byFounders

A Path Toward Cognitive Robotics 🤖 In our latest deep dive, Daniel explores how AI is about to make one of its most significant leaps yet—from the digital realm into the physical world through cognitive robots. While we’ve seen GenAI revolutionize digital work, the physical world remains largely untapped. Daniel breaks down why we’re at an inflection point, powered by: - Game-changing foundation models like π0 and AutoRT - Breakthroughs in imitation learning, a method for teaching robots through human demonstrations - Unprecedented capital flowing into robotics ($100B+ in the last decade) The applications are vast—from reimagining retail operations to revolutionizing commercial kitchens. But unlike the winner-takes-all dynamics of consumer tech, we expect this market to flourish with specialized players solving specific challenges across industries. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of AI, robotics, and their transformative impact on our physical world. Are you building the future of robotics? Connect with daniel@byfounders.vc 🤝 🔗 Read the blogpost here: https://lnkd.in/gnf3nGut

Exciting News! Salto X joins Cake to take equity management to the next level. 🌟🍰 Salto X and Cake share a mission to make equity ownership simple, accessible, and motivating for teams worldwide. From the Baltics to Australia, and now expanding into the US and beyond, this collaboration empowers founders, employees, and investors with tools to manage equity with ease and confidence. 🌍 Congratulations to Elise Sass, Tanya Chaikovska 🇺🇦, Ragnar Sass, and the entire Salto X team on this new chapter with Cake! 🔗 Learn more about Cake here: https://lnkd.in/gVUniuKB

Over the past two months, we’ve done something a little different: we open-sourced our entire impact-aware strategy (including all the tools we’ve built). 💚 The #1 question we’ve been asked: Why? The answer is simple. We believe collaboration beats competition when it comes to taking responsibility. By sharing our thinking and tools openly, we want to invite new conversations, challenge our own ideas, and get closer to a common standard — while being realistic about where to draw the line (more is not always better). That’s also how we’ve built our impact-aware strategy — by talking to a bunch of incredible people who shared their insights and challenged our thinking. This includes conversations with over 40 venture funds and ESG & Impact organizations, as well as feedback from Portfolio founders and Collective members (+ countless hours of research). A special shoutout to VentureESG, Impact Management Project, MSM fund (Mustard Seed Maze), Obvious Ventures, Pale blue dot, and Kinnevik, who have given a lot of valuable input to our process and tools. Now we’ve passed it on to you, and we’re keeping it open source moving forward. Check out our six blog posts, explore the 10+ tools we’ve developed, and let us know your thoughts: 👉 What resonates with you? 👉 Where do you see gaps in our thinking, framework, or tools? 👉 What’s one bold idea that could really move the needle — for founders, employees, or the broader ecosystem? 🔗 Six-post blog series: https://lnkd.in/g79zR8iQ 🔗 byFounders ESG & Impact Hub: https://lnkd.in/gWjpMfjz This is just the start. Together we can drive meaningful change. #Impact #ESG #VentureCapital #OpenSource #ResponsibleInvesting

byFounders is looking for an Executive Assistant in Copenhagen! 🇩🇰 Are you organized, proactive, and excited to be part of a high-performing team? 🌟 This is your chance to join byFounders as an Executive Assistant, working closely with our managing partner and team. You’ll plan and execute events, manage our community communication channels, and assist with day-to-day operations, including office administration, general team management tasks, and our community onboarding process. If you’re passionate about communication and event coordination and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we’d love to hear from you! 📅 Start Date: Immediate or as soon as possible 🕒 Hours: Full-time 📍 Location: Primarily at our HQ in Copenhagen 📌 Application Deadline: December 16th Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gNDeZPX6 🔗

What a week at Slush 2024! ✨ From meeting visionary founders and fellow investors to enjoying a sauna (or two), Slush 2024 was everything we hoped for and more. Here are our highlights from last week: 🏡 byFounders House at Bob W. became our central hub during the conference. Beyond just a place to rest and recharge with our community, it transformed into the "Founders Lounge" in partnership with Sapphire Ventures—a cozy space to unwind and connect with others. 🎤 Daniel Mauno Pettersson took to the Startup Stage to pitch QA.tech, now live on Product Hunt. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dnJkxJNp 💻 Anton Osika made waves launching Lovable into public beta on stage and hosting an intense 11-minute hackathon with Andreessen Horowitz and Operators & Friends. And yes, Lovable is also live on Product Hunt! See it for yourself: https://lnkd.in/ddBxNb2T 🇫🇮 Ruben Bryon from DataCrunch, one of Finland’s hottest startups, hosted a gathering at their HQ. 🧬 Julian Englert from Adaptyv Bio organized a thought-provoking event on AI and biology, showcasing how ML is transforming protein design, health system processes, and more. Of course, what made the week truly special was the opportunity to spend time with so many incredible people from our community, including Sune Alstrup (Johansen), Torsten Kolind, Tuomo Riekki, Dino Patti, Alex Boyce, Henrik Lysgaard Jensen, David Simonarson, Asgeir Visir, Babak Tighnavard, and others. 💙 A huge shoutout to the Slush team, the Bob W. crew, and everyone who made this week unforgettable. And of course, a special thanks to Topi Ronkainen for making sure we got everywhere on time. 🚗 Until next year, Slush! With: Eric Lagier, Martin Krag, Magnus Hambleton, Casper Nicolai Bjarnason, Matias Salonen, Ennie Raguse, Daniel Stenson, Freja Sommerskov

