Dear friends of Spintop,
We are happy to share a few lines about what we have been up to recently, as we are at the half year break and going into the vacation period.
Strong traction in a new market environment
There’s a new financing environment for tech start-ups and scaleups, following the overheated market 2019-2021. Capital is no longer deployed at the same speed and volume. Emphasis has shifted from “growth momentum” to “solid fundamentals and capital efficiency”. But, there is no crisis, rather a correction and back to a more rational situation. Quality companies continue to thrive and we are proud to be investors in some of them.
IPRally Technologies from Finland, closed a 10 MEUR A-round in Q1. IPRally is transforming patent management with an AI-based based patent search software. In this interview with CEO and co-founder Sakari Arvela you can read more about IPRally.
In March Nomono won the highly prestigious Global Innovation Award at SXSW in Austin. The Nomono Sound Capsule for podcasters produces studio quality audio ready for release by the click on one single button. No expensive mics, no cables, no sound engineering – creators can put all focus on their story.
In June Spintop led the 45 MSEK investment round of Embedl. Embedl is a Swedish deep tech company delivering the highest-performing AI models to embedded systems with a specific focus on the automotive industry. Deep learning algorithms run faster, more accurately and consume much less energy.
Long-term mindset to build sustainable value
Spintop invests in software-based tech companies that want to have a lasting impact. Our investments have a long-term mindset in order to build sustainable value. We do this by an active engagement to provide value-add paired with significant follow-on investment capacity. Learn from CEOs of Spintop portfolio companies who embody the long-term mindset to make a true difference.
Once Upon
Based in northern Sweden, in the town of Skellefteå, Once Upon is growing rapidly serving a global market. Founder and CEO Lina Andersson describes how Once Upon helps people tell their stories and how sustainability is driven by the entire team.
IndyRIOT
IndyRIOT puts the control of digital communities back in the hands of the community, away from the global platforms. CEO Kimberly Larsen and co-founder Lasse Andresen sparked the idea that’s changing the game from experiences of combining online and offline lives in a secure way, together with expertise in identity and information management from unicorn Forgerock.
Diversity is a superpower – 35% female CEOs
Spintop finds diversity to be a superpower. Research confirms over and over again that diverse organizations perform better and deliver more value in the long term. At Spintop more than 35 percent of portfolio companies are currently led by non-male CEOs with the same diversity in the management teams. The numbers are similar for other dimensions of diversity across the portfolio.
This is a result of a conscious effort to make sure investment decisions are objective and fact-based, as we are easily tricked by hidden biases. Spintop’s Isabel Nilson was interviewed in Swedish Breakit on this theme and Finn Persson was in a stage panel at Åre Business Forum discussing the subject.
Sustainability – true impact in the numbers
Anything that is measured can also change. We want to “walk the talk” on sustainability – ourselves, by the investments we make and how our portfolio companies build value. At Spintop we measure and manage sustainability performance metrics in exactly the same way as we track financial, and operational metrics.
The Spintop funds are SFDR Article 8. But, we started our work on sustainability many years ahead of legislation and standards. We seek true impact by measuring and tracking KPIs. At Spintop sustainability is an integrated part of the value-creation process, from due diligence of a new investment and throughout the holding period. Read more about this subject very close to our minds and hearts
Welcome Helen
Last, but most important, we are so happy that Helen Agering has joined the Spintop team as a Partner. Helen brings, among many qualities, a wealth of operational experience from scaling SaaS companies to international markets. With Helen on the team we will be even better equipped to support our companies to have a true impact. Get to know more about Helen.
With these short updates from the first half of 2023-
We wish you a very nice summer!
