Nordic Science Investments Research
Investment Thesis
Nordic Science Investments (NSI) partners with founders to turn university research into commercial companies. The firm bridges academia and business by investing in science-based startups and university spinouts, working with more than 12 leading regional universities across the New Nordics, including Estonia's top institutions. NSI's tagline, "Hidden Gems Await," reflects its thesis that the best deeptech, healthtech, and life-science companies emerge from unseen university research that has not yet been recognized by the broader venture market. NSI positions itself as an anchor investor at the earliest stage, derisking teams for follow-on capital and inviting co-investors alongside it.
Sector Focus
NSI invests across three core sectors: deeptech, health tech, and life sciences. Within deeptech the portfolio spans advanced materials, semiconductors, energy infrastructure, and AI-driven industrial technology (7 Semiconductors, Sisusemi, DCR Tech, Acouspin, Noeton, Kothar Computing, Mu-Ray Tech). In life sciences the fund backs diagnostics, drug discovery, and biotech platforms (Thestra, Nadmed, Kasvu Therapeutics, PrecisionPhage, Solid IO, SampleFacts, CubaseBio, GlobeVac). In health tech it funds AI-enabled diagnostics and personal health monitoring (Aiatella, Rnatives, Vire Health, Otos). NSI explicitly targets disruptive sectors including advanced materials, AI-driven technologies, and synthetic biology, and describes itself as strengthening Tech Transfer Offices' commercialization pipelines through direct university partnerships.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed is NSI's stated sweet spot, where it helps bridge the gap between academic research and commercialization. NSI also makes selected follow-on investments at seed, Series A, and Series B as portfolio companies mature — for example its continued participation in Kasvu Therapeutics' €30M Series A round in September 2026.
Check Size
NSI's stated investment ranges (in EUR) are approximately €50k–100k at pre-seed, €400–600k at seed, €1–1.5M at Series A, and up to €3.5M at Series B, with total follow-on capacity of up to €5M per company across the company's life.
Lead Tendency
NSI describes itself as an anchor investor at the pre-seed and seed stage, with co-investors welcome alongside it. This positions the firm as a lead or co-lead at the earliest rounds, with a mix of lead and participating roles at later stages.
Recent Activity
NSI's first fund, NSI Nordic Science I Ky, held an initial close of €30M in March 2024 against a stated €60M target, and per Taaleri's April 2026 press release the fund is now sized at €45M. In April 2026, Taaleri acquired a 51% majority stake in NSI, expanding into deeptech-driven venture capital and giving NSI a stronger institutional platform for later-stage support and geographic reach beyond the New Nordics. In December 2025, SmartCap Venture Capital Fund (backed by Finland's state-owned Tesi) invested €3M directly into NSI. As of the SmartCap announcement, NSI had invested in 19 companies since its February 2024 launch; by the April 2026 Taaleri announcement the portfolio had grown to 22 companies. NSI's most recent portfolio additions include Estonian TalTech spinout DCR Tech (May 2026), a power-electronics platform easing the shift from AC to DC grids, and Estonian muon-imaging startup Mu-Ray Tech (November 2025), which raised €325K to exit stealth.
Portfolio Highlights
NSI's 22-company portfolio spans 2024 through 2026 vintages. Kasvu Therapeutics is the most prominent name, having raised a €30M Series A led by Hadean Ventures in September 2026 to advance a neuroplasticity-based depression treatment, with NSI's Matti Hautsalo sitting on its board. Other notable companies include 7 Semiconductors (GaN semiconductor technology for the AI era), DCR Tech (DC power infrastructure, TalTech spinout with Schneider Electric validation), Mu-Ray Tech (3D muon beam imaging), and a cluster of diagnostics and biotech companies (Thestra, Nadmed, PrecisionPhage, Solid IO, SampleFacts, CubaseBio, GlobeVac, Aiatella, Rnatives, Otos, Vire Health).
Team
- Dr. Alexandra Gylfe, PhD — Founding Partner
- Matti Hautsalo — Founding Partner (represents NSI on Kasvu Therapeutics' board)
- Jari Strandman — Founding Partner
- Anssi Uimonen — Founding Partner
- Gerard de Bourbon — Partner
- Mart Maasik — Partner (elected to the EstVCA board for the 2025–2027 term, November 2025; quoted spokesperson on the SmartCap and Estonia-focused announcements)
- Hanna Hämäläinen — Analyst
The team's stated background spans 20+ years in VC and early-stage deeptech investing, having spun out 25+ companies, with prior experience in academia, tech transfer, investment banking, and building deeptech teams at a US unicorn.
Decision Process
NSI operates as a multi-partner team (four founding partners, two additional partners, and an analyst) rather than a solo-GP structure, consistent with a partnership decision process.
Founder Preferences
NSI favors research-intensive, defensible technology addressing a clear systems-level problem with early signs of industrial or clinical market pull — explicitly citing university spinout teams with grant-funded, multi-year research histories and patent-backed IP (e.g., DCR Tech's TalTech researcher-led team with 10+ years of research and four patent-backed invention disclosures). NSI also attracts spinout CEOs who value its specialist, science-first approach.
Geographic Focus
NSI's stated focus is the "New Nordics," primarily Finland and Estonia, working closely with 12+ regional universities. Its Taaleri partnership (April 2026) is explicitly intended to extend NSI's reach beyond the New Nordics into wider Europe as portfolio companies scale.
Sustainability / ESG
NSI's fund is structured as an SFDR Chapter 8 fund, with ESG considerations embedded across the investment process and ongoing collaboration with portfolio companies and university partners on responsible innovation.