💡 It’s easy to talk about ESG & Impact in the operational context - but the ultimate test for any fund strategy is how it’s backed up by a) contractual commitments and b) resource allocations. In our latest post, we break down how VCs can make real, enforceable commitments to ESG & Impact through the legal and regulatory design of their fund - including the choices we made at byFounders. But it’s not as straightforward as you might think. Here are some of the main takeaways: ➡️ The Limited Partnership Agreement is the main legal instrument to codify ESG & Impact commitments through a) investment guidelines, b) compensation structure, and c) ongoing reporting requirements. ➡️ Tying compensation (i.e., carry) to impact is tricky —without careful design, it can easily backfire. For byFounders, impact-tied carry is not the right fit, so we’ve chosen to stick with a traditional model. ➡️ The SFDR setup should mirror the commercial strategy. If aiming for a higher “green” status, make sure that your processes, resources, and reporting structures are fully prepared to support it. Weak ESG/Impact goals might hold up today, but we expect the regulation to tighten up and adapt to early-stage investing - better be prepared. 🔗 Read on: https://lnkd.in/ge63DiqV #VentureCapital #ESGStrategy #ResponsibleInvestment #SFDR #FundManagement #ImpactInvesting

Only a few days until we touch down in Helsinki for Slush 2024! 🇫🇮 This year, we’re bringing our byFounders community together in more ways than one. Here’s what’s planned: 🌟 On Stage: - Petteri Lahtela, Co-founder of ŌURA, will share his founding journey in a fireside chat on the Founder Stage on Day 1. - Daniel Mauno Pettersson (CEO & Co-founder of QA.tech) & Anton Osika (Co-founder of Lovable) will be speaking on the Startup Stage as part of the AI Showcase on Day 2. 🏡 byFounders House: For this year’s Slush, we’re opening the byFounders House at Bob W., a cozy gathering space for our community to recharge, connect, and unwind. Reach out to us and drop by for snacks, drinks, meeting rooms, and a sauna. We can’t wait to see you there! Casper Nicolai Bjarnason, Daniel Stenson, Ennie Raguse, Eric Lagier, Freja Sommerskov, Magnus Hambleton, Martin Krag, Matias Salonen

garden.io is joining forces with Incredibuild to enhance software delivery for development teams. 🌟🤝 Combining Garden’s platform—which helps DevOps teams create seamless, production-like environments on Kubernetes to accelerate tests, builds, and CI pipelines—with Incredibuild’s build acceleration technology, this partnership aims to build a robust platform that streamlines each stage of development. Together, they plan to enable faster code-to-deployment across applications in the future. Congrats to Jon Edvald and the garden team on entering this new phase with Incredibuild! 📖 Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eYjMUUgD

New quarter, new market insights! What's new in the New Nordic tech landscape? 🌍 In our latest market update, we’re sharing key insights gathered from tracking pre-seed to Series A rounds across the New Nordics, including our recent investments in Livv Health and Figurement. 🌟 In this report, you'll find: - Announced pre-seed to Series A fundraising rounds - Total capital invested in New Nordic tech startups - Funding directed toward impact-driven startups - Share of rounds and invested capital in diverse founders - Share of repeat founders vs. first-time founders - Leading investors of the quarter, and participation of non-European investors 🔗 Read the full Q3 report here: https://lnkd.in/gY-9gDMt Cc. Casper Nicolai Bjarnason, Freja Sommerskov

💬 Authenticity is created by “walking the talk”. In our latest article, we dig into the importance of embedding ESG & Impact principles into a fund’s own operations—not just for show, but from a place of conviction. Here’s what you will find:  🌟 Steps for creating a workplace aligned with your ESG & Impact goals  🌟 Ways to build an Employee Value Proposition that attracts mission-driven talent  🌟 Four key areas to move the needle internally and to lead by example  🌟 Metrics that keep yourself accountable to the commitments you make The baseline is: practice what you preach. Check out the article for insights on how we’re putting these principles into practice. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/giQN5kjn Cc. Line Ettrich, Casper Nicolai Bjarnason, Sara Rywe #ESG #ImpactInvesting #Sustainability #VentureCapital #FutureOfInvesting #PortfolioManagement