Esben Gadsbøll

Power of a community & the voice of an eco-system. 💪 This week, an important event took place in Oslo. NAST (Norwegian Alliance for Startups & Tech) was launched at Mesh Community with Anders Mjåset & Per Einar Dybvik. 👉 The goal is for Technology to be the 5th largest export industry in Norway by 2030. To reach this, the framework for businesses and governmental trust needs to be aligned with increased globalization and competition. Key success criterias; 💡 Tax - Competitive exit, option, wealth & employer tax as well as incentives for early stage investors. 💡 Talent - Attract talent with visa's and STEM education. 💡 Capital - LP mandates, allowing Government Pension Fund & Folketrygdfondet to allocate 3-5% into unlisted shares. 💡 Automated & effective policy instruments & the state as a buyer. It all starts with people and a good idea. Let us make sure the businesses of tomorrow have all the tools they need to succeed. 🚀 #nast #startups #Innovation #oxidaneventure

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From today's article in Berlingske: "If you're a founder or visionary, you must firmly believe in what you're doing. If everyone could see what you see, it wouldn't be so innovative." When we founded Mono Solutions in 2007, the B2B SaaS model faced a lot of skepticism. Back then, software was installed on servers – the cloud was barely a concept. Thanks to the visionary insight of my co-founder David Højelsen, we persevered. This belief is also the inspiration behind "Ugly Duckling Ventures" – supporting those 'ugly ducklings' destined to become beautiful swans. #startups #venture #vc #uglyducklingventures

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[This may be of interest for our English-speaking registrars and colleagues.] Do Norid's services fall under the DSA? The Digital Services Act (DSA) is often referred to as part of the EU's platform regulation, aimed at addressing some of the challenges posed by the concentration of power in a few large global technology companies. However, the DSA regulates more than just platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The regulation covers all providers of internet-based services, _to the extent_ that the services fall into one of the following categories: • mere conduit (e.g., internet access services) • caching (intermediary storage services) • hosting (hosting services) There are many different actors involved in making content and services available to users, from content providers who upload content to a server hosted by a hosting service provider, to internet providers who transport the content from the server to the user via the internet. To determine whether a service falls within or outside the scope of the DSA, each actor must specifically assess the technical functionalities of their services. Norid has concluded that our services fall outside the scope of the DSA. Domain name system lookups occur before the content is transported, and the lookup only results in the user's machine obtaining the IP address of the server where the content resides. Neither Norid's name servers nor the name servers for individual domain names _store or transmit the actual content_. Norid's role thus ends where the roles of content providers and other service providers begin. We have published the legal analyses of our services: 💠 https://lnkd.in/dB7c8hNu (translated into English) We hope this will be helpful for domain registrars and name server providers who need to assess whether they offer services covered by the DSA.

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The EU secures peace, free trade, free movement (which enabled me to move to Sweden 23 years ago) and free roaming, among others. And today, a strong EU is more important than ever. That is the message I am trying to convey in this short post...

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We are very excited to announce the second edition of Techarena Zero, an international tech and sustainability event on October 23 in Stockholm! This is our most ambitious effort to date to create a forum and platform for bringing together leaders from different industries to discuss solutions and opportunities in the sustainable transition. 700 decision makers including business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, politicians, and experts will gather to network, get inspired, and discuss ways to ZERO some of the biggest  challenges to society. The event features: ▪️ A solution-oriented stage program ▪️ Digital platform for pre-booking meetings and matchmaking ▪️ Engaging round-table discussions ▪️ Exhibition ▪️ Side events  ▪️ Networking mingle “We have seen a high demand for business driven sustainability topics on our stages and our last year's ZERO event was vastly overbooked. Therefore, we decided to make this year's event much bigger, with a clear strategy to continue growing the platform and community in the coming years.. Our goal is to showcase that there are great successes and opportunities in the shift towards ZERO. We will bring international leaders that can be learned from and inspire the participants,” says Omid Ekhlasi, CEO and Founder of Techarenan. The event is supported by the The Swedish Institute (SI), The city of Stockholm, and Teknikföretagen (Technology Industries of Sweden) amongst others. The ambition is to join forces to create one of the most relevant platforms and international arenas for sustainability and tech in Europe, and to bring together participants from different parts of the world. #sustainability #sustainbilityevent #technology #tech #techarena #sustainabledevelopment 🗓️ October 23, 2024 📍 Nacka Strand, Stockholm Secure your spot at https://lnkd.in/gwmcwfah

