and product leaders driving new opportunities in large organizations. The Scandinavian Product Podcast is the leading product podcast in the Nordics, featuring incredible guests like bestselling authors Marty Cagan, David Bland and April Dunford. Many great episodes to enjoy over the holidays! Big thanks to Afonso Malo Franco for the great conversation! Tune in to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dR_dmHGT

🎄22nd of December – Laila Danielsen, Elliptic Labs🎄 Laila is the CEO of Elliptic Labs, a publicly traded AI software company that is transforming user experiences in smartphones, PCs, IoT, and automotive markets. With technology integrated into over 500 million devices, Elliptic Labs collaborates with global giants like Lenovo and Xiaomi. After 20 years with tech companies in Silicon Valley, where she built and scaled companies like Appliedtheory Corp, Penguin Computing and HotLink Corporation, Laila became CEO of the Norwegian company Elliptic Labs in 2013 (while remaining based in the US). Under her leadership, the company has grown from an R&D startup into an international company with offices in Norway, California, China, Japan, and South Korea. Laila is a pioneer in tech, and she shows what is possible for Norwegian companies and female CEOs in tech. Excited to see what’s next for you and Elliptic Labs, Laila! * Over the next 24 days, I’ll introduce you to 24 female tech entrepreneurs and role models in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Stay tuned✌️🎄

🎄21st of December – Vilde Regine Tellnes, Healthy Eats🎄 Vilde is the co-founder and former CEO of Healthy Eats, a food-tech company that set out to make healthy and sustainable fast food the easy choice. Over four years, Healthy Eats grew from a small idea born in a blue shipping container to 50 locations across Norway’s three largest cities, becoming a trusted partner for some of the country’s biggest companies. Their mission was ambitious: to inspire healthier and more sustainable food choices while improving public health and reducing the environmental impact of the food industry. Their impact caught international attention, and Healthy Eats was selected as one of five companies globally for a mentorship program with Richard Branson through the Maverick1000 NEXT Entrepreneur program. Vilde is also recognized by Dagens Næringsliv as one of 30 rising stars driving the world in a more sustainable direction. Unfortunately, Healthy Eats closed down earlier this year. I have deep respect for Vilde and her ability to aim high and embrace risk. Norway needs more people willing to take such leaps, and Vilde is a big inspiration to me and many others. Can’t wait to see what’s next for you, Vilde! * Over the next 24 days, I’ll introduce you to 24 female tech entrepreneurs and role models in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Stay tuned✌️🎄

🎄20th of December – Anita Schjøll Abildgaard, Iris.ai🎄 Anita is the Co-founder and CEO of Iris.ai, a company transforming how researchers navigate and process scientific information. Iris.ai has developed AI tools that empower scientists to systemize insights from millions of academic papers, patents and technical documents - reducing time and effort while ensuring accuracy. Last year, they raised €7 million in a Series A funding round. The investment, led by Silverline Capital and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Fund, brought Iris.ai’s total funding to €16 million. Anita’s career spans continents and industries. She has been recognized as one of Forbes' Top Women in Tech and teaches at SingularityU Nordic. Anita has worked with AI for years, recognizing the potential of the technology early on. Anita says about herself that "I sport a pink mohawk and am a bit of a unicorn. Don't expect me to fit into your box" - love it 🦄 She inspires us all to think big and step outside the box. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for you and Iris.ai, Anita! *Over the next 24 days, I’ll introduce you to 24 female tech entrepreneurs and role models in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Stay tuned✌️🎄

🎄19th of December – Marit Rødevand, Strise 🎄 Not a calendar like this without the one and only Marit! Marit is the co-founder and CEO of Strise, a company revolutionizing how organizations tackle anti-money laundering (AML) - turning AML from a costly burden to an automated winner. Since co-founding Strise in 2017, the company has partnered with 70% of the largest banks in the Nordics, including companies such as Nordea, Storebrand and Vipps. Last year, they raised a NOK 120 million Series A round led by Atomico, alongside other top-tier investors. Strise has built an impressive brand. For years Marit has been the host of The Laundry podcast, which has become a key platform for the AML and compliance community. With its impressive reach, The Laundry connects thought leaders and practitioners worldwide, amplifying Strise’s mission to make financial crime prevention smarter and more efficient. Marit has an exceptional drive and energy, and a special ability to make things happen. She is a great inspiration to me. Look forward to seeing you and the team scale Strise into the global leader in AML automation, Marit ✨ * Over the next 24 days, I’ll introduce you to 24 female tech entrepreneurs and role models in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Stay tuned✌️🎄

🎄18th of December – Jeanette Dyhre Kvisvik, VILLOID🎄 Jeanette is the co-founder and CEO of VILLOID, Norway's fastest-growing fashion e-commerce platform, focusing on Nordic designers, a GirlPower Community and Sustainability. They are known for their strong understanding of customer preferences. Since launching in 2018, Villoid has scaled to NOK 200+ million in revenue (2023) and raised capital from investors such as Varner and Trond Riiber Knudsen. Before founding Villoid, Jeanette worked at McKinsey & Company and Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS. She then founded Liquid Barcodes, which was acquired by Telenor, and SixBondStreet, which was acquired by Komplett Group. I am particularly inspired and impressed by Jeanette’s ability to take on tough competition from international players and succeed by truly understanding the Nordic market and its customers. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for you and Villoid, Jeanette! * Over the next 24 days, I’ll introduce you to 24 female tech entrepreneurs and role models in the Norwegian startup ecosystem. Stay tuned✌️🎄