This is edition number 6 of your monthly roundup of insights, opportunities, women founders, and updates on the startup happenings in the Nordics.

October's highlights:

• Women in STEM: Co-founder matchmaking on Nov 21st
• Lithuanian first unicorn Vinted reached a $5B valuation with the new funding round
• Funding is failing femtechs

Subscribe to our monthly round-up by signing up here.

Funded!

Changing the narrative about women founders requires us to change what we focus on. We choose to focus on how much money women DO raise. Also! Look at these great companies women are building:

Finland:

Avenue Biosciences | COO Katja Rosti | €2.3M Seed round led by Voima Ventures

Cambri | CPO & Founder Heli Holttinen PhD | €8M round led by Octopus Ventures and S4S Ventures

LOUHE.ai | Co-founder & COO Eira Hurskainen | €3M round led by Lifeline Ventures

Munchfam | Co-founder wei zhou | €600K Seed round led by Pitchdrive and Genesis

MONCYTE Health | Co-founder & CEO Tamara Alagirova | €1M Seed round led by Inventure, Almaral & Athensmed

Norway:

Sonair | Co-founder Britta Grennberg Fismen | €1.6M round led by Skyfall Ventures

Iceland:

Moombix | Co-founder & CEO Margret Juliana Sigurdardottir | €2.27M Seed round led by Frumtak Ventures

Sweden: 

Paebbl | Co-founder & Co-CEO Marta Sjögren | €25M Series A round led by VC Capnamic

🔥Women are likely to spend 29% more per capita on healthcare needs than men. And it gets better! They’re 75% more likely to tap into digital tools for health info, which is a solid indicator that the European femtech sector is about to explode, with a projected growth to $35B by 2032.

🔥Lithuania’s unicorn Vinted reached a $5B valuation! In 2008 Milda Mitkute and a friend casually tossed around the idea of creating a site to resell clothes from their own closets - fast forward to today, with a fresh €340M funding round, they’re reaching a $5 billion valuation!

What’s new from Even Founders

Co-founder Matchmaking on Nov 21st

We all know diverse teams bring fresh perspectives that make great ideas happen. But finding the right co-founder early on… that can be tricky. There are a lot of factors to consider: Does personality fit matter? What skills should you look for? Where do you even start?

Well, how about here! If you have a startup idea but need a STEM co-founder, or you’re a STEM expert looking for a business-savvy partner, join us on November 21st for a co-founder matchmaking event.

We’ll have inspiring discussions and a session to hopefully connect you with potential co-founders or (at the very least, we can promise you some great conversations). Log in, RSVP, and you’ll be on the guest list!

We’re joining forces with Highbridge

Exciting news! We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Highbridge, and this is a game-changer for women entrepreneurs in our community.

At Even Founders, we’re all about helping women go from 0 to 1 with our Startup School and now, with Highbridge by our side, we’re leveling up the resources and support available to our founders.

Highbridge isn’t your typical law firm. They blend sharp legal expertise with a deep understanding of the challenges startups face. From protecting your brilliant ideas to structuring equity splits, they’re pros at ensuring your journey is smooth and conflict-free.

This might be relevant for you

Wondering why this edition is wrapped in pink?

Thanks for asking - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Consider this your reminder to check yourself regularly and encourage your loved ones to do the same!

And with that, I want to give a spotlight to Cacto Health! This Aarhus-based medical device startup, led by Ida Grønborg, is developing a game-changing platform and device to help breast cancer patients monitor lymphedema, which focuses on early detection, easy home monitoring and user-friendly measurements. It’s such an important cause and I'm excited to follow their journey!

Funding is failing femtechs

Here comes a reality check from the femtech space: The Guardian shares an article about the major hurdles femtech founders are facing, showing that many groundbreaking ideas and solutions are struggling to get the backing they need to become commercially successful and accessible for women. It’s difficult but important reading.

This lack of investment is a real growth killer, especially when you consider that women’s health research sees just a measly 4% of the total healthcare funding. And just to give you a little spoiler from the article: 100% of the interviewed companies faced issues with their women’s health content being censored online and 75% have been denied bank accounts. We’re not just talking about a funding gap here, but a huge systemic issue that needs to change!

New face on the Nordic VC scene

There’s a fresh new face in the Nordic VC world: Node.vc. This Swedish fund has just raised €71 million to support startups in the Nordics and Baltics. With 70 founders among their investors, Node.vc is built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, and they’re ready to make some waves in the VC space. Definitely worth keeping an eye on!

Something to chew on

While we share a lot about the fundraising scene, we can’t ignore the unfortunate fact that it still has some of the same problems as traditional workplaces. Brooke Andrews is just one woman who faced sexual harassment on her fundraising journey, but after sharing her experience she discovered it’s not just an isolated incident. It’s a common occurrence. From casual meetings at bars to unsolicited date proposals, these experiences are still part of the fundraising landscape for many.

To address this, Brooke launched Safe Raise— which is not intended to name and shame, but to identify trends and drive actionable change.

Here’s the thought for today:

Have you come across or heard of similar experiences in the space? Could this be another barrier that limits women’s ability to fundraise? Or is it contributing to the gender gap in securing VC capital?

It’s the responsibility of everyone in this space to take steps to help prevent it. Safe Raise has a survey inviting women to share any relevant experiences in order to aid their understanding. You can fill it out here.