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I've published the article "Trust Crisis in Decentralized AI" exploring the very core challenge at the intersection of Crypto and AI - trusting the system. TL;DR: 1. Decentralized AI requires a deterministic environment, achievable only through strict adherence of the infrastructure to Smart Contracts to guarantee privacy, security, and verifiability. 2. Without the ability for verifiable computations and subordination to smart contracts, there is no Web3 compliance, making blockchain unnecessary for many DePIN projects. 3. The use of fully Web3 compliant TEE is the only solution to ensure confidentiality, integrity of data, and cost-efficient computations in decentralized systems. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/ghgJqbzh

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We are welcoming a new Venture Partner, Jeppe Schytte-Hansen 🤩 Jeppe brings extensive experience in the B2B SaaS space, having founded and advised several companies. He has a strong track record in the space, which you can read about in the full Venture Partner article, and is co-founder of Templafy, and co-founder and CEO at Omnidocs 🙌 Now, Jeppe is joining the Venture Partner Network to help us take one of our core themes, B2B SaaS, to the next level 🚀 ”I have observed the way Dreamcraft operates and works closely with the portfolio companies. And I like what I see. It’s a bunch of skilled people with interesting growth mindsets and the ability to apply relevant learnings from the companies they interact with. That combined with the profile of the companies that are relevant for me, and the type of business that I might be able to influence a bit, makes it a good match to enter into this Venture Partner role” says Jeppe With this collaboration, we are continuing to create proper value for our stakeholders, together with our stakeholders 🤜🤛 Read more about Jeppe's background and his passion for company building in our latest Meet the Venture Partner article. - find the link in the comments 👇 #venturecapital #B2BSaaS #startups #venturepartner

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I'm impressed to see and feel how engaged the network around Healthtech has become with a strong dedication to bringing together investors interested in making the Healthtech ecosystem even stronger in Denmark. It's not an easy task, because: - Requirements and regulations continue to be more in favor of big corporates and are both time-consuming and expensive for startups - The local public healthcare system is unwilling to buy next-generation services from startups, even though the business cases are way stronger. I assume it must be the old saying from telco, "you won't be fired from buying Cisco". That all changes the risk/reward factor quite a bit, and makes it more difficult for many people to invest in. Thanks for inviting MindFuture, DTU Science Park, Jan Rosenbom, Steen Donner.

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Looking for feedback on your startup's pitch and deck? Join my free virtual pitching session next Tuesday, the 4th. You'll pitch in front of me and receive valuable feedback to enhance your future funding strategy. Please be aware that the pitch will be recorded and shared on LinkedIn. Only sign up if you’re comfortable with your pitch being made public. First come, first served ;-) Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ebP_C7wk #business #angel #pitch #openpitch

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3️⃣ tips to drive more impact from your Board Meetings 👇 We have received a lot of great feedback on our way of doing board meetings So good that multiple elements have been added as best practice at some prestigious universities and implemented in a couple of Denmarks biggest companies 🏢 It is not rocket science, but here a few tips based on our learnings: 1️⃣ Video Material as preparation 🎥 Before the board meeting starts everyone should know what to discuss (Agenda) & have the needed context to discuss it. We use videos to ensure that, where with just 1 hour of video content we can add a lot of relevant context to bring everyone up to speed 🚀 This should not take more than a couple of hours to prep & I would recommend to almost only use your day-to-day work material as the things you record from. Loom is a good software tool to do the videos This brings me to my second advice 😃 2️⃣ Do not spend time on reporting - aim to create value 📊 When talking to founders I often get surprised on how many spend the majority of their board meetings doing reporting. That SHOULD be done beforehand (ideally monthly) and all potential questions to this should be addressed in writing before the meeting. It is okay to spend the first 30 minutes on clarifying questions to material etc. - but do NOT let it overflow and capture the meeting 👻 Instead we often design workshops with clear Desired Outcomes and work with the Board like it was an internal strategy session daring to be 100% transparant & vulnerable and utilise their experience on the topics to get as much value as possible. We never vote or make definitive decisions (with the exception being fundraising and similar matters) - instead we regard it as input and make the business decisions in the Leadership Team, who has the needed day-to-day context to make great decisions 3️⃣ Board don’t really make the differences, but can for sure be supportive At the end of the day the impact in a business is created daily and I have never heard anything that felt that their board meetings, where truly transformative. Ensure you have the best possible people to get feedback on strategy & aim for the maximum output, but… Also remember to have fun 🏎️ This builds a stronger relationship making it easier and better to use the board members between the meetings, which is where the actual value is created 💸 (Picture is from our go cart session at the last board meeting - sadly the 3 ligthest people made the podium 😉) These were a few tips based on my experiences, but I am but no mean an expert, so would love to hear you: How do you maximise the value of your investors & board members inside & outside the board room? 🤔

