Nordics startup report 2026

The state of startups and innovation in the Nordics, one of the most entrepreneurial regions on earth. Created in collaboration with Florent Venture Parnters, Inventure and Contrarian Ventures

Key findings

• Nordic VC-backed startups have created $561B in enterprise value, seven times their 2016 total.
• The region has produced 105 unicorns and $1B+ exits, up from 11 in 2015, and 54% of them are Swedish.
• Only 47% of Nordic VC goes to late-stage rounds against 69% in the Bay Area, and the gap widens at each later stage.
• Foreign investors took part in 62% of Nordic VC rounds in 2025, 20 percentage points more than in 2015, and supplied 66% of the capital.
• AI took 38% of Nordic Series A rounds in 2025, and its share of Series B and later hit an all-time high of 22%.