Inventure Announces Increased €68 million Fund To Assist Nordic & Baltic Startups in Soft Landing to US

If you by any chance happen to have an investment hungry startup within the Nordic and Baltic region, you’ll be pleased to know there’s a fresh increase of  €68 million waiting to get pumped into your veins.

Finland-based VC firm, Inventure, has just announced the closing of its second Inventure Fund II at €68 million. The round will lead to an US expansion where the VC will build presence for future local support of its Nordic and Baltic protégées. The funding was led by pension-insurance company Ilmarinen, with strong backing from existing investors.

Before today’s announcement, Inventure’s focus has been limited by it’s Helsinki and Shanghai-office presence, though support by its wide grid of partners has always kept the VC globally on the charts. However, the recent closing will give Inventure the boost to build strong presence in US ground, a change that will turn the VC more attractive given the fact that US is a primary target destination for consumer and investment seeking startups.

“Building links between Finland and US is essential for successful venture capital activities. We believe that Inventure has significant potential for this”, states Esko Torsti, Head of Non-listed Investments at Ilmarinen.

“We see many opportunities with enormous potential in the growing startup scene of the Nordics & Baltics,” commented Sami Lampinen of Inventure. “Thanks to the commitment of our partners and the trust they place in us, we at Inventure now take the step in becoming an international venture capital investor with presence in three continents. We remain focused on partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs and look forward to earning the trust of the next generation of startup teams”, he adds.

In order to join your startup into the existing 23 company Inventure portfolio, you’ll have to show that innovation and high growth is in your very bones. Additionally, the fund focus, according to Inventure, will revolve around high tech, digital and devices domains, so no major change there.

Though the fund is certainly not limited to Finnish startups, being based in Finland shouldn’t hurt: the January fund had half of its cash committed to Finland focused, or Finnish technology driven companies.

The Inveture Fund II has invested in nine high tech startups since its launch in January 2014. By the end of 2014, Inventure is looking to double that amount.

The typical Inventure A-round investment goes in the €1-3 millions/company. If successful, the next stage may be increased up to €5-7 million. Seed-investments, which have a separate allocation, are typically in the €100,000 – 300,000.