1、The State of Nordic Impact Start-ups 2020 Impact start-ups are increasingly being acknowledged as powerful engines for change and sustainable growth. Yet a number of widely held beliefs prevail and threaten to hinder the progress of the Nordic impact start-up ecosystem. This report explores 10 of th

2、e most common myths, and assesses the status quo of impact start-ups in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. 3 Content 04 Foreword by Danske Bank 06 Summary 08 Introduction 11 10 myths about the Nordic impact space 12 Myth 1: The Nordic countries are global leaders within the impact space 24 Myth 2:

3、 Nordic impact start-ups are solving the most pressing global challenges 34 Myth 3: Impact start-ups are a special breed of start-up 38 Myth 4: Impact requires a trade-off between purpose and profit 40 Myth 5: Impact start-ups have fundamentally different business models than regular start-ups 44 My

4、th 6: Impact start-up founders lack business experience 47 Myth 7: There are more women founders in the impact start-up scene 50 Myth 8: Impact cannot be measured 54 Myth 9: The majority of Nordic impact start-ups promote their SDGs 57 Myth 10: Investors lack data on impact start-ups 60 Appendix: Ab

5、out this report - definitions, methodology and data 45 State of Nordic Impact Start-ups 2020 FOREWORD BY DANSKE BANK We are now only 10 years from 2030, the year 193 countries pledged to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There is still a long way to go and many solutions need time to scale

6、, which leaves us with a great deal of urgency. In Danske Bank, we are a true believer in the power of business to find innovative solutions and new ways of doing things that will create new solutions to the challenges that our planet and societies face. In particular, we have high hopes that impact

7、 start-ups will be the role models for a new type of business, where the business idea itself creates sustainable values. They have no legacy that blurs their focus and delays their speed, and they are ready to take risks and bring innovation and new technologies to the table. Furthermore, they have

8、 an agile mindset through which they can react to market changes with high speed. Insights are needed to mature the ecosystem In Danske Bank, we are dedicated to help these start-ups scale their business and thus increase their positive impact. We have a large suite of activities, which support the

9、impact start-up ecosystem. We have trained growth advisors to understand startups and established the +impact platform and our +impact accelerator. An important element is documentation - like this report through which we provide data-driven insights on the Nordic impact start-up scene in order to f

10、acilitate a more fact based dialogue and help put the spotlight on the needs and development of the start-up community. Since we did the first report three years ago, impact start-ups have become the talk of the town, both in the Nordic countries and on a global scale. Today, the question is therefo

11、re not so much to create awareness, but to understand how we can accelerate the ecosystem and to create larger transparency especially for investors. This is also the reason why we this year have focused the report on breaking or confirming the myths that seem to be a hindrance for accelerating impa

12、ct businesses. Findings There are some specific learnings in the report that we find extremely interesting and promising. For instance the fact that we have identified a record high 1018 impact start-ups this year, and that a lot of them have similar business models in comparison to normal scalable

13、tech start-ups. We see that the majority of the impact start-ups are based on scalable business models that have the potential to work on normal early stage investor terms. These start-ups integrate impact in a way that goes hand-in-hand with profit, and almost half of the founders of the Nordic imp

14、act start-ups have prior entrepreneurial experience. Women CEOs and founders are well represented in impact start-ups, but we firmly believe that these numbers could and should improve especially in deep tech - as diverse companies overall tend to generate better results for the business, as well as

15、 society. The Nordic ecosystem has great prerequisites for being a well performing impact ecosystem, but we, in the ecosystem need to pick up the pace. If the Nordics are to become an epicentre for impact start-ups, we need to move beyond the converted few. When we started this report, COVID-19 was

16、not present, and we still dont know the full scale of the consequences. However, this does not change the conclusions, and in many ways, it has just made it even more pressing that we need to mainstream the impact agenda. Klavs Hjort, Head of Growth b) the majority of the start-ups are based on pote

17、ntially scalable business models that have the potential to work on regular early stage investment terms, c) 98% of the impact-start-ups integrate impact in their business model to enhance profit and d) 45% of the founders have significant entrepreneurial experience. We are seeing positive progress

