Founders

Founders is a startup studio established in 2012 and based in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to building innovative products and companies that enhance organizational effectiveness. By leveraging a diverse range of expertise in business and product development, Founders aims to create strong products that can evolve into successful businesses. The studio fosters a culture of entrepreneurship, encouraging all team members to act as entrepreneurs. Its mission focuses on developing technology-enabled companies that have the potential to significantly impact their respective industries, providing both funding and a comprehensive startup platform to support tech ventures.

Joshua Karjala-Svendsen

Co-Founder & Head of Technology

30 past transactions

Adaptyv Biosystems

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Adaptyv Biosystems developing a protein engineering platform using cell-free synthetic biology and nanofluidics.

Pleo

Series C in 2021
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Wonderway

Seed Round in 2021
Wonderwerk is a platform for data-driven sales training for remote teams. Its platform connects employees, managers, recruiters, and trainers via an automated e-learning dashboard that offers personalized learning plans, video tutorials, templates, digital learning programs, performance review reports, and training efficiency results in real-time, enabling businesses to create a learning culture that develops and retains employees.

Pleo

Series C in 2021
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Kontist

Series B in 2021
Kontist GmbH is a Berlin-based company founded in 2016 that specializes in providing banking products tailored for freelancers and self-employed individuals in Germany. The company offers a comprehensive financial platform that includes a current account for business use, subaccounts specifically for tax savings and other financial goals, and personal Kontist cards. Its mobile banking application features real-time tax forecasting, instant notifications for transactions, and tools designed to help manage liquidity and avoid cash flow issues. By focusing on the unique financial needs of freelancers, Kontist aims to simplify financial management and empower its users to build successful businesses.

All Gravy

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Butter is re-engineering salary for shift workers by helping them make the most out of their salary. We enable them to access their salary as soon as they earn it, but then also give them the tools to reach their financial goals. We have a belief that creating a direct link between work and pay through real-time salary will fundamentally shift the way we think about work and our motivation for working. We also believe thinking about money is hard, and that there are a lot of things we can do with behavioural design to make it easier. Thus we work in an extremely customer-centric way to create products that are helpful, fun to use but also change the way we think about work and pay. Employers get a more motivated workforce, who are more likely to take shifts and can save their finance / HR teams a lot of time by ensuring their employees always understand which shifts they are getting paid for at which times. We are a venture-backed company, backed by Founders who have built fantastic companies such as Pleo and Kontist.

Tobi

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Tobi is a digital investment service for parents that makes it easy to grow their children's long-term savings. We receive recurring deposits, cash gifts and advance inheritance from parents, grandparents and friends of the family and invest them based on the parents' risk profile. Some would call us a niche robo-advisor. We are a team of experienced entrepreneurs with a purpose of enabling children to get the best possible start in life. Initially we focus on the child's wealth but our purpose holds so much more potential across different verticals including insurance, health and services which bridge family generations.

LifeX

Seed Round in 2019
LifeX Aps is a co-living startup in Copenhagen and Berlin. It helps in settling in a new city with end-to-end relocation services, including a flexible housing subscription in a community of like-minded, events to meet new people and help with all the practicalities of moving. It focuses on strengthening its community through activities and events where everyone can participate. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Pleo

Series B in 2019
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Wonderway

Seed Round in 2019
Wonderwerk is a platform for data-driven sales training for remote teams. Its platform connects employees, managers, recruiters, and trainers via an automated e-learning dashboard that offers personalized learning plans, video tutorials, templates, digital learning programs, performance review reports, and training efficiency results in real-time, enabling businesses to create a learning culture that develops and retains employees.

LifeX

Pre Seed Round in 2018
LifeX Aps is a co-living startup in Copenhagen and Berlin. It helps in settling in a new city with end-to-end relocation services, including a flexible housing subscription in a community of like-minded, events to meet new people and help with all the practicalities of moving. It focuses on strengthening its community through activities and events where everyone can participate. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kontist

Series A in 2018
Kontist GmbH is a Berlin-based company founded in 2016 that specializes in providing banking products tailored for freelancers and self-employed individuals in Germany. The company offers a comprehensive financial platform that includes a current account for business use, subaccounts specifically for tax savings and other financial goals, and personal Kontist cards. Its mobile banking application features real-time tax forecasting, instant notifications for transactions, and tools designed to help manage liquidity and avoid cash flow issues. By focusing on the unique financial needs of freelancers, Kontist aims to simplify financial management and empower its users to build successful businesses.

Headlight

Seed Round in 2018
Headlight ApS provides business coaching services. The company offers coaching solutions that enable individuals to identify and drive professional and personal development. It provides an application that hosts coaching sessions, documents talking points, tracks progress, and lets the user to schedule sessions with the tap of a button. The company runs programs in Copenhagen, Los Angles, and Berlin. Headlight ApS was founded in 2018 and is based in Copenhagen V, Denmark.

