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With few than 400,000 inhabitants , Iceland have more than its fair share of tourists — and of venture capital . Both are adept grounds to pay attention to what ’s go on and come out of this unequalled island body politic .
“ We need more pillars to our economy,”Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir , Iceland ’s Minister of Higher Education , Science and Innovation , recently told TechCrunch atIceland Innovation Weekin Reykjavík .
Some diversification is already afoot , and the country ’s exportation revenues from informatics - driven industry have been rising steady . But more than being its own pillar , Icelandic innovation tie into what ’s already there : Startups are building technical school to facilitate the country make the most of its resource and economic activities — piscary and heavy industry top that leaning , but they ’re also market the local talent and culture .
However , it is strong to extrapolate drift from meager data on the fistful of inauguration deals that are done in Iceland each year . Here ’s what you need to know about the character of startups that have take solution and are thrive in the island nation :
Inspiration can come from anywhere
It ’s telling that medtech companyKerecis , which uses fish peel for novel injury dressings , is from Republic of Iceland : Innovation here often front to unexpected places for inspiration .
Products from the sea have branched into high - last cosmetics , as did food tech , new materials , and more . While it was n’t obvious even to Icelanders that angle skin or algae could be repurposed in so many ways , rising musical accompaniment for the rotary economy has make for focus back on sustainability . That ’s what onestartup acceleratorrun byKLAK – Icelandic Startupsis targeting .
One big reference of inspiration for companies in the country is the past tense . specially when it comes to fintech — the sector has niggling to do with the country ’s raw resources and more with its story . “ I think that the violence behind companies such as [ neobank]indóis lessons learned from the [ 2008]banking crisis . And same withMonerium , ” said Gunnlaugur Jónsson , CEO ofReykjavik Fintech Cluster , an connexion that drive to sustain the land ’s fintech companies .
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There are more lessons to draw , allot to Bjarni Gaukur Sigurdsson . His new party , Blikk , is work on an news report - to - chronicle requital chopine , as an choice to credit cards , to help contract payment processing costs . It ’s get a security measure slant , too , since it helps its customers end being to a fault reliant on platforms that could be compromised .
But all that foundation would be wasted without support . gratefully , entrepreneurs here have a unspoiled ecosystem to contribute and instruct from as they work up .
A strong support network
Besides venture capital and accelerators , the country ’s startups can get financing through broadcast likeHorizon Europe , a prissy addition to the national President Grant also distributed byRannís , the Icelandic Centre for Research .
DTE , for instance , is abeneficiary of a Ulysses S. Grant from the European Innovation Councilto convey more efficient processes to the country ’s vast aluminum industry .
But financing is n’t the only thing a inauguration needs to get . endowment make companies , which is why so many startups pile to downtown Reykjavík , the centerfield of Iceland ’s cultural , economic and administration action . The area is place to co - working spaces and entrepreneurial hubs likeHafnar.haus , which provides a co - working space as well as rentable studio apartment for those with a creative bent .
Republic of Iceland is known for its talent in the originative fields , and this propensity has bled into its tech scene as well . company likeGenki , OvertuneandTreblehave built tech for music production , composition and even acoustic pretence . Gaming is big , too , and Iceland is dwelling house to popular gaming companyCCP Games , the studio behind the popular MMORPGEVE Online .
CCP Games ’ presence has been an inspiration for many Icelanders to set forth building games , Porcelain FortressCEO Ingolfur Aevarsson told TechCrunch .
“ Having a self-aggrandising brother like CCP in the neck of the woods really opened up the eyes of people [ to the fact ] that we could actually make games , ” Aevarsson allege . “ But Iceland has a very strong origin in writing our saga and all of these form of story building . ”
Porcelain Fortress is based out ofInnovation House , a co - working place set up by Opera andVivaldifounderJon Stephenson von Tetzchner . It is also home toHeima , a platform that help folk deal and share household chores;PayAnalytics , a wage equity and workforce analytics supplier ; and many more startups .
Once startup get bigger and better fund , though , some move on toGróska(a news for “ growth ” in Icelandic ) , a modern blank space in the middle ofReykjavík Science City . This new territorial dominion is also home to theUniversity of Iceland Science Park .
Still , there are limitations inherent to a country with a belittled population : Once they reach a sure size , Icelandic inauguration often have to seem abroad to find AI talent or executives with experience in grading .
Looking abroad
Startups from Iceland that have forayed abroad includeNasdaq - listedeye care companyOculis;Prescriby , an opioid addiction bar company that late raised€2 millionto spread out in Canada and enter the U.S.;Sidekick Health , whose digital care chopine has gainedtraction across Europe and the U.S. ; andAvo , which became the first Icelandic startup to join Y Combinatorin 2019 .
Some company go global immediately , while others prefer to cut their tooth locally first . Crowberry Capital ’s launch pardner , Jenny Ruth Hrafnsdottir , has a Holy Writ of warning for the latter : Because Iceland is a land where most people are just a phone call or an introduction aside , it can make inauguration overconfident about a go - to - market scheme that wo n’t vaporize in large markets .
Still , the ease with which some thing can get done in Iceland makes it a good testing ground for extraneous company , especially when they can also leverage its innate assets . It also help oneself that validation in Iceland can often put on to Europe : Iceland is not part of the EU , but it belong to to the European Economic Area ( EEA ) , with extensive legislative overlap .
Strategic importance
Iceland has long held a strategic geographic billet deserving securing , but the theme is experiencing tailwinds anew when it come to startup — bug bounty programDefend Icelandlast year receiveda $ 2.6 million grantfrom the European Commission as part of the Digital Europe plan .
And the fact that NATO Innovation Fund ( NIF ) also co - hosted an event during Iceland Innovation Week underscores how much attention Iceland is receiving .
Republic of Iceland seldom makes the list of top countries by orbicular investiture , but that ’s mostly because the startup scene here is only just taking off . In a board at the effect , NIF collaborator Chris O’Connor noted that Iceland ’s venture working capital ecosystem is quite Modern , with most house only deploying their first or second funds .
He has a full stop : With the exception of state - ownedNew Business Venture Fund , funds like Crowberry , Brunnur Ventures , Eyrir Venture ManagementandFrumtak Ventureswere born this C , if not this X ( Iðunn ) .
It is too early to say which companionship or funds will do good fromNIF ’s € 1 billion investment firm , but Iceland is on the listing of potential recipients as one of its24 LPs . One tech party , wind turbine manufacturerIcewind , is alreadypartof the first age group of NATO - plump for acceleratorDIANA . The tendency will be worth trailing .
Strategically , but also economically and culturally , once - isolated Iceland is now more of a crossroads .
As a Nordic res publica , it has a pot of common ground with Scandinavia ( both have a secure gaming industry ) , and with the Baltics ( fintech and tech for governments ) . It is also natural for its tech companies to look at large markets early on . That ’s likely a undecomposed thing for its inauguration and emerging speculation majuscule picture . For the rest of us , it means we can get used to hearing about Iceland and its talent .
revelation : Anna Heim traveled to Iceland on an invitation fromBusiness Icelandon behalf ofReykjavík Science City .
