Scale Capital

Welcome, Frederik! 🥳🤝  As our team grows, we’re super excited to share that Frederik Barsøe is joining Scale as our new PR & Communications Lead. Apart from a background in journalism, Frederik has extensive experience as a PR & Communications Consultant, having worked with more than 50 different startups from the Nordic ecosystem since 2018. We can’t wait for Frederik to help enhance our ethos and strengthen the storytelling around our fund and portfolio companies – to ultimately foster even deeper connections with our audience and the ecosystem. We asked our new teammate a few questions (you can find the rest of them via the link in the comments) 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴? “It’s such a great way for me to reconnect with the ecosystem and be part of something bigger. VC isn’t just about funding – it’s about nurturing ideas and stories, helping them take shape even when there isn’t a clear path. One of the things that particularly drew me to Scale is the focus on building long-term relationships and truly understanding what the portfolio companies need.” Want to learn more about Frederik? Find the link in the comment to read the full interview.👇 #TeamGrowth #VentureCapital

📣✨ Financial Times Special Report for Diversity Leaders 2025 is out! In addition to the 6th annual ranking of the 850 companies in Europe, the special edition provides a deep-dive on various topics ▪️ Fund managers prove slow to address gender imbalance ▪️ Cisco swims against Big Tech tide to set standard in workplace equality ▪️ Rolls-Royce hardwires inclusion into its systems ▪️ Erste Group sticks to point of mixing diversity and business By combining Statista’s extensive surveys offering employee perceptions of the company with objective and fact-based data on board, executive and company level from Denominator, the FT ranking is changing the way diversity is understood and measured. ✨📣 📰 Find all featured stories: https://lnkd.in/g-M875D 📊 Check out the ranking and methodology: https://lnkd.in/eXHNcir7 We look forward to follow how the power of data keeps driving meaningful conversations and positive change. 📸 Vika Marszalek

We’re pleased to announce our new partnership with Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN), one of Europe’s largest and most active Business Angel networks with 600+ private investors dedicated to driving the future of tech in the Finnish 🇫🇮 landscape. Earlier this week, our own Terkel Douglas joined FiBAN’s community event to introduce Scale Capital and connect with the network’s members, while 🤸♂️Micki Kold Nagel Co-founder of our portfolio company Pleaz also took the stage to showcase their journey. At Scale Capital, we have a long history of working with Business Angels, both as co-investors and as LPs in our funds, and we look forward to continuing this with FiBAN. We are also proud to back innovative Finnish companies like MeetingPackage and Colloidtek—two examples of the incredible talent coming out of Finland’s startup ecosystem. Through FiBAN, we’re deepening our ties with Finland’s vibrant tech community, ready to support the next generation of game-changing startups. Thank you to Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen, Miikka Miettinen, and the rest of the FiBAN team for having us! #Finland #Investor #Tech

See you at Slush? We are thrilled to be heading to Helsinki next week, and can't wait to connect with globally ambitious B2B tech founders, visionary investors, and fellow industry movers. Interested in discussing US scaling, DeepTech, Enterprise Software, ClimateTech, or AI? Reach out to Lars Jensen, Terkel Douglas, and Judith Schrader to set up a meeting—we’d love to chat! #Slush2024 #Investor #VentureCapital #Founders

Curious about what it really takes to ignite a startup’s growth? Next week, on November 19th, Scale’s Senior Associate Joachim Schelde will join the stage at Ignite Odense for the panel discussion “Adding VC Fuel to the Startup Fire.” Together with David Today V., Partner & Fund Manager at Accelerace, Frederik Svanholm Group Investment Director at Trifork, and Andreas Green Rasmussen Co-founder & Partner at Ugly Duckling Ventures, they will reveal key frameworks investors rely on and share how early-stage companies can leverage these principles to fuel their growth and achieve success. Join the panel on November 19th at 16:45-17:15. #Odense #Startups #VentureCapital

