About Us

In Iceland, conditions are extremely favorable for start-up and growth companies with its small and flexible economy, and strong infrastructure. Icelanders generally have a can-do attitude, and entrepreneurship and creativity are highly regarded. In the field of innovation it is often said that the best time to invest is on the back of a recession, and this has in fact proven to be the case in Iceland. Numerous successful start-ups have emerged since the financial crisis in 2008 and continue to emerge as Icelanders learn to appreciate their importance in the economy. Brunnur vaxtarsjóður slhf. is a VC fund that utilizes the abundance of opportunities in innovation in Iceland.

Brunnur Ventures GP ehf. is the General Partner of Brunnur VC Fund slhf (Brunnur vaxtarsjóður slhf). The Fund’s limited partners (LPs) are Icelandic pension funds, Landsbankinn, Brunnur Ventures GP in addition to a few other financially strong private investors. The Fund invests in Icelandic start-ups and growth companies that sell or intend to sell products or services to foreign markets. Brunnur Ventures GP analyses and manages investments for the Fund in collaboration with Landsbréf. The Board of Directors is comprised of Gudbjörg Edda Eggertsdóttir (Chairman), Hjörleifur Pálsson and Kjartan Örn Ólafsson.

Árni Blöndal, General Partner, Co-Founder

Arni has two decades of experience in the private sector; as a start-up co-founder, managing director and as an investment banker. During 2001-2005 he was the CEO of the VC fund "Uppspretta Venture Capital", after having led the online advertising start-up, bepaid.com, in the UK. Through 2006-2014, Arni was a corporate finance professional for 9 years at Landsbanki, Askar Capital and, independently, at Moneta Corporate Finance. Arni's deal experience comprises of over 50 deals within private equity and venture capital, domestically and internationally. He has served as board director in numerous start-ups. He is a mechanical engineer from the University of Iceland and holds a M.Sc. degree from Denmark's Technical University.

Arni on Linkedin:
is.linkedin.com/in/arnib/en

Sigurdur Arnljotsson, General Partner, Co-Founder

Sigurdur has two decades of experience in the private sector in various roles; as a co-founder and CEO of one of the world's most successful gaming companies (CCP), as CFO in two growth companies, Industria hf. and Hringras hf, and as an investor and board director in numerous start-ups. Sigurdur led CCP through its early stages between 1999-2002, where he, as the CEO, secured the necessary funding and executed the company's plan of launching "EVE-online" a few years later, including securing the initial publishing deal with Simon & Schuster. Since his days with CCP, he has been active within the venture capital industry, with investments such as Vivio, Dohop, Notando and Solid Clouds. Sigurdur holds a Cand. Oecon degree in business from The University of Iceland and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh.

Sigurdur on Linkedin:
is.linkedin.com/in/arnljotsson/en

Investments

Brunnur VC fund's portfolio:

Brunnur vaxtarsjóður is a 4bn ISK venture capital fund, of which Brunnur Ventures GP is the general partner. The fund is co-managed by Landsbréf, an Icelandic fund management company. The Fund’s vintage is 2015, with a 3-5 years investment period. It invests in Icelandic start-up companies, emphasizing on innovation and growth with scalable business models and extraordinary entrepreneurial talent. The Fund emphasizes on companies within software, internet, high-tech, biotech, energy technology, marine technology and food manufacturing that has a competitive edge with patentable technology or proprietary know-how. The Fund aims to invest in 10-15 companies, between 100-500m ISK in each case.

The Fund

Board of Directors

Guðbjörg Edda Eggertsdóttir (Chairman)

Hjörleifur Pálsson

Kjartan Örn Ólafsson

Rögnvaldur J. Sæmundsson (alternate)

Guðrún Tinna Ólafsdóttir (alternate)

From left: Sigurður Arnljótsson, Árni Blöndal, Hjörleifur Pálsson, Guðbjörg Edda Eggertsdóttir, Kjartan Örn Ólafsson and Helgi Júlíusson (Managing Director)

Advisory Board

Stefán Jökull Sveinsson

Former Executive VP of R&D at Actavis and Member the Executive Board, Adviser at Landas, Reykjavik.

Stefán Jökull on Linkedin

David Helgason

Partner at Nordic Makers, Founder of Unity Technologies, San Francisco

David on Linkedin

Guðjón Már Guðjónsson

Founder & CEO, Oz, Reykjavík

Guðjón Már on Linkedin

Eyþór Jónsson

Director at Accelerate Business Research Center, Copenhagen

Eyþór on Linkedin

Svanhvít Friðriksdóttir

Director of Communications, WOW air, Reykjavik

Svanhvít on Linkedin

Prof. Þórarinn Guðjónsson

Histology and Stem Cell Research, University of Iceland, Chairman of Icelandic Academia of Science, Reykjavík

Þórarinn on Linkedin

Prof. Sigurjón Arason

Food Processing and Engineering at Faculty of Food Sc. and Nutrition, Chief Eng., Matís, Reykjavik

Sigurjón on Linkedin

We want to hear from you!

Brunnur Venture’s process is to review non-confidential information about the company, team, technology / data, financials and exit plan. Further evaluation of business proposals is then based on confidential presentations. Please request a meeting with us and submit a one pager summary here.