#nordic-valley

#nordic-valley

The circular economy is not just a trend-it's a necessity for sustainable industrial and economic growth. However, investors often face challenges such as 'death by pilot,' regulatory hurdles, and the gap between technical readiness and market entry.

"It would be really hard without this space to make good products, if not impossible," Axelsson says.

New Zealand was crowned the best country for life-work balance for the third year in a row, improving on its score in 2024, thanks in part to a slight jump in minimum wage. Workers there can enjoy 32 days of paid leave, six months of fully paid maternity leave, and one of the world's highest minimum wages.

"We were considering multiple forms of capital when we started. It just felt like the opportunity is so large that venture capital gives us the opportunity to take those risks upfront and have the possibility to generate an outsized return."

The slower, grounded pace of everyday life in Scandinavia felt like a stark contrast to life back in the British metropolis, as if someone had hit the pause button.

Every one of these items takes up space and energy, but the use of energy here in relation to clutter is actually two-fold. The stuff you own requires maintenance and management, and when you pass, this management becomes shifted along to someone else (whoever is responsible for sorting through your Earthly possessions).

A week's hiking in Jotunheimen national park (230 miles north of Oslo) last summer brought me tranquillity and peace. During four days of challenging hiking and wild camping through the area we saw hardly anyone else, having entire lush green valleys and still glacial lakes to ourselves. We were fortunate to have stunning weather throughout and, despite it being July, still had a reasonable amount of snow to traverse.

Across large enterprises, AI is moving quickly from experimentation into daily work. That shift is forcing leaders to confront issues they can't delegate to technology: how performance is measured, how people are supported through change, and how values show up when machines start doing more of the work. Not every company is approaching those questions in the same way. Some organizations are responding by racing for efficiency.

I was a CFO myself for five years previously before going into venture [...] We had thousands and thousands of customers, and we would have several people in my team that were basically just replying to queries and chasing people all day.

Slush, the Finnish nonprofit behind one of the most influential startup gatherings in Europe, has named Noora Saksa as its new Chief Executive Officer, a shift that indicates a strategic evolution for the organisation as it expands beyond its flagship event model. Saksa assumes the top role after years as Slush's Chief Operating & Financial Officer and Head of Partnerships, where she managed core operations, finances, and ecosystem programmes.