Iceland is a Nordic island and a very sparsely populated nation. But it ranks first in the world in gender equality and Global Peace Index. The most interesting aspect is that the whole of Iceland runs on renewable energy, almost.
Also, the country is one of the most active startup ecosystems in the continent of Europe. The Icelandic tech startups have raised a relatively higher funding per capita than other European countries of late. Though there are many gaming startups in the nation, it is not the only category that Iceland has to offer.
For those looking forward to work in Iceland, here we have curated a list of Icelandic startups sourced from Dealroom.
Activity Stream (Reykjavík)
Founders – Einar Sævarsson, Stefán Baxter
Funding – €1.9 million
Activity Streams is in operation since 2013. It is a cloud-based operation intelligence service platform that enables commercial exploitation of artificial intelligence to operations and services. It generates real-time insights into business operations. The team is focused on demonstrating how artificial intelligence can help businesses become smarter.
DTE – Dynamic Technology Equipment (Reykjavík)
Founders – Karl Ágúst Matthíasson, Sveinn Hinrik Guðmundsson
Funding – €1.2 million
Founded in 2013, DTE is focused on the next-generation industrial metal production process control. The company’s product lineup comprises flagship DTA-EA 2000 element analyser. It uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy aka LIBS to offer an accurate real-time chemical analysis to know if there are elemental contaminants in molten aluminium. Interestingly, there is no laboratory measurements or manual handling required.
Meniga (Reykjavík)
Founders – Asgeir Orn Asgeirsson, Georg Ludviksson, Viggo Asgeirsson
Funding – €31 million
Meniga exists since 2009 and is the leading white-label PFM (Personal Finance Management) and online banking solutions provider in Europe. The company has over 65 million digital banking users spread across 30 countries. Its award-winning solution helps retail banks across the world create digital relationships that are beneficial for both banks and customers.
Valka EHF (Kópavogur)
Founders – Helgi Hjálmarsson
Funding – €360k
Established in 2003, Valka offers progressive solutions for the fish processing industry. It uses a range of equipment to increase productivity, yield and accuracy. Valka’s RapidFish system is a comprehensive product control and order management software that aims to achieve the objective of the company.
Verne Global (Reykjavík)
Founders – Issac Kato
Funding – €89.1 million
Verne Global delivers high-performance computing solutions built on renewable resources in an optimised environment. The startup founded in 2007 employs an expert team offering full lifecycle support to provide maximum performance and flexibility for customers. Also, it makes sure to offer significant cost savings.
Tempo Software (Reykjavík)
Founders – Ágúst Einarsson
Funding – €17.3 million
Founded in 2015, Tempo Software seamlessly integrates into the everyday workflow of both technical and non-technical teams. It boosts productivity, collaboration, efficiency and decision making. It is one of the largest, award-winning and top-selling developers. The company has over 9,000 customers including small startups to large-scale companies spread across 115 countries.
Carbon Recyling International (Kópavogur)
CEO – Sindri Sindrason
Funding – €2.5 million
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) captures carbon dioxide emitted by industries and converts it into renewable methanol, which is a clean fuel that can blend at different levels with gasoline to meet the directives or renewable energy. Founded in 2006, CRI’s methanol is compatible with existing fuel and energy infrastructure.
CCP Games (Reykjavík)
Founders – Reynir Harðarson, Þórólfur Beck Kristjónsson, Ívar Kristjánsson
Funding – €60.3 million
Established in 1997, CCP Games has launched many virtual reality multiplayer games. The gaming tech startup was acquired by Korean company Pearl Abyss in 2018 for $425 million (nearly €381 million). Even after the acquisition, the company will continue to operate as an independent studio in London, Shanghai and Reykjavik.
Authenteq (Reykjavík)
Founders: Adam H. Martin, Kari Thor Runarsson, Runar Karlsson
Funding: €6.4 million
Authenteq founded in 2015 is an automated identity verification platform. The startup lets users verify their identity and create sovereign digital IDs. The data will be encrypted and stored in a blockchain to ensure the personal details of users are secure and inaccessible to anyone. The blockchain-encrypted digital IDs help in completing the verification processes instantly.
Flygildi (Reykjavík)
Founders – Hjalti Harðarson, Dr. Leifur Þór Leifsson
Flygildi founded in 2012 has developed Silent Flyer, its flagship product. This is a silent and autonomous drone with bird-like looks. This drone has wings that morph during flight and retract into the body at the other times. As it is a silent drone, Silent Flyer finds use in research, wildlife photography and surveillance applications.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
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These 10 standout tech startups have been selected for Future Hamburg Award 2019