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Moalem Weitemeyer advised the VC fund Atomico, as lead investor, in connection with a EUR 13 million investment in Light.   Light has completely redefined ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software to offer a multinational accounting system for modern businesses. It features a general ledger capable of seamlessly managing all of a company’s global transactions and is built on robust database architecture and native AI technology 🤖💡   Thank you to Atomico and their team for trusting us with this investment.    The team from Moalem Weitemeyer consisted of Poul Guo (Quach) 郭保罗, Jeanette Kjeldgaard Rasmussen, Henrik Ringgaard Diget, Salam Al-Khafaji, Hadil El-Jamal, Fie Seibæk, Astrid Mandahl Christiansen and Patricia Alstrup Rasch. Links to press releases announcing the investment can be found in the comments below ⬇ #wededicate #erp #erpsoftware #venturecapital

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Entrepreneurs Investing in Entrepreneurs – That’s What Drives Us at Marktlink At 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸, we’ve always been passionate about entrepreneurship. For years, entrepreneurs who we’ve supported in selling their businesses have asked us if we knew of investment opportunities. And indeed, we did. In 75% of SME transactions, the buyers are private equity firms that partner with entrepreneurs to drive further growth and create value. The historical returns of private equity demonstrate their success in this regard. But why are most private equity funds primarily backed by institutional investors? Wouldn't the investment circle be more powerful if these funds were fueled by fellow entrepreneurs? With that vision in mind, we took action—and it’s paying off. To date, 1,500 entrepreneurs have committed more than €1.5 billion in capital, funds dedicated to helping other SMEs grow. Speaking of growth, our team of over 35 professionals at Marktlink Capital is actively working to drive further expansion. Interested in investing in SMEs? Learn more at Marktlink Capital - https://lnkd.in/ePcf4KnY #rewardingentrepreneuship #growth

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🔍 STORYTELLING, The Curious Case of the Convertible Loan for Nova Innovations. Pitch for BRIDGETEMPO case https://lnkd.in/dQ4vUDDZ 🚀 Nova Innovations, a dynamic Copenhagen-based tech startup, sought additional capital to accelerate growth. Investor A, a seasoned investor, came forward with an intriguing proposal: A convertible loan. 💼 The Deal 💸 Investment: 500,000 DKK (62,500 EUR) 📈 Interest Rate: 10% per annum 📅 Term: 3-4 years 🔑 Minimum Ownership (if converted): 15% 💰 Total Repayment (if not converted): 650,000 DKK (81,250 EUR) 📊 Exit Value upon Conversion: Up to 15% ownership share at a higher valuation 🏷️ Discount Rate for Participation: To be determined during a future capital round 🔀 The Options 1️⃣ Non-Conversion: Enjoy a fixed return of 10% per annum. 2️⃣ Conversion: Potential for significant upside, depending on Nova's future valuation. For instance, if acquired for 20 million DKK, the investor could see a return of 3 million DKK. 🤔 Investor's Choice Investor A decided on the convertible loan, strategically balancing risk with potential reward. This choice not only secured a steady return but also set the stage for a possibly substantial payoff. The convertible loan exemplifies a flexible financing solution, balancing the characteristics of both debt and equity, and offering benefits for both startups and investors alike. #StartupFinancing #ConvertibleLoan #VentureCapital #InvestorStrategy #GrowthCapital #TechStartups #InvestmentOptions #innovation #tech

