Stockholm-based Norrsken, an impact VC fund that helps entrepreneurs tackle the biggest environmental and social problems in the world, announced on Wednesday the 20 startups participating in the 2023 Norrsken Accelerator.
The 2023 cohort consists of 9 nations and solutions in the areas of climate technology, AI for education, sustainable agriculture, robotics, transportation, financial inclusion, and gender equality.
The Accelerator programme is designed to find the world’s “most promising” early-stage impact startups and help them scale.
The participating businesses were chosen after being reviewed in accordance with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and they were graded according to the scope and depth of their potential impacts. Unintended and harmful side-effects of success have also been considered.
Only firms that can effectively demonstrate that impact is an inherent aspect of their business strategy have been accepted into the course.
What to expect from the Accelerator programme?
All firms will get $125K as upfront pre-seed investment from the Norrsken Foundation, as well as an 8-week growth sprint at Norrsken House in Stockholm and mentorship from a roster of over 110 entrepreneurs, investors, and unicorn founders.
Alex Bakir, Norrsken Accelerator’s General Partner, says, “We were blown away by the sheer volume and quality of applications for this year’s programme. We received over 2500 applications from 112 countries and selecting the top companies for the 2023 batch was extraordinarily challenging.”
“The startups joining us for 2023 are tackling some of the world’s most intractable problems head-on and have real potential to scale their urgently needed solutions, fast. We’re excited to be a part of their growth journey,” adds Bakir.
Since the programme’s inception in 2021, 40 organisations have been selected from over 4,600 applicants from throughout the world.
They have attracted over $50M in early funding from top-tier angels and VCs such as Brilliant Minds co-founder Ash Pournori, Kry co-founder Fredrik Jung-Abbou, Pär Norberg of Nordic Capital, Capital T, Globivest, Softbank, Google Ventures, Founders Factory, and Norrsken Foundation.
Here are the 20 startups from the 2023 cohort
Kenya-based Chpter. enables African online companies to succeed by integrating the products needed to power checkout, messaging, marketing, and social media all in one location.
Sweden-based Your Beet has developed an AI platform that connects grocery stores and customers in order to disrupt food and accelerate the shift to plant-based nutrition.
Spain-based Ocean Ecostructures claims to develop intelligent marine life regenerating technologies to mitigate the environmental effect of grey ocean infrastructure and turn it into thriving ecosystems.
Sweden-based Vidde is developing an electric snowmobile, which combines high performance, “world-class” design, sustainability, and circularity to expedite the future riding experience.
Sweden-based AirForestry has developed a carbon-neutral forest management system that uses electric drones to minimise CO2 emissions from forestry operations while boosting the forest’s potential to absorb carbon.
Nigeria-based Billboxäs is a fintech platform whose toolset enables businesses to receive payments twice as quickly, while also simplifying payments, minimising mistakes, and allowing African firms to focus on development.
Nigeria-based Octamile’s digital insurance infrastructure helps insurers in Africa with the technology and data needed to enhance client service, claims processing, onboarding, distribution, and payment methods.
UK-based Greenworkx is creating the skilled and trade workforce required for the net-zero economy, as well as the vital green infrastructure required for electric cars, energy-efficient appliances, and renewable energy sources.
Holo is an agtech startup whose AI-powered agricultural decision-making OS supports farmers transitioning to regenerative agriculture and links them to marketplaces that reward sustainable produce.
US-based Fleri claims to reinvent cross-border care for immigrants and their families by developing digital tools that enable the provision of inexpensive healthcare with transparency and accountability.
India-based edtech startup Languify has developed a conversational AI teaching assistant for personalised 1-on-1 tutoring at scale with the goal of equalising and improving educational quality.
Nigeria-based Salad builds financial services for Africa’s workforce by collaborating with businesses to provide their employees with access to financial solutions that match their requirements when they need them.
UK-based Furbnow makes it easy to modernise your house by acting as your “trusted” partner, bringing together a fragmented supply chain to make homes more efficient.
US-based Vertru helps organisations to evaluate the sustainability effect and associated risks of their supplier network, from direct manufacturers all the way upstream to raw material producers.
UK-based Boldr claims to save people’s money on energy bills by combining efficient heating and cooling technologies with smart features.
Nigeria-based Revwit provides training and education to enable non-technical careers in high-tech companies in Africa.
Sweden-based Charly claims to combat inequality in relationships by creating financial instruments that, when paired with equality initiatives and legal obligations, give security and assistance in the event of a separation or divorce.
Sweden-based Vesiro reduces server energy consumption by allowing databases to search for data more quickly, resulting in significant cost and energy savings for data analysis.
Turkey-based Kavaken develops AI-powered software to optimise the operations and maintenance of renewable energy assets, lowering costs while increasing clean energy output.
Nigeria-based SendStack offers end-to-end software for logistics, cutting costs and increasing the effectiveness of delivery services. It does this by utilising optimisation algorithms, automated dispatching, and communication services.
About Norrsken
Founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth (co-founder of payment services unicorn Klarna), the Norrsken Foundation is a nonprofit organisation that addresses some of the most important problems faced by the planet.
It claims to have produced a global impact ecosystem where founders can locate the information, resources, and network they require to turn saving the world into a profitable venture.
The foundation operates Norrsken House in Sweden, the biggest startup cluster in Europe, and Norrsken House in Kigali, the biggest startup hub in East Africa.
Norrsken incubated Norrsken VC, a €200M+ VC fund that backs startups solving the world’s biggest problems. Additionally, Norrsken also manages the Norrsken Impact Accelerator, an Accelerator programme for early-stage impact startups.
Every year, Norrsken hosts Impact Week, an annual gathering of entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors and policy-makers in conversation about the greatest challenges facing the world.
01
Empowering Ukrainian Startups: Highlights from the PowerUp Ukraine 2024 Conference