The Icelandic Business Venture Fund Kría, in collaboration with FKA – the Association of Women in Business – hosted a packed event at Business Iceland on April 27 as part of Iceland Innovation Week. The event was titled From Pitch to Investment – Who Gets a Yes, and Why?
The moderator was Edda Lára Lúðvíksdóttir, Investment Manager for Fund Investments at Kría. Elinóra Inga Sigurðardóttir, Chair of FKA’s Innovation Committee, welcomed guests before handing the stage over to Edda Lára, who led the event with great skill and energy.
Hrönn Greipsdóttir, CEO of the Business Venture Fund Kría, then took the stage to present interesting figures from a newly published Framvís report, as well as recent European statistics on the position of women in innovation investment and related topics.
he event featured an open and honest conversation between entrepreneurs and investors about what truly determines investment decisions. Three investors and three entrepreneurs took the stage, each giving a presentation and answering a specific question.
Ásthildur Otharsdóttir, co-owner and Investment Director at Frumtak Ventures, addressed how her team evaluates startup teams and what characterizes the strongest ones. She emphasized that team composition matters most, noting that Frumtak meets frequently with founders and needs to establish strong personal connections with them.
Helga Árnadóttir, CEO and co-founder of Tulipop, answered a question about what truly proved critical in Tulipop’s growth and fundraising journey. She explained that they carefully studied how successful children’s entertainment brands, such as Hello Kitty, were built, but stressed that the key factor was partnering with experienced industry veterans.
Hreinn Þór Hauksson, CEO of AxUM and Landvættir, discussed what it takes for him to take the next step and invest in a founder. He explained that entrepreneurs need to be interesting, driven, and capable of building strong relationships. Once trust and belief in a team are established, it becomes much harder to walk away from the collaboration, making credibility and trust essential between investors and founders.
Fida Abu Libdeh, founder and CEO of GeoSilica, responded to questions about what she did not understand about investors and fundraising before starting her journey, and whether her gender, background, or education had been an obstacle or an advantage. Fida said that persistence, networking, and trust are the most important factors in securing investment. Being of foreign origin can be both a challenge and a strength, but she has consciously chosen to stand out rather than try to fit into a predefined box.
Marinella Haraldsdóttir, investor and board member of various companies and funds, including IceBAN, answered a question about what entrepreneurs should do to build trust during a first meeting and what they should avoid. She stressed that founders need to arrive prepared and on time, and that presentations should be simple, clear, and well-structured so investors can quickly understand the idea and business opportunity.
Ósvaldur Knudsen, CEO of Laki Power, was asked whether having a diverse team mattered during the company’s growth journey and fundraising process, and whether investors had pressured them to build a mixed team. Ósvaldur noted that diversity does matter to investors, but from an entrepreneur’s perspective, competence is the most important factor when building a team. He added that they had adapted their recruitment process to attract top talent while also reflecting the diversity they aimed to achieve. Laki Power originally started as an all-male team but has since added two women to the company.
The entrepreneurs and investors later joined together for a panel discussion, where they answered questions from Edda Lára as well as from the audience. The discussion became highly engaging and insightful.
Overall, the event was extremely successful. It was clear that there is strong interest in gatherings of this kind, and organizers will likely need to secure a larger venue next time, as some attendees unfortunately had to be turned away due to lack of space.
