Three ways to get in: choosing the right path into Nordic growth-stage deals

There’s no universally “best” option. The right one depends on how much control you want over individual company selection, how much time and resources you’re willing to commit, and whether you want a diversified portfolio or the ability to choose individual companies yourself.

Here’s how the three approaches actually compare.

New to Nordic growth-stage investing? Read our article on the Nordic opportunity first.

1. Build your own local presence

Some investors build from scratch: set up locally, attend ecosystem events, and develop relationships with founders and investors over time.

What you get: Full control over sourcing and decision-making, and a growing network that strengthens over time.

What it costs you: Years before the network produces meaningful deal flow, and ongoing resources to maintain it.

Best fit for: Institutions already committed to the region for the long haul, where the local presence pays for itself across many future deals.

2. Invest through Nordic VC funds

You commit capital to a fund with an established local network and let the manager do the sourcing and decision-making.

What you get: Local expertise and a diversified portfolio without lifting a finger on sourcing. In this way you can save a lot of time.

What it costs you: Control, and part of the return. The fund manager decides which companies you end up owning, and management fees plus carry mean some of your capital never gets deployed, and some of your upside goes to the fund rather than you.

Best fit for: Investors who want broad Nordic exposure and are comfortable delegating company-level decisions in exchange for diversification.

3. Use a local deal access platform

You evaluate individual companies one at a time, through rounds that have already been anchored, negotiated, and structured before they reach you.

What you get: Local deal flow, screening, and negotiation done for you, while you keep the final call on every single investment.

What it costs you: You build up exposure deal by deal, at the pace new rounds become available rather than gaining instant diversification the way you would by investing in a fund.

You also pay for that access, since the platform typically earns fees from both the company raising capital and the investors participating in the round, so this route isn’t cost-free the way sourcing deals yourself technically is.

Best fit for: Investors who want Nordic access but aren’t willing to give up either the years it takes to build a presence nor the control over the final decision they’d lose in a fund.

Your local platform, Springvest

Springvest operates as a Finnish local deal access platform. Each round is anchored with Finnish capital, typically €5–12 million from Springvest’s community of over 15,000 retail investors and family offices, before the private placement is opened to institutional and professional international investors.

In practice, Springvest handles:

• Sourcing: identifying Finnish growth-stage technology companies raising €5–50 million rounds
• Screening: filtering the most promising growth-stage companies that show the strongest potential, out of the many considered
• Due diligence: carrying out due diligence on each opportunity before it reaches an investor
• Structuring: arranging the round so private, institutional, and international investors can participate separately, on comparable terms
• Allocation: connecting the opportunity with the right investors

To date, Springvest has arranged more than €400 million across more than a hundred rounds, including ReOrbit’s record-breaking €45 million Series A, every one of which reached at least its minimum target.

Which one is right for you?

Quick questions to help you to find the right approach for you:

• Do you have years to invest in building a network before it pays off?
  → If yes, build locally
• Are you comfortable letting someone else pick the companies, in exchange for diversification?
  → If yes, back a fund
• Do you want local deal flow and due diligence done for you, but don’t want to lose control over the decision-making?
  → If yes, use a platform

If the third describes how you’d rather invest, don’t hesitate to contact us. Get in touch with our team: coinvestor@springvest.fi.