Kvanted Ventures, a Helsinki-based early-stage venture capital firm, has launched its first fund of €70 million with a focus on industrial technology startups in Northern Europe. This makes Kvanted the first pure-play industrial technology investor in the Nordic region. The fund plans to invest in approximately 20 companies, with initial investments ranging from €500K to €3M, and a longer investment term to align with the longer development cycles in the industrial sector.
Founded by Maria Wasastjerna, Eerik Paasikivi, and Axel Ahlström, Kvanted Ventures aims to accelerate industrial innovation to address the growing need for industrial development and decarbonization in Europe. Kvanted connects traditional industries with innovative technology startups and is open to investing in both hardware and software companies, as well as those focused on sustainability, supply chain resilience, and industrial automation.
The founding team of Kvanted has expertise in venture capital, private equity, legal and regulatory, and investment banking. The fund’s investors include prominent industrial players, and it is supported by a group of Venture Partners with experience in growth companies and large industries.
Kvanted’s first portfolio companies include Fractory, an Estonian company streamlining metalwork production, and Resoniks, a Dutch-Finnish company using AI-powered acoustic analysis for quality control in the industrial sector. These investments reflect Kvanted’s commitment to industrial innovation and efficiency.
“Our first investments, Fractory and Resoniks, are prime examples of industrial technology companies with mission-driven teams. Both companies are reinventing processes to enhance industrial efficiency and demonstrate immense potential in improving the industrial value chain. We are thrilled to work with the best entrepreneurs from the get-go”, says Kvanted’s founding partner Axel Ahlström.
Kvanted’s mission is to support technology companies transforming the industrial value chain, with a focus on building a more sustainable future. You can find more information about Kvanted, Fractory, and Resoniks on their respective websites.
“The industrial sector is the cornerstone of the European economy. But in terms of technological development and digital transformation, there is still a lot to be done – and a lot of untapped potential. To remain competitive and to contribute to a more sustainable world, the industrial sectors in Finland, the Nordics, and beyond need to evolve. This can be done by accelerating industrial innovation with technology, which in turn requires smart capital and deep industrial expertise – and a connector that can bring traditional industrial players and innovative startups together,” says Kvanted’s founding partner Maria Wasastjerna and continues; “There has been no early-stage investor like Kvanted in the Nordic market and we are responding to this demand with an industrial technology fund. Our goal is to quickly grow into the leading early-stage investor in the Nordics for technology companies that are transforming the industrial value chain.”
Kvanted invests in both hardware and software alike, as well as service companies developing new solutions for the industrial value chain, with a strong focus on industrial automation, sustainability and supply chain resilience.
“Solving the biggest challenges of our time, such as climate change and an aging workforce, is not possible with software solutions alone. For this, we also need to develop solutions that exist in the physical world. At Kvanted, different from many other early-stage investors, we don’t shy away from hardware”, concludes Wasastjerna.
Originally published on ArcticStartup : Original article