This VC thinks Europe must take more risks to create "more wildly successful founders"

Icebreaker.vc already claims to be the most active ideas-stage investor in the Nordics and Baltics.

On Monday, General Partner Lasse Lehtinen took to LinkedIn to argue that the VC firm is now ready to take risks to find "the next generation of ambitious companies," after raising money for its new investment fund (Fund III), which closed last week.

Lehtinen suggests that not enough money is currently being invested in high-risk projects around Europe, arguing that this is essential to help the continent's economy grow at a time when governments are increasing military spending.

"If we want more innovative and successful companies, the kind that will ultimately help pay for increased defence budgets, we need more risk capital to finance high-risk ventures. And to get risk capital, we first need excess capital," Lehtinen writes.

His comments come amid ongoing discussions about European competitiveness in the region's business community, in the wake of US President Trump's tariff threats and his approach to tackling the war in Ukraine, which has spurred the European Commission to announce €800b in defence funding.

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Lehtinen argues that Icebreaker.vc's success to date is partly down to prosperous entrepreneurs reinvesting their wealth in startups, and suggests that this cycle needs to keep repeating itself to ensure there is enough money available to help future founders.

"We need more wildly successful founders so that more 'excess capital' exists to be allocated into high-risk ventures," he writes. "If we don't embrace this accumulation of capital, we won't have enough funding for the bold ideas that, while often failing, sometimes create the next wave of industry-defining companies."

A back catalogue of 400 founders

Icebreaker.vc launched in 2017. In a separate LinkedIn post last week, the firm said that nearly 400 founders had been part of the firm's journey since then, "shaping not just their own companies but also teaching us along the way."

Founders and investors that have contributed to Icebreaker's funds have links to successful European businesses including Smartly (an AI marketing platform), RELEX Solutions (retail planning software), M-Files (document management), Pipedrive (sales CRM), and Klaus (customer service quality platform).

Already a key impact investor

Although Icebreaker.vc invests in a broad range of portfolio companies, it has increasingly supported startups with a focus on environmental sustainability.

These investments include Aerit, a Stockholm-based drone delivery service that aims to reduce carbon emissions while prioritising safety and efficiency. The firm has also backed Nebulab, a Helsinki-based company developing energy-efficient glass 3D printing technology, and Nectaramp, a Finnish startup working on advanced electricity storage solutions.

The firm's social impact investments include Helsinki-based Starship, which creates immersive gaming experiences designed to foster community connections.

In the Nordic and Baltic regions' growing defence technology space, Icebreaker supports a range of upcoming businesses including SpaceIT, a Tartu-based company specialising in satellite operations management, and ReOrbit, a Helsinki-based satellite data company.