Standout News #16. Nordic tech, trends and deals

Standout News #16 - The Newsletter from Standout Capital.

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Standout News is a quarterly(ish) newsletter from Standout Capital about tech deals, trends and posts from our blog. New subscribers can subscribe to the newsletter here.

Latest from Standout

We're proud to support another Nordic growth story, as Standout partners with X-akseli, a Finnish leader in patient flow systems that make hospitals a better experience

Tech deals in the Nordics

Notable recent Nordic tech deals in datacenters, health & healthcare, enterprise software & SaaS, ecommerce and retail, fintech, HR software and streaming audio. Private Equity's apetite for datacenters - In Sweden, EQT-owned Iver (formerly Candidator and DGC) acquires Ismotec and Solid Park, Axcel-owned Loopia acquires .SE Direkt from the Swedish Internet foundation. Finland's Nordcloud announced €20 million in new funding from Finnvera. In Denmark, HgCapital-owned IT-relation bought VIA Equity-owned Hostnordic.

Healthy digital deals - Investcorp acquired a majority stake in Cambio Healthcare Systems, while Lifesum, the nutrition tracking app, adds $5m in capital investment from Balderton. eEquity invests inPreglife, an app for pregnant and new parents, and Standout Capital Standout invested in X-akseli, the Finnish leader in patient flow systems.

Nordic enterprise software & SaaS - In Denmark, Verdane invested in eSourcing company Scanmarket, intranet-company Wizdomwas sold for €30m and Adformreceived investment from GRO Capital. In the construction industry, Summa Equity acquired Infobric, an access software, while Monterro invested in the cloud-based tool Next. In the SaaS sector, Funnel (a company once co-founded by Standout Capital partner Fredrik Arnander) raised $10m led by Balderton to expand its online marketing intelligence platform, while Upsales, a CRM and marketing automation tool, listed on Nasdaq First North. In Finland, TCV (US) makes $200m investment in retail planning solutions Relex. Nordic Capital acquired the Norwegian digital identity pioneer Signicat.

Ecommerce from groceries to 3D printing - Kinnevik invested SEK 900m in online grocer MatHem to become the main shareholder with a 38% stake while also investing further in Norway’s online grocer Kolonial. inkClub acquired3D Prima, the largest e-commerce supplier of 3D products in the Nordic region.

Fintech is doing fine - The personal finances app Tink raised $56m from Insight Venture Partners, SEB and others. Mobile invoicing service Dicopay raised SEK 42m from in a round led by Schibsted.

HR software for humans - Workforce management solution Quinyxraises further $25Mfrom Alfvén & Didrikson, Battery Ventures and Zobito, while Peakon, the employee engagement tool, completes $34m financing led by Atomico.

Swedish streaming audio deals - Spotify paid nearly $340m for podcast startups Gimlet and Anchor. Acast, the global podcast platform acquired the podcast technology company Pippa and Storytelacquired digital all-you-can-read subscription service Ztory.

Tech trends, research & summer reads

Mary Meeker, now partner at Bond Capital, released her legendary 2019 Internet Report CB Insights research on how digital connectivity and 5G can transform 20 industries

Fortnite, the popular "Battle Royale" online game, now has 250 million global players

Digital advertising in the US surpassed $100 billion for the first time, according to IAB

There are 4 billion people with a smartphone in the world, new report from Benedict Evans

The top business apps are Office 365, Salesforece, Amazon AWS, G Suite and Box

New York Times & Sunday Times bestsellers, our recommended summer reads
- AI Superpowers - China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, by Kai-Fu Lee
- The New Silk Roads - The Present and Future of the World, by Peter Frankopan
- The Power of Habit - Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg

Wishing you a great summer from Stockholm!