Iceland review - 2016, Page 104

102 ICELAND REVIEW ICELAND REVIEW 103
INVEST IN ICELAND
SPECIAL PROMOTION
ICELANDIC STARTUPS:
A GROWING COMMUNITY
Iceland’s startup scene is thriving and
Icelandic Startups, a non-profit orga-
nization, is the largest privately owned
supporter of startups in the country.
Icelandic Startups support teams from the
seed of an idea through to the first or sec-
ond round of funding. The organization’s
services are presented under three main
categories: Idea, Growth and Community;
providing customized support for entre-
preneurs and startups, along with various
opportunities to network and develop
their ideas.
The company, which until recently
was known as Klak Innovit, changed its
name in early 2016 due to the increased
focus on international relations. “Since the
beginning, we have been developing
international relations with the aim of
building bridges for Icelandic startups to
leading startup hubs abroad, connecting
them with industry experts, investors and
media,” says Salóme Guðmundsdóttir,
CEO of Icelandic Startups. The organi-
zation is involved in various activities, in-
cluding startup weekends, a business plan
competition, three different accelerator
programs, workshops, community events
and startup showcases abroad.
COMMITTED SHAREHOLDERS
Icelandic Startups’ largest shareholders
are the University of Iceland, Reykjavík
University, NSA Ventures, the Federation
of Icelandic Industries and Nýherji, one of
the largest IT companies in Iceland. “We
focus on ideas that come up within the
universities, and are looking to foster dy-
namic teams with scalable ideas, aiming
for the global marketplace.” So far, 54
teams have participated in the accelerator
programs since 2012, and about 70 per-
cent of them are still active. Together the
teams have raised over USD 10.5 million
in funding, and two-thirds are investments
from angel investors and venture capital-
ists.
GROWING COMMUNITY
The Icelandic startup community is dy-
namic, dense and growing. “We feel that
entrepreneurship is becoming more ap-
proved as a career path,” says Salóme.
“Furthermore, no matter where you look,
everyone is agitating innovation. The
government is taking important steps to
increase support and make the environ-
ment more efficient, and more funds are
being raised for seed and early growth
startups. Our universities offer quality ed-
ucation where the innovative mindset is
being incorporated, private companies are
becoming more aware of the importance
of innovation, and we have even seen new
media focusing solely on startups and their
businesses, thus bringing success stories
into the spotlight.”
DIVERSE SECTORS
The most popular startup sectors in Iceland
include energy, marine, tourism and health.
Iceland has also become very active in the
gaming and virtual reality space, and is
considered a global leader when it comes
to the development of virtual reality pro-
grams, with CCP Games at the forefront. To
embrace this sector, Icelandic Startups, in
cooperation with key influencers within the
Icelandic gaming and VR scene and Slush
(Finland), organized an international con-
ference in Reykjavík last year with the aim
of bringing together Nordic startups within
the industry and investors from the US and
Europe. “We hosted a two-day conference
called Slush PLAY where we had some of
More than 50 teams have participated in Icelandic accelerator programs since 2012.
Right: Orri Hauksson, CEO of Síminn,
Minister of Industry and Commerce Ragnheiður Elín
Árnadóttir and Ingvar Pétur Guðbjörnsson, assistant
to the minister.
Left: Hilmar Veigar Pétursson,
CEO of CCP Games and
the President of Iceland
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.