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YES - next week it's thankfully time to once again meet up with awesome scaleup founders, VCs,and startup ecosystem friends at TechBBQ here in #Copenhagen. I've had the pleasure to participate since the 2016 version, and though being a Dane 🇩🇰 I have to say I'm pretty impressed on the way Avnit, Sam, Kay and their cool team have improved year after year. 🚀 The stage program is amazing, and so is the both net networking opportunities at the venue, and at the many side events too. Day 0️⃣ I'm happy to join the Investor Breakfast hosted by our friends Lars / Scale Capital and Pirkka / Maki.vc - fully booked, not surprised, can't wait ✅ Nordic Investor Day 2024 at Industiens Hus is also too good to miss, so many of our Nordic Secondary Fund VC friends will be present, what's not to like ✅ Finally, TechBBQ Speaker Networking Event, where the +300 official speakers will mingle and be networking ✅ Day 1️⃣ I'm proud and excited to be on Forest Stage at 10.30-10:55 with Nils - Co-Founder & CEO from Minut 🇸🇪 , our last N2F portfolio member. The topic is "UNLOCKING CAPITAL" : The Benefits of Secondary Market Transactions ✅ Meeting a lot of new and old nice and smart people like; Karl Ágúst Matthíasson, Ebba Sandbecker, Andreas Claudi, Jonatan Kutchinsky, Jaspur Langgaard, Sofia Hjelmberg, Mads Troelsgaard, Lars Fløe Nielsen, Peter Lauerbach, Wouter Vorstman, Peter Baech, Ata Bærentsen, Sander Janca-Jensen, Kristine Bangstad Fredriksen, Thomas Lenz, Raphaël G. , Luisa Alix Orsini, Elena Enache only to mention a few ✅ Day 2️⃣ So far only very few appointments, so if YOU will be around the venue or the side events and wants to learn more about our unique offering on secondaries, doing tickets from €2-9M, don't hold back, ping Frank Lyhne Hansen, Karl Emil Uhre Christensen or me here at LinkedIN, DM us, or come and talk to us ✅ See you soon ☀ #secondaries #liquidity #scaleups #founderfriendly

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Revolutionizing diagnostics with AI. When you think about healthcare, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t always AI. But it should be. Especially when it comes to Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)—a space that has been underserved for far too long. Enter Enaiblers, a Swedish startup I’m proud to be working with. They’re using AI-powered diagnostics to make healthcare more equitable and affordable for everyone. 🌍 AI isn’t just about cutting-edge tech. It’s about changing lives. This is the first part of my Behind the Scenes series where I’ll be sharing how Enaiblers is redefining healthcare with innovation. Follow along if you want to see how AI can reshape industries, break barriers, and create impact. Stay tuned for part 2. #AIInHealthcare #TechForGood #Diagnostics #HealthcareInnovation #NTD #VisibilityMatters #OneBXL

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🔥 Problem: How do we 10X the angel investors base in the Nordics so that we can provide a rock-solid early-stage support-infrastructure for the unprecedented momentum of high quality startup ideas emerging from the region? Espcially in times when venture capital is going through its own meditative course correction? Do we pull the plug on great ideas OR should we join forces and build an infrastructure to make really early-stage investment possible "at scale." 💡 Solution: Connect Next Angel | Investor Accelerator. A structured foundation to angel investing for existing and upcoming angel investors so that they can access the enormous deal flow in the region, develop a structured investment and risk mitigation process they can plug and play to their decision-making, and get the tools and network to support startups along with thousands of other angel investors. Boom! 🚀 Exciting to be co-hosting the Connect Next Angel | Investor Accelerator recently launched by Connect Sverige Region Öst. First cohort starts on 4th June 2024. ℹ The investor accelerator provides hands-on investor training to existing angel investors and anyone interested in becoming an angel investor (serial entrepreneurs, startup advisors / mentors, board professionals, tech experts, corporate professionals / consultants, etc.) through a robust four-week sprint format covering: - Investor Readiness & Deal Flow - Pitch Evaluation & Due Diligence - Financial Design & Valuation - Deal Structure & Follow-Up Applications to the June 2024 program are closing soon, apply here: https://lnkd.in/dXKxNts3 Would like to be a Mentor / Partner - let's discuss! #angelinvesting #funding ##startups #earlystage #preseed Anette Nordvall Björn Larsson Jan Snygg Joakim Arvidsson Johan Johansson Ólafur Steindórsson Johan Gunnars