18、on many fronts amongst Nordic impact. However, there is still a way to go if we are to move the needle on the UNs 2030 agenda for sustainable development. 1018 IMPACT START-UPS 35% DENMARK 21% FINLAND Top 4 SDGs GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION IMPACT START-UPS 16% NORWAY 27% SWEDEN MYTH #1 The Nordic coun

19、tries are global leaders within impact start-ups. PARTLY FALSE The Nordic ecosystem has great prerequisites but the UK is the best performing impact ecosystem in Europe. MYTH #2 Nordic impact start-ups are solving the most pressing global challenges. PARTLY FALSE The majority of the Nordic impact st

20、art-ups are focusing on solving local problems in high-income markets, fewer focus on solutions which will move the needle on the underlying SDG indicators. MYTH #3 Impact start-ups are a special breed of start-ups. PARTLY FALSE The impact start-ups differ in type of impact and scalability - some wi

21、th the same mindset as their conventional counterparts. MYTH #4 Impact requires a trade-off between purpose and profit. FALSE 98% of Nordic impact start-ups integrate impact to improve top and bottom-line. MYTH #5 Impact start-ups have fundamentally different business models than non-impact start-up

22、s. FALSE Impact start-ups business models are similar to regular start-ups. MYTH #6 Impact start-up founders lack business experience. FALSE Impact start-up founders have significant business experience. MYTH #7 There are more women founders in the impact start-up scene. TRUE 24% of impact start-ups

23、 founders are women. MYTH #8 Impact cannot be measured. PARTLY FALSE Impact measurement is still in its infancy, but 20% of Nordic impact start-ups quantify their impact performance indicators. MYTH #9 The majority of Nordic impact start-ups promote their SDGs. FALSE Only 10% of Nordic impact start-

24、ups mention the SDGs. MYTH #10 Investors lack data on impact start-ups. PARTLY FALSE The data is just as imperfect as for non-impact start-ups. 89 Introduction The aim of this report We believe that the Nordic countries hold the prerequisites and potential to become a global epicentre for impact sta

25、rt- ups. Our early adoption of the green agenda, balanced welfare societies and thriving start-up ecosystems stand us in good stead to take this pole position. Though we have the necessary mindset and attributes, we cannot sit back and expect for this to happen without concerted strategies and inter

26、ventions. In order to make this a reality and reach this goal, we must continue to actively support the scaling of impact start-ups, help build the right capabilities amongst founding teams, and connect impact start-ups with new investment and ecosystem partners. Since 2018, there has been increasin

27、g support and excitement for this new breed of start-up and the mark they could make on the UNs 2030 agenda. Yet when we talk to investors and impact founders, we find that there are several myths getting in the way of progress. For this years report, we have decided to deep-dive into the 10 most co

28、mmon myths holding back the impact space in the Nordics - assessing to what extent they are valid or invalid - and outline what can be done to change these perceptions. We acknowledge that it is difficult - if not imposssible - to give simple answers to the multifacetted Who is included in the repor

29、t We are building on the data gathered in both the 2018 and 2019 reports, leveraging our existing learnings and contextualising these within the wider Nordic start-up ecosystem. Number of start-ups at the Hub and impact start-ups from 2018-2020 We have analysed impact start-ups registered on either

30、the Hub (thehub.io), on +impact (plusimpact.io) or at Green Innovation Group (). To validate and strengthen the data quality further, we have collaborated with Dealroom (dealroom.co) by cross-comparing funding data. In 2018 Danske Bank conducted the first Nordic analysis of impact start-ups, which i

31、dentified 317 impact start-ups across Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. topics we explore. As the space develops further, so will our leaning. As such, we hope this report will help to move the conversation in the right direction and ultimately accelerate progress in the Nordic impact start-up sp

32、ace. Who would benefit from this report This report is primarily intended for the investment community and aims to help early investors gain data-driven insights into this growing space. The report is also intended to benefit the broader ecosystem as it reveals data-driven insights that can ignite f

33、urther discussion on how best to accelerate the Nordic impact start-up space. It is furthermore our hope that this report will contribute to a shared societal understanding of the importance of the Nordic impact ecosystem - and why all relevant stakeholders should be investing in and contributing to

