The Northzone History

Once, in a galaxy not far away....

Northzone was established in 1994 as an advisory company for technology based ventures. It started in the name of Venture Partners, and changed its name to Northzone Ventures in 2000. In the first three years of its existence the company participated in a wide range of advisory functions related to M&A's, equity issues, strategic development and corporate restructuring. The founders of Northzone also initiated several start-ups.

The VC activity emerges
Northzone's venture capital activity was established in 1996, and in February 1997 the first Northzone investment fund was raised.The venture capital activity was established based on a firm belief in interesting Nordic technology opportunities, a void in the market for competent venture funding, and a strong passion for actively developing early stage companies. The fund invested in eight companies and benefited from the financial upturn during the dotcom era. Significant returns were achieved on investments in Stepstone, Lastminute and Massmarket.

In June 1998, a second investment fund (now Northzone II) was founded. NZ II was focused on converging technology companies within IT and Telecommunications. The fund made six investments. The fund's largest investment was Mamut, which grew beyond predictions and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange ("OSE") in May 2004. Industrial exits were achieved through the sale of Reisefeber to Travelocity and Portit to Labs2.

Northzone III was established December 1999, and had a total funding of € 75 Million. The fund invested in 18 companies during the 'dotcom heydays', but we still managed to deliver returns above expectations. The most successful investments were NextGenTel (listed on OSE December 2005 and later sold to TeliaSonera in May 2006), Trolltech, Intility, Envox, Colibria and EpiServer.

Emerging as a top tier European VC

In January 2003 Northzone IV, totalling € 78 Million, was established despite a very difficult funding market. The fund invested in 16 companies across the Nordic region. The focus on early stage technology opportunities was maintained, but a stronger emphasis was put on 'hard-core' technology compared to prior funds.

The portfolio of NZ IV consists of companies like Funcom, now listed on OSE, Pricerunner, currently a part of Valueclick Inc, MCP, which we sold to Telenor, T-VIPS, Asetek, Napatech, and Revolt Technologies

Northzone V was established in April 2006 with € 175 million. The fact that this was our fastest and most successful fundraising to date is testament to the confidence that top tier European institutional investors have in Northzone Ventures and our ability to capture the potential of Nordic early stage technology companies. This fund includes some of our best bets ever, such as Spotify, Tobii and the recently exited Episerver.

Northzone VI - raised in some of the toughest market environments of modern times - is going full spead ahead with investments in tantalizing storys in the same vein, among them La Avito, Brave New Talent, Videoplaza, Nyx and X5music Group.

Since the inception of the venture capital activity in 1996, Northzone Ventures has been considerably strengthened in all dimensions. Throughout the period, Northzone has built a strong local and international network, gradually evolving into one of the leading venture capital entities in Europe, often mentioned as the leading player on the Nordic scene. We are currently eight General Partners and two support staff in three countries, making us the largest Technology focused investment team in the Nordic region.