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This spring we had almost 8,000 Founders apply to come and work with us at Antler in the US. Of that, we had 300 Founders come and work with us in person in our offices, and we ended up invested in 32 of those teams that we were absolutely blown away by. I can't go into specifics quite yet as these companies are still in stealth but a small sample of what these teams are working on: (Comment below what you think are most interesting and I can help you meet the teams) 1. A team with experience at Boeing, SpaceX, Relativity Space, Hermeus and General Atomics are building full commercial scale wing-bodied aircraft. 2. Team of former Starlink and Raytheon engineers building edge computing software for space and satellite interoperability. 3. One of the biggest contributors to the Ape Coin DAU and his co-founder from Performance-IQ working on tokenizing and democratizing public advertising inventory (think billboards in timesquare) 4. Former leader of one of the most successful WoW clans and Founder of one of the highest traffic gaming sites in the world building the consumer metasearch for weightloss with her CTO who led engineering at Esper. 5. Founder who sold his previous company to Nexa3D building the supply chain needed to 3D print footwear right here in the United States. 6. Founder from C2i Genomics building early disease profiling and detection with novel multiomic sequencing (when they succeed will help solve cancer.) 10. Former researcher at Fermilab, Mercury Data Science and the Smithsonian automating the peer review and analysis of scientific documents to build a new SoR for global scientific progress. Couldn't be more excited to be working with Founders who are truly pursuing their life's work. If you’re an active investor who’d like to meet these founders directly, or a founder interested in becoming a part of this elite group, sign up in comments below ⬇️

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Terma, a renowned Danish company, excels in combining Tech and Defense, spearheaded by top-notch professionals for decades. It's been an honor to learn from influential figures like former CEO Jens Måløe, board member Anders Eldrup, and Jørgen Huno Rasmussen. Not to forget, the innovative LinKS alumni Lars Gert Lose, serving on Terma's board. LinKS has had the. Honor of playing a role in educating and in shaping decision-makers in Denmark, from politicians to corporate leaders, with the world's leading business schools. Witnessing Europe unite under a common identity and business platform is truly remarkable, showcasing unprecedented speed and ambition. The recent news of ATP's investment in Terma underscores the significance of supporting Danish core competencies. ATP's bold move sets an example for investing in Europe, fostering global alliances in Defense and Tech. This strategic investment aligns with the vision for a strong and progressive European business landscape. #InvestinEurope #BuildglobalAlliances #DefenseandTech #ATP #Terma

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My take on the Analytic Pioneer Summit is coming in a bit later than I would have liked, but as some of you might know, we had some big news to share yesterday: https://lnkd.in/dD3hDjkU That said, I still wanted to share my thoughts on what was a fantastic day. First and foremost, as we've come to expect from them, Patrick Oliver Mohr and Marcus Stade put together an incredible event at the BMW Park Basketball Stadium, pulling out all the stops. The venue looked amazing and radiated energy—I almost forgot I had to wake up at 4 AM to catch my flight. The only small downside was that the stage setup encouraged more formal presentations and less discussion. Nevertheless, I think everyone left with a real 'wow' feeling (though I’m afraid my pictures don’t do it justice). I had the chance to join the (multiple award-winning???) Gunnar Griese for his deep dive on Server-Side Google Tag Manager. Rather than summarising it here, I recommend you check out his blog! It did remind me, though, that while these topics are becoming more approachable, they’re still very much at a “programmer level” of complexity. We’re still a few AI breakthroughs away from a marketing tech stack that doesn’t require programming or technical assistance. One of my favourite subjects—how to activate and actually use data—was brilliantly covered by Susanne Dreier-Phan Quoc. She offered a fun, comedic take on how her organisation chose (and rejected) use cases. Her approach to highlighting what you *could* do, but really *shouldn’t* (ethically, legally), was a strong and important move. It not only showcased the potential of technology but also emphasised the responsibility we carry in its activation. Really nice! I also gave a talk of my own, focusing on key considerations when working with website interactions and website real estate. I covered a few common pitfalls and how to approach them differently—(queue pictures). Steen Rasmussens talk on campaign tracking hygiene was highly rated, and deservedly so. While it might seem like an outdated topic, it’s still incredibly relevant. If your basics aren’t solid, every decision that follows will fail. His slide on the bias between channels and how easily tracking data can be misinterpreted really stuck with me. It’s a reminder of the classic adage: 'You get what you measure,' but it’s equally important to act with an understanding of what you *don’t* measure, and the bias that might introduce. **P.S.** Tomorrow, I’m attending the 'Future of Marketing' panel at the breakfast meetup hosted by the Brand Leadership Community. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dC2bagps **P.P.S.** Maybe I’ll see some of you in London for MeasureCamp?

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