Nordic founders.
Backed by active GPs.
Hi, we are Andreas and Rune.
Builders and business angels turned VCs.
We have a track record of building great companies and products, and get them ready for scale, fast. This experience combined with an active approach is our winning formula for the startups we back.
The Ducklings
Meet the ventures we're backing.
Kollektiv
Web 3.0 Creator-first ecosystem inspiring the world to move
About UDV
At Ugly Duckling Ventures, we make capital, know-how, and real-world application available to Nordic ventures at the seed & pre-seed stage.
Founder friendly.
We are into building relationships, value transparency, and we pride ourselves on always shooting straight.
Active.
We are operational by nature and want to get in the grind as we excel at getting early-stage ventures ready for scale.
GPs only.
Our portfolio founders are never handed off to junior account managers but are directly linked to our experienced partners.
Network.
We have been active in the Danish startup community for more than a decade. Many of our investors are actively helping our portfolio startups.
Testimonials
Kanda
Virtual Reality training platform for industrial company learning
Investment strategy
We invest in Nordic ventures at the pre-seed and seed stages. We see opportunities across sectors, but look for growing categories, and disruptive business models.
Strong founders.
We look for outstanding founder teams with complementary skill sets. Being a strong founder doesn't mean you excel at everything, but it does mean that you know your strengths and weaknesses. Where do you shine and where do you need help?
Smaller initial tickets - big follow ups.
Our structural setup allows us the flexibility to dip our toes via sensible initial investments in founders that are still finding their footing and then do significant follow-up investments when the time is right.
We care about tomorrow.
We love ventures that contribute positively to the planet on both a social and environmental level. We firmly believe diversity is a strength and are proud of the substantial diversity we see among our portfolio founders and the teams they build.
Andreas Green Rasmussen
Co-founder & GP
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Business operations, international expansion, M&A, management
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Founder at Challenge Copenhagen, acquired by Ironman in 2013.
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Founder & CEO at Nodes, a digital consultancy acquired by Japanese Monstarlab Inc in 2017.
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EMEA CEO at a digital consultancy, Monstarlab Inc.
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15 direct investments as an angel investor
"UDV is more than an investor, it’s a partnership. I’m lucky to work closely with these like-minded, empathetic guys who have such immense amount of experience and strong skillsets.
They’ve helped raise capital and set up a professional backend, letting us take our business to the next level. Also proven to offer the perfect balance of supporting- and challenging us which has been super valuable.
Getting investment UDV to invest in Læsk has been one of my best decisions to date.”
Line Hoff, Co-founder & CEO
Læsk Kombucha
"UDV is a non-conventional VC - they add value through experience, candidness and passion! The capital security that the fund provides is great, but the real value that UDV bring is Andreas and Rune as an extension of the founding team. They are not “VC drill sergeants” who may neglect your vision, your USPs, and obsess over every detail of your KPIs and balance sheet. Sure, those things rightfully do matter to them, but they care most about the core of the business, the product, the positioning, and ensuring the foundation and team is rock-solid for growth. They are hands-on working with the core of the business but not in an intrusive way, they give the founders the necessary respect and space to flourish.
I believe this is what makes UDV unique, they possess a wealth of corporate experience, from leadership, scale, to product, but they carry a founder persona far more than they carry an investor persona - for a start-up founder this removes a lot of unnecessary pressure from the get-go."
Ben Powell-Frederiksen,
Co-Founder & CEO
Kollektiv
Læsk
Denmark's leading Kombucha brand
Rune Hven-Jensen
Co-founder & GP
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SaaS and E-commerce product development, - vison and business strategy
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Founded Nodes office in London, UK in 2012. Nodes was acquired in 2017 by Monstarlab Inc.
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Senior & Director Product positions at SaaS company Planday across three funding rounds and an exit to New Zealand–domiciled Xero in 2021
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Board Member, advisor and angel investor at various startups