Solo VC and Lovable investor Neil Murray raises third Nordic-focused fund

The Nordic red-hot startup question continues. On Tuesday, Neil Murray, laminitis and wide spouse at Copenhagen-based firm The Nordic Web Ventures, announced the adjacent of a $6 cardinal Fund III to proceed investing in early-stage founders successful the region.

The money volition absorption on writing the archetypal organization checks to companies focused on robotics, AI-native companies, and heavy tech founders.

Murray, a solo GP, told TechCrunch that his archetypal 2 funds were “test vehicles” to beryllium his quality to spot and put successful apical endowment successful the region. Now, 7 years later, helium has written the archetypal check into much than 50 companies, with a portfolio including the unicorn Lovable and the distant worker insurance company SafetyWing, and exits like the UI plan company Uizard.

As TechCrunch antecedently reported, the Nordic ecosystem (which includes Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) is present valued astatine much than fractional a trillion dollars and received more than $8 billion in task backing successful 2024, making the portion 1 of the hottest emerging markets successful Europe. Murray said Fund III had more than $20 cardinal successful investor interest, but helium decided to headdress it astatine $6 cardinal due to the fact that helium cares “more astir alignment than AUM.”

Staying small, helium said, means helium tin better tie incentives to show alternatively than absorption fees. He besides said staying small, especially arsenic a solo GP, gives him more flexibility while “everyone other is inactive debating.”

“Capping the money wasn’t a constraint,” he said. “It was the strategy.”

The cheque sizes for the money volition beryllium astir $200,000, and helium hopes to backmost betwixt 30 and 35 companies. “I judge it is much important to beryllium investing in Tier 1 founders than to backmost Tier 2 founders and over-optimizing for ownership,” helium said.

Murray’s limited spouse basal includes institutional backers specified as Allocater One, laminitis Christoph Janz, and Pacenotes. Founders from Kahoot! And Pleo, successful summation to operators from Meta and Google, is besides LPs successful Fund III.

“Many founders from my archetypal 2 funds person invested successful my caller fund, which is besides an incredibly important metric to me,” helium said, adding that he’s already returned much than fractional the superior helium raised crossed Fund I and Fund II.

His Fund III focuses connected AI, robotics, and consumer, helium said, due to the fact that those are immoderate of the apical sectors successful the Nordic region. Consumer has ever been a apical class successful the sector, as TechCrunch antecedently spoke about on a podcast astir the region.