For the fourth time, Student Investor Day was arranged on the 6th of June at Gruva together with Sparebank 1 SMN, 6AM, and StartupTRD. For the first time, the event was included as a part of Trondheim Tech Week, hosted by Trondheim Tech Port. The event functions as an opportunity for students to showcase what their business has to offer to early-stage investors.
By Vilde Falck Husum
Stian Bongard, co-host and project manager of the event, opened his welcome speech by highlighting the main purpose behind arranging Student Investor Day year after year:
The goal is to connect the right investors within early-stage investment to some of NTNU’s most qualified startups. Together, they have the possibility to develop and commercialize technological solutions. – Stian Bongard
Tech Week focuses on technology that facilitates sustainable development within crucial areas such as ocean, health, energy, and digitalization. Furthermore, this event connects academia, industries, entrepreneurs, authorities, and capital – some of the most important contributors to innovation. As pointed out by co-host and project manager Henning Philip Patricksson, it was a natural choice to partner with Tech Week as it provides the right scene for both students and investors to meet up and connect. This implies a selection of investors that match the attending startups, as well as an opportunity for the students to showcase their businesses. Additionally, it ensures a high level of quality, encouraging investors with busy schedules to participate. A total of 18 businesses were represented by 40 investors, a number that proves Student Investor Day to be of great value for both startups and investors.
Nine startups had the opportunity to impress the investors as well as a jury with their business ideas. Each startup had a timeframe of three minutes to pitch their vision with the chance of winning “Best Business Idea” as well as the “Sustainability Award”. In addition to a money prize, the winner got the opportunity to enroll in 6AM’s accelerator program, named “best accelerator program in the Nordics” in 2024 by the Financial Times. Through participating, startups get access to resources such as funding, network, mentors, workshops and travels, to name a few. The jury selecting the Sustainability Award winner consisted of Kristin Jørstad from NTNU TTO, Jan Eilert Nilsen from Sparebank 1 SMN, and Øystein Eriksen from Nysnø Invest. Additionally, Best Business Idea was voted forward by the investors based on the pitch as well as a speed dating round with each of the startups.
Marcus Nickelsen, Head of Startups at 6AM and representing Ginst Capital, has participated at Student Investor Day since the beginning. He applauds the event for giving investors a chance to get to know each startup through the speed dating rounds. At this stage, he looks for certain cues that indicate a business is heading in a promising direction. If a startup has a good market segment, competence, and consistent product development, they have a good chance at future investments. Further, Nickelsen describes the importance of an event such as Student Investor Day through its win-win arrangement:
The most important point of this event is that you get to showcase the best startups from NTNU at that time, and the value proposition for all investors is that they want to participate as they get a yearly update on just that – the best NTNU startups. The consequence of not showing up is to miss out on an investment round for a company that might make it big in a few years. – Marcus Nickelsen
Even though participating startups might be premature for investment at the first meeting, they have a chance at making a good match the next year. This highlights how Student Investor Day is as much about networking and nurturing long-term prospects and how the event brings value to all participating startups as well as investors. It’s not just the competition part of the event that creates opportunities, even though it is a great bonus.
Impressively, Arctic Protein won both the Sustainability Award and Best Business Idea. Congratulations are in order! It is even more impressive as they won the Sustainability Award last year as well. As Nickelsen states, it is important to note that these startups are not just short-term student projects, but real businesses with scalable business models and international intentions. The goal is therefore to create the next big tech giants worldwide. Student Investor Day functions as an invitation for investors to join this journey. We are excited to see where this year’s startups are heading and already looking forward to next year.
Lastly, congratulations to all participating businesses on their achievements! Here is the complete list of attending startups:
Arctic Protein
Enmo
Mush
Naya
Scoped
Tendro
Tone
Useless
Wepost