During Singapore FinTech Festival x SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology), Nordic Innovation House – Singapore (NIH-SG) and Antler also officially cemented their partnership. A partnership signing ceremony took place on 13 November in the Nordic pavilion with Sami Jääskeläinen and Jussi Salovaara (Co-Founder & Managing Partner Asia), representing NIH-SG and Antler respectively.
Siv Jensen, Minister of Finance, Norway, graced the special occasion by attending the occasion, also speaking to Nordic companies at the pavilion.
The partnership aims to foster opportunities between startups and mentors from Asia and the Nordics, as well as to develop a vibrant community and network of mentors, investors and key stakeholders.
Antler, with Nordic founders, was founded in Singapore in 2017 as a global start-up generator and early-stage VC that is building the next big wave of tech. Their mission is to turn exceptional individuals into great founders and aim to create thousands of companies globally. Among its milestones to date: 120+ start-ups funded.
Nordic Innovation House gives Nordic companies from start-ups to corporations a head start in the most relevant global innovation hubs. In Singapore NIH-SG functions as a “soft landing incubator” meant to give Nordic companies seeking fortune in Singapore an easier lift-off. It’s meant for small and medium sized companies who are new to the Singapore market or companies who see the benefits of a being part of a Nordic community.
NIH-SG – a partnership between Business Sweden, the Swedish Embassy, Innovation Norway, the Finnish Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland – became operational in Q1 2019.
“We invest at a pre-seed stage in technology companies which are looking to solve large problems and have the potential to scale fast. We bring together aspiring entrepreneurs and help them find their co-founder, build their business and we invest in them. We have a very hands-on approach and build long term relations with our founders and we want to be with them through every step of their entrepreneurial journey,” commented Jussi, who has a background as Vice President at Nokia’s headquarters in Helsinki.
“This involves connecting them to the right people and advisors in each ecosystem. We strongly believe in collaborating and forming strong partnerships in the ecosystem to build a truly global platform that can help our founders succeed. This involves working closely with governments, corporations, foundations and other players in the ecosystem who are passionate about entrepreneurship. NIH is one such organisation and we look forward to connecting them with mentors and our start-ups both in Asia and the Nordics to create a real network effect where there is a global community. ”