Nordic Dreams Innovation, Startups, and the Nordic Region’s Connection to Silicon Valley August 2017 Acknowledgments Contents This report was prepared by Sean Randolph, Senior Director at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. Executive Summary ...................................................1 Camila Mena, Research Analyst at the Economic Institute, and Sebastian Hamirani, an intern from The Nordic Entrepreneurial Landscape ....................5 California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo, Innovation Advantage ............................................... 5 contributed to the research. Startup Hubs .............................................................. 6 The Institute is indebted to the sponsors that enabled the development of this report: the European Union, Stockholm .............................................................. 6 which provided underlying grant support for the Helsinki .................................................................. 7 project; the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis; the Consulate of Sweden, the Consulate of Norway, Copenhagen .......................................................... 8 Innovation Center Denmark, and Tekes. Oslo ....................................................................... 8 Leaders of many government agencies, universities, Reykjavik ................................................................ 9 accelerators, venture firms, and private companies, including many startup founders, contributed their From Startup to Scaleup ............................................ 9 insights through one-on-one interviews. They are listed Sector Strengths .......................................................11 in the Appendix. Systemic Challenges ................................................ 12 We also wish to thank the following knowledge partners, who provided key data that helped inform the study: Funding ................................................................ 12 Mind the Bridge, Factory, and Tech.eu. Market Scale ........................................................ 12 Taxation ............................................................... 12 About the Institute The Bay Area Connection ........................................13 Since 1990, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute has been the leading think tank focused on the economic and Government Offices ................................................ 13 policy issues facing the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Nordic Innovation House ......................................... 14 Bay Area, one of the most dynamic regions in the United States and the world’s leading center for technology and Business Organizations ............................................ 15 innovation. A valued forum for stakeholder engagement Leading Corporations .............................................. 15 and a respected source of information and fact-based analysis, the Institute is a trusted partner and adviser to Venture Firms ........................................................... 16 both business leaders and government officials. Through The Bridge to Silicon Valley .....................................17 its economic and policy research and its many partnerships, the Institute addresses major factors impacting the Why They Come ...................................................... 17 competitiveness, economic development and quality Nordic Startups in the Bay Area .......................... 18 of life of the region and the state, including infrastructure, globalization, science and technology, and health policy. What They Find ........................................................ 19 It is guided by a Board of Trustees drawn from How They Grow ....................................................... 27 influential leaders in the corporate, academic, non-profit, and government sectors. The Institute is housed at and Building the Nordic Connection .............................. 27 supported by the Bay Area Council, a public policy Interviews and Informational Support ....................28 organization that includes hundreds of the region’s largest employers and is committed to keeping the Bay Area the Bay Area ................................................................... 28 world’s most competitive economy and best place to live. Europe ..................................................................... 28 The Institute also supports and manages the Bay Area Notes .......................................................................29 Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC), a partnership of Northern California’s leading scientific research laboratories and thinkers. Executive Summary The Nordic Entrepreneurial Landscape The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Silicon where the Bay Area’s European startups primarily come Valley, is widely considered to be the world’s leading from and where future partnerships are most likely to center for technology, innovation and entrepreneurial develop. Stockholm is one of Europe’s five leading activity. Its assets in research, sector concentration and startup centers. Helsinki and Copenhagen also figure risk capital work together to create a global innovation prominently. All Nordic capitals, including Oslo and platform, making the Bay Area/Silicon Valley region Reykjavik, are developing increasingly robust and active a magnet for both large and small companies from startup environments. around the world. In this respect, the Bay Area is a hub that connects to other global knowledge-led From Startup to Scaleup regions, inviting companies and countries to access and leverage its resources in order to better compete A 2016 Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) analysis of ICT and grow globally. scaleups in the five Nordic countries (“Northern Lights: ICT Scaleups in the Nordics”) identifies 430 (defined for European companies fill that landscape. While numerically SEP’s analysis as companies that have raised more than that flow and the economic activity it represents is led by USD 1 million) and have together attracted USD 6.5 Europe’s largest economies, the economies of the Nordic billion in investment. Sweden accounts for the largest region (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland) number with 149, and USD 3.4 billion in investment. punch far above their weight, with a disproportionately This puts the total number of Nordic scaleups on a par large impact and business presence relative to the size of with the UK, and with Germany and France together. their populations and economies. Some of these companies have become global players, including Supercell, Spotify, King.com, Klarna, iZettle Innovation Advantage and Zendesk. Gaming is a particularly strong sector, but The Nordic region’s economies place high on global a growing number of companies can also be found in innovation rankings. Sweden, Denmark and Finland software, digital media, fintech, and hardware. Twenty place consistently among the top ten. Nordic scaleups have moved their headquarters abroad, primarily (75 percent) to the US, with the balance in While each has its distinctive traits and assets, the leading European centers such as London and Berlin; Nordic countries share several elements in common. most continue to maintain significant operations in their These include highly educated societies, with less home countries. income inequality than most developed economies; high-quality universities; and strength in scientific The lion’s share of this activity is occurring in major research. Sector strengths in their economies build cities: Stockholm (with USD 3 billion raised by 90 on this foundation. All of the Nordic countries have scaleups), followed by Copenhagen (USD 1billion raised small populations with correspondingly small domestic by 70 scaleups), Helsinki (USD .8 billion raised by 83 markets, which makes thinking globally a necessity. scaleups), Oslo (USD .4 billion raised by 33 scaleups), From the outset, many Nordic companies and their and Reykjavik (USD .1 billion raised by 13 scaleups). governments tend to look outward when it comes to Sweden in particular sits prominently on Europe’s global competition and markets. investment map. In 2016 the UK, France, Germany and Sweden led Europe in both the number of investment Startup Hubs deals and investment volume, with the greatest jumps The startup bridge to the Bay Area is anchored in in funding from 2015 registered in France and Sweden. a handful of major cities that have emerged as key In 2016, Sweden saw a record number of investment startup and entrepreneurial hubs. These the places rounds and capital raised—twice the number of 2015. 1 Nordic Dreams Sector Strengths lead in their home markets, there’s no problem; but for companies that want to become global players, this is The Nordic region’s economies stand out as early a challenge. It is particularly the case for IT companies adopters of cloud computing, enhancing their where the scale of the US market greatly exceeds that innovative capacity and digital competitiveness. Finland, of all European markets combined. As a result, once with strong IT, telecommunications, and mobile gaming startups have consolidated a base in their home markets sectors, has Europe’s highest rate of cloud adoption; by and want to grow, many leapfrog Europe and come to one estimate, half of Finland’s economic activity will be the United States—usually to the Bay Area. digital by 2025. Sweden and Denmark join Finland on the short list of Europe’s top adopters. The Bay Area