Solo VC and beloved investor Neil Murray has raised a third Nordic-focused fund

The hot start-up movement in the Nordics continues. Neil Murray, founder and general partner at Copenhagen-based The Nordic Web Ventures, announced on Tuesday the closing of a third fund worth $6 million to continue investing in early-stage founders in the region.

The fund will focus on writing first institutional checks to robotics-focused companies, AI-native companies, and deep tech founders.

Murray, a solo GP, told TechCrunch that his first two funds were “test vehicles” to demonstrate his ability to discover and invest in the best talent in the region. Now, seven years later, he has written his first check to more than 50 companies, with a portfolio that includes Unicorn Lovable and Remote Worker. Safety Wing Insurance Companyand comes out as UI design company Uizard.

As TechCrunch previously reported, the Nordic ecosystem (which includes Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) Its value is now estimated at more than half a trillion dollars It received more than $8 billion in investment funding in 2024, making the region one of the most important emerging markets in Europe. Murray said the third fund had more than $20 million of investor interest, but decided to cap it at $6 million because he cared “more about alignment than assets under management.”

He said staying small meant he could better tie incentives to performance rather than management fees. He also said that staying small, especially as a solo GP, gives him more flexibility while “everyone is still discussing”.

“Setting a ceiling for the fund was not an obstacle,” he said. “It was the strategy.”

The fund’s check sizes will be approximately $200,000, and it hopes to support between 30 and 35 companies. “I think investing in Tier 1 founders is more important than supporting Tier 2 founders and over-optimizing ownership,” he said.

Murray’s limited partner base includes institutional backers such as Allocater One, founder Christoph Jans, and Pacnotes. The founders of Kahoot! Pleo, along with operators from Meta and Google, are also LPs in Fund III.

“Many founders from my first two funds have invested in my new fund, which is also a very important metric for me,” he said, adding that he has already returned more than half of the capital he raised across Fund I and Fund II.

He said that his third fund focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and the consumer, because these are among the most important sectors in the Nordic region. The consumer has always been the first group in this sector, As TechCrunch previously spoke In a podcast about the region.

The region is also known for its computer science, engineering culture, and manufacturing, which, coupled with its “quiet, methodical construction style,” positions the Nordic countries well for “AI-powered robots in industry, healthcare, logistics, and increasingly the consumer context.”

Although he has a keen interest in the Nordic countries, Murray is actually originally from the UK and moved to Denmark in 2013 without knowing anyone, he recalls.

“I was very interested in technology startups, having worked in digital products in London,” he continued. When he moved to Copenhagen, he realized that the ecosystem had a huge contribution to the world of technology, even though people rarely talked about it. This led him to create The Nordic Web, where he analyzed what was happening behind the curtains of the thriving technology scene there.

The site saw him tracking investments and exits and soon venture capitalists were asking him which founders were looking for capital. Murray quickly wanted to get in on the action, and in 2017, he launched the first fund, worth $500,000. He stopped writing The Nordic Web shortly after to focus more on investing. And it all led him here.

“In general, the Nordic countries are not experiencing any moment,” he said. “They are experiencing a surge. The depth of talent, level of ambition, and maturity of the ecosystem means that this wave is not a boom; it is the foundation of the next decade for Nordic startups.”