Europæiske og særligt danske AI-startups skal kæmpe langt hårdere for kapitalen i forhold til deres amerikanske modparter.   Sådan skriver Lars Jensen, Founding Partner, Scale Capital, efter lige at være kommet hjem fra en tur i Silicon Valley, hvor USA fyrer på alle cylindre, når det gælder udvikling og investering inden for AI.   "Det virker til, at vi i Europa mest taler om AI, og laver ny lovgivning på området. Der er en spirende underskov af europæiske startups, der anvender de seneste teknologier og udvikler nye. Men der er mangel på investering, implementering og skalering af AI i europæiske virksomheder, som ville kunne trække europæiske startups op på et nyt niveau."   Lars Jensen peger på 21 bemærkelsesværdige transaktioner i 3. kvartal, hvor 2/3 amerikanske selskaber.   Når det gælder de senere runder, og der virkelig skal bruges kapital, så halter Europa gevaldigt efter, påpeger han.   Derfor kommer Scale Capital heller ikke til at vige fra strategien om at skalere nordiske virksomheder i USA.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐅: 𝐀𝐈 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬  Back in Denmark after 2 weeks in the Bay Area with Lars Jensen, meeting incredible founders, funds and key stakeholders. Self-driving Waymo's are now as common as Ubers, ambitions are as high as always, but underneath the AI optimism lies another funding reality. Here are my thoughts on the state of VC and tech in the Silicon Valley: 𝙰̲𝙸̲ ̲𝚒̲𝚜̲ ̲𝚍̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚟̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚐̲ ̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚠̲𝚎̲𝚍̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚙̲𝚝̲𝚒̲𝚖̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚖̲,̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚞̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚛̲𝚞̲𝚌̲𝚝̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚊̲𝚕̲ ̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚜̲𝚞̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚎̲𝚛̲𝚜̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚝̲:̲ ̲The whole bay area is buzzing with AI-hype, and Anguilla has never made more money selling .ai domains to new startups than today. There is a strong belief in tech circles that AGI or ‘true’ AI is right around the corner, to the point that one guy told me that people have stopped doing high-risks sports because “It would be such a shame to pass away right before AI solves everything”. Fund are rebranding themselves as AI-only, and are alongside the major tech companies breaking funding records (Former Chief Scientist of OpenAI, Ilya raising a $1B pre-product round may take the cake for the craziest round) The other side of the coin is that VC in investments across all other sectors have ground to a halt. Funds are behind their deployment schedule as early stage investment prices remain high, and many funds are stuck with hugely overpriced investments made in the hay-days of 2021. Tech IPO’s are at lower point than even at the peak of the Dot-com bubble or the 2008 financial crash, and the M&A market is severely hampered by interest rates and regulatory setbacks. So it is still a difficult market out there. To sum it up, as one VC partner we met mentioned: “This is seemingly the first time in my career where it is simultaneously a bad investment market because of AI-prices and a bad exit market!” Conor Brennan-Burke, Joachim Majholm, Char Kwon, Daniel Kornum, Raghuram Madabushi, Tobias Andreasen, Niels Kvaavik, Asger Tidemand Bruhn, Shomit Ghose, Christian (Chris) Bach, Thomas Eriksson

While startup funding has been on a downward slide quarter after quarter for the past 2 years, funding in the AI sector stands out, attracting a significant portion of investment surpassing industries like healthcare and biotech, hardware, and financial services. In the Q3 edition of our “Generative AI Landscape” series, Scale’s Managing Partner, Lars Jensen,  reviews the last quarter, highlighting key trends and major investments shaping the AI space. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dHZt4Ch9 This article covers: • Venture Capital Investment Trends in AI Space • Notable AI Venture Deals across Europe and US • Generative AI Market Mapping • Overview of the LLM developer stack Dive into the read, and join the conversation–share your thoughts as we navigate the rapidly changing world of Generative AI together. #GenAI #Perspectives #TechInvestor

Are you a female founder looking to connect with investors? Join us on November 7th, for the Female Founder Office Hours led by Playfair Capital in collaboration with Carta and Microsoft for Startups, where we’ll be participating alongside 200 VCs. With Judith Schrader on board for another edition, we look forward to bringing pitching feedback and mentorship to participating female founders from an investor's lens. The initiative has already helped 2,500 founders through 10,000 one-on-one meetings with investors, and this 12th edition is set to be the biggest yet. Ready to take the next step? Register here: https://lnkd.in/e9GH5gi2 Learn more about the event: https://lnkd.in/eBCVpUFU #FemaleFounders #OfficeHours #Diversity #VentureCapital #Technology

Curious about what’s been happening at Scale Capital? In our Newsletter 008 • Summer/Autumn 2024 edition, we’re lifting the curtain on the past three months. This boiled-down overview includes our team’s latest activities, exciting investments, portfolio companies' milestones, and a glimpse into the insights driving our strategies forward. Enjoy the read! #VentureCapital #Newsletter