Reach Active

Pre Seed Round in 2018
We Are 'Unleashing Active' - The number one thing that is holding people back from being more active is muscle and joint pain. Why ? 1. Inaccessible - high quality care is either inconvenient and/or people are given low quality treatment. 2. Demotivating - most treatments are lonely, slow and boring. The Good News - learning to self-manage pain as much as possible is the best line of treatment. And it's relatively straightforward for nearly everyone in pain. How ? Build the best experience based on end pain suffer wants and needs. To start, that means a full physiotherapy service through a mobile app, with personalised exercises and physio support, everyday.

Pleo

Series A in 2018
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Reach Active

Angel Round in 2017
We Are 'Unleashing Active' - The number one thing that is holding people back from being more active is muscle and joint pain. Why ? 1. Inaccessible - high quality care is either inconvenient and/or people are given low quality treatment. 2. Demotivating - most treatments are lonely, slow and boring. The Good News - learning to self-manage pain as much as possible is the best line of treatment. And it's relatively straightforward for nearly everyone in pain. How ? Build the best experience based on end pain suffer wants and needs. To start, that means a full physiotherapy service through a mobile app, with personalised exercises and physio support, everyday.

Duuoo

Seed Round in 2017
Duuoo is a Continuous Performance Development tool for forward-thinking organizations. The app helps organizations run high quality, high frequency 1-on-1 conversations, team meetings, feedback, and agile goal setting. It's a seamless Performance Review Experience with automated peer feedback & self-assessment, an extensive goals module, guided conversations and 1-on-1s, and insights for leadership, C-suite and HR.

Pleo

Seed Round in 2017
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Kontist

Seed Round in 2016
Kontist GmbH is a Berlin-based company founded in 2016 that specializes in providing banking products tailored for freelancers and self-employed individuals in Germany. The company offers a comprehensive financial platform that includes a current account for business use, subaccounts specifically for tax savings and other financial goals, and personal Kontist cards. Its mobile banking application features real-time tax forecasting, instant notifications for transactions, and tools designed to help manage liquidity and avoid cash flow issues. By focusing on the unique financial needs of freelancers, Kontist aims to simplify financial management and empower its users to build successful businesses.

Pleo

Seed Round in 2016
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Pleo

Seed Round in 2016
Pleo Technologies ApS is a financial technology company that provides prepaid MasterCard virtual and physical cards designed for businesses in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo aims to simplify business spending through its user-friendly platform, which includes a mobile and web app for tracking expenses and managing users. The company's cards are widely accepted by merchants globally, and they are paired with tools to provide real-time analytics, automate bookkeeping, and generate automatic expense reports, thereby enhancing visibility over company spending. Pleo operates from offices in London and Copenhagen, supporting its mission to revolutionize expense management for modern teams.

Reveal

Seed Round in 2015
Reveal’s mission is to help job seekers discover the jobs that are most relevant to them. By enabling job sites to integrate Machine Learning into their service, they help accelerate discovery through intelligent search technology and job recommendations.

Pipetop

Pre Seed Round in 2015
Pipetop is the first autopilot for your sales pipeline. Instantly find key decision-makers and their contact info. Save up to 60% time on sales research and get the right prospects with powerful segmentation based on our proprietary technology. - Find the right companies and prospects’ email immediately - Intelligent segmentation based on more than 30 modern filters - Turn on the Pipetop autopilot and watch your pipeline fill up with qualified prospects Flexible pricing with no commitments. Self-serve access to our full, always up-to-date database.

Kontist

Seed Round in 2015
Kontist GmbH is a Berlin-based company founded in 2016 that specializes in providing banking products tailored for freelancers and self-employed individuals in Germany. The company offers a comprehensive financial platform that includes a current account for business use, subaccounts specifically for tax savings and other financial goals, and personal Kontist cards. Its mobile banking application features real-time tax forecasting, instant notifications for transactions, and tools designed to help manage liquidity and avoid cash flow issues. By focusing on the unique financial needs of freelancers, Kontist aims to simplify financial management and empower its users to build successful businesses.

Gobox

Venture Round in 2015
GoBox offers mobile storage units and self-storage services in the Copenhagen area.

Dixie

Seed Round in 2015
A back office is something all businesses need, yet only few business owners enjoy bookkeeping, payroll, benefits, or the like. They don’t blame them. They prefer spending time on the things that matter. Most people end up either taking away precious time from their business and their loved ones, or simply outsource these tasks out of their sight, thus losing the benefits of knowing what's going on in their company.

SON OF A TAILOR

Pre Seed Round in 2014
SON OF A TAILOR is a Denmark-based company that provides its clients with customized T-shirt tailoring services. The company is based in Copenhagen, Hovedstaden.

Pipetop

Pre Seed Round in 2014
Pipetop is the first autopilot for your sales pipeline. Instantly find key decision-makers and their contact info. Save up to 60% time on sales research and get the right prospects with powerful segmentation based on our proprietary technology. - Find the right companies and prospects’ email immediately - Intelligent segmentation based on more than 30 modern filters - Turn on the Pipetop autopilot and watch your pipeline fill up with qualified prospects Flexible pricing with no commitments. Self-serve access to our full, always up-to-date database.

Gobox

Seed Round in 2014
GoBox offers mobile storage units and self-storage services in the Copenhagen area.

Maguru

Pre Seed Round in 2014
Maguru.dk is an online marketing platform for small- to medium-sized businesses. It was founded in April 2014 and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.