34、 its future. Definition of an impact start-up: We define an impact start-up as a start-up company that addresses one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the core of its business and have the potential to scale. Our litmus test: If you remove the impact you also remove the business. In

35、 2019 we presented our second report The State of Nordic Impact Start-ups which identified 647 impact start-ups across Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. In 2020 we are presenting our third report, which has identified 1018 impact start-ups across Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. New dimension

36、 of this years report The previous reports have catalysed many fruitful dialogues and learnings. This is why we have decided to expand the State of Nordic impact start-ups report to include a digital data repository at +impact, plusimpact.io/impactreport-2020. While the content of this report will b

37、e available, you will also be able to download the data applied in the various charts. Figure 1 Sample size of impact start-ups in Danske Bank impact insights reports 2018, 2019 and 2020 YEARS 201920182020 6473171018 NUMBER OF START-UPS This is the third time we map Nordic start-ups addressing the U

38、nited Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 101111 10 myths about the Nordic impact space A lot has happened since 2018 when we embarked upon our journey of providing data driven insights on Nordic impact start-ups. Impact start-ups have increasingly become the talk of the town, both in the Nordic

39、countries and on a global scale. Back then, we set out to understand what challenges the Nordic impact start-ups face. Our surveys revealed that 87% of these start-ups were challenged by the nature of the ecosystem - finding it fragmented and lacking in awareness from stakeholders and the general pu

40、blic. As a result, we published the first impact insights report which presented an overview of the ecosystem. To further support the impact start-up ecosystem, established the +impact platform, and started an impact accelerator. We then went on to publish The State of Nordic Impact Start-ups 2019,

41、which provided further insights into who these start-ups are, what their focus is and not least, how they perform from an economic standpoint. Our findings showed that impact start- ups follow similar financial trends as other start-ups: their growth is dependent on available risk capital; they focu

42、s on top-line growth but struggle to make a profit, with financial performance improving as they mature. This years report stands on the shoulders of these previous learnings on the Nordic impact start-up ecosystem. With an inherent desire to enable Nordic impact start-ups to further mature and for

43、the ecosystem at large to accelerate, we have carefully identified the 10 most prevalent myths that are preventing the space from developing. 1. The Nordic countries are global leaders within impact start-ups. 2. Nordic impact start-ups are solving the most pressing global challenges. 3. I mpact sta

44、rt-ups are a special breed of start-up. 4. Impact requires a trade-off between purpose and profit. 5. I mpact start-ups have fundamentally different business models than regular start-ups. 6. Impact start-up founders lack business experience. 7. There are more founders that are women in the impact s

45、tart-up scene. 8. The majority of Nordic impact start-ups promote their SDGs. 9. Impact cannot be measured. 10. Investors lack data on impact start-ups. These insights are a snapshot of the current situation, which during the making of this publication developed in an unforeseen direction as the sec

46、ond hand effects of COVID-19 froze the (capital) markets affecting many start- ups. The exploration of the 10 myths should therefore be understood as an invitation for further dialogue on how we can leverage the Nordic impact start-up ecosystems strengths, and how stakeholders can contribute to its

47、improvement through collaboration whether that being under normal or abnormal circumstances. 121313 MYTH #1 partly false The Nordic ecosystem has great prerequisites but the UK is the best performing impact ecosystem in Europe In the Nordic countries, we are proud of the unique qualities that charac

48、terise our part of the world. We have low levels of inequality, balanced welfare provision and have been acknowledged as the most innovative region in Europe (European Commission, 2017). Combined with our relatively early adoption of the sustainable growth agenda, the Nordic countries have been reco

49、gnised as frontrunners in the green economy transformation. But are we as far ahead as we would like to think? We have deep-dived into the Nordic impact start-up ecosystem to assess the status quo. The health of the Nordic impact ecosystem is inextricably linked to the overall start-up ecosystem and the general societal awareness of impact. So how are these three intersecting domains actually performing in the Nordics? The Nordic countries are global leaders within impact start-ups Figure 1.1 The intersection of the Nord