Iceland review - 2014, Page 22

20 ICELAND REVIEW
BUsINEss
MA: What would you say is currently brewing amongst Icelandic
entrepreneurs; what’s the flavor of the year?
HV: It’s difficult to pin it down. We’ve invested in Kerecis a
company that works on repairing tissue damage. They recently
got their FDA approval which means they can start market-
ing and selling in the U.S. We’ve got a company called Mint
Solutions that recognizes every single white pill made, meaning
you can avoid making mistakes when medicine is given. And
there’s a company called Mentis Cura which has early diagno-
sis of Alzheimer’s and is working on diagnosis of ADHD. And
then there’s Mentor which is an educational software system
for schools. We predominantly invest in software and technol-
ogy companies but we have some other things too; one of our
most recent companies is that of the artist Andrea Maack whose
perfumes retail in 100 stores worldwide. She and her partner
had built a brand and gone very far with a small investment of
a few grants. She wanted to explore how you can wear art, and
well, you can wear it as perfume, and she uses her art as direct
inspiration. This year she had a whole window in Fenwick’s on
London’s Bond Street, with scarves that are based on her art
and perfumes. It’s also nice as there are not that many female
entrepreneurs coming to the fund.
MA: Why do you think there are more men coming forward?
HV: I don’t know—only five of the 36 companies we’ve
invested in are founded by women. I’ve spoken to the women
and they don’t understand it either. There’s an old cliché about
women being more cautious but I don’t think that’s true.
Maybe it’s because people start businesses between 30 and 40
and many women are having children at that time. Having chil-
dren and starting a business is often quite challenging.
MA: What do you and your team consider most bankable?
HV: Our investment strategy invests in fast growing businesses
that are scalable with international traction and that’s usually
always some sort of technology or medical business. All the
businesses we invest in are global so they have to be quite deep
in terms of technology. Our successful exits are businesses that
were founded because they were very different. Most of the
successful companies are those that have something incred-
ibly creative about them. Outside investors say there’s a lot of
creativity in Iceland, that there’s this bridge between creativity
and technology.
MA: Have innovators changed from ten years ago?
HV: Yes, absolutely! We’re beginning to see serial entrepre-
neurs who know what does and doesn’t work and know how to
approach investors and international markets. Before it was a bit “If
you build it they will come” and now people realize you have to
sell and market products. And the business plans we see now are
much better. People are fearless about networking and calling peo-
ple throughout the world. The difference is also that ten years ago
you’d have one person with the idea and be the founder but now
you have teams which are much better as you have a diversity of
skills. A lot of young people want to start their own business which
is different from 20 years ago when it was the exception. Now it’s
something that a lot of young people aspire to and programs like
Start up Reykjavík and Start up Iceland have done a lot to inspire
people to start businesses.
MA: Does the boldness and greater willingness to reach out come from
globalization and the internet?
HV: Yes, it’s also become a lot cheaper to build technology busi-
nesses as you can buy code and outsource a lot of your business.
Iceland’s hidden secret is the medical technical sector. To really
qualify as a doctor in Iceland you usually have to go and work
somewhere else and then doctors start to build contacts and net-
works abroad. When they then start working in Iceland and get
an idea they have a network of hospitals and they’ve worked in
different countries.
MA: What kind of obstacles does Iceland face?
HV: We’re far away from our export markets, have higher interest
rates and there are currency restrictions and the funding we have
access to is a lot less than what they are getting in Silicon Valley.
But, there are also benefits. Being on an island makes you more
creative, there’s a great entrepreneurial spirit, a can-do attitude and
people are often multi-skilled which is helpful. Moreover, when
you start a business in Iceland there’s a lot of goodwill and not a
lot of bureaucracy. With a first customer, if you’re creating software
for an airline industry, you can call up Icelandair and tell them. In
terms of marketing it’s challenging but then again we build better
business based on unique technology rather than with a general
approach, so it’s good to base something on a unique selling point.
Last but not least, entrepreneurs here are all looking at different
markets because the home market is so small. So I think that’s one
of the good things about having a small home market and you have
that international focus from day one. 
“BEING ON AN ISLAND MAKES YOU MORE CREAtIVE, tHERE’S A GREAt ENtREPRENEURIAL
SPIRIt, A CAN-DO AttItUDE AND PEOPLE ARE OFtEN MULtI-SKILLED WHICH IS
HELPFUL. ALSO, WHEN YOU StARt A BUSINESS IN ICELAND tHERE’S
A LOt OF GOODWILL AND NOt A LOt OF BUREAUCRACY.”