Investors flock to Nordics as innovation and competition in life science ramps up

NLSDays' audience 2019. Photo: Camille Sonally

With less than a week to go, Nordic Life Science Days is breaking all records in attendance and international presence. Those records also include attending investors, with growing interest driven in part by the new investment track, NLSInvest, available for selected financial groups.

With more than 80 firms and 125 investors that have been curated and cleared to partake, NLSDays is poised to set a new standard for what it means to be the strongest and largest life science event in the Nordics.

Competition is fierce and the global economic turmoil is tightening access to funding for companies around the world. The Nordics, however, are giving off heat. Foreign actors are flocking to explore the innovative power of these five Nordic nations with the highest numbers ever seen over Nordic Life Science Days’ ten-year history.

Chelsea Ranger, Chair of NLSInvest, comments: “Our Nordic region is rather underexplored by the global financial community, so it’s great to see such high interest. While our companies and academics excel across science and technology, in life sciences and beyond, the simple fact is that we need to broadcast that excellence louder to attract more foreign capital. It’s not only money that’s key, but international expertise, networking, and collaboration for our companies as well as our Nordic financial community.”

For the NLSDays investment track, it is not only the 40 start-ups in attendance that have been through a selection process. In a unique approach, investors have also been screened by track organizers to ensure that only active interest and intelligent capital is entering the partnering system. In addition, there has been a personalized focus, where the team has worked to gather information on each firm’s strategy, sector focus, ticket size, lead vs. syndication preferences, etc., to teach start-ups how to better understand the varied types of investors they might meet.

“The Nordics have had an impressive increase in local health and life science investors in the last decade, a solid basis for further syndication locally and internationally. Our curated approach and private investor activities will hopefully ensure that we are not only bringing high quality to the event, but also strengthening the bonds of our financial community,” says Chelsea Ranger.

With a first live investment track, the team focused on attracting top Nordic start-ups for investors to meet. All year, Nordic companies could apply for one of 40 available spots, and these 40 would be given the chance to pitch for investor interest and the NLSInvest Award.

Hundreds of applications were received and reviewed by the NLSInvest Selection Committee, with each evaluated on a multitude of readiness factors, including customer, business, technology, IPR, and more. The final 40 Rising Stars span drugs, diagnostics, devices, digital, and deep learning sectors. Therapeutically, they cover a variety of cancers, cardio, and metabolic diseases; inflammatory, infectious, and fibrotic diseases; dermatologic and neurodegenerative diseases, and more.

“I have had the pleasure of attending most NLSDays, and it is rewarding to see that the number of interesting companies attending continues to increase. I also like that there is a record number of international investors attending. This year, we will have three investment professionals on site and each of us has very full days. One helpful feature this year is the 40 Rising Stars, NLSInvest concept. Having a “best of” list is always a good start for looking for our next portfolio companies,” says Johan Kördel, Managing Partner at Sound Bioventures, one of the newer Nordic life science investment firms.