LundXY
Encyclopedia
LundXY - Global Ventures is an angel investment and startup catalyst headquartered in Copenhagen
, Denmark, founded by serial entrepreneur Morten Lund in 2007.
Lund is best known as the seed investor behind Skype
, sold to online auction company eBay for $2.6bn in December 2005 , and latterly ZYB, the Danish social networking site sold to Vodafone Europe BV for $49m in June 2008.
of companies encompassing web
and mobile telecommunications, content and media, financial services
and clean technology
.
LundXY was a backer of the 2008 World Economic Forum
Technology Pioneer of the Year Nikolaj Nyholm
and his startup Polar Rose
, as well as Nyholm's previous start-up Imity (acquired by social networking site ZYB for an undisclosed sum in April of that year). Aresa A/S, WEF Technology Pioneer of the Year 2007, has also secured financial backing from LundXY.
LundXY is part of the Digital Life
Design Community (DLD) and Lund, the architect and ideologist behind the company, was ranked as one of the most influential people in the tech industry . The viewing figures for Lund's blog put it ahead of local newspapers in Denmark, with more than 40,000 monthly readers.
LundXY owned the now defunct free daily newspaper, Nyhedsavisen
, in its time the most widely-read newspaper in Denmark. Its stated goal was to transform the nature of printed press
by merging the offline distribution
with an attractive online presence.
In January 2008, LundXY acquired a 51 per cent majority
stake in Dagsbrun Media, which owns Nyhedsavisen, from Baugur Group
, the Icelandic investment firm. As part of the deal, Lund XY injected its own working capital
into the newspaper. Lund's acquisition came 15 months after the paper's October 2006 launch, and three months after it officially took the position of most read daily newspaper in Denmark, outpacing established paid-for titles and rival free sheets with a circulation of 550,000. Despite this, finances continued to be an issue and the paper eventually closed in August 2008.
Lund is a member of Bill Clinton
's Clinton Global Initiative, through which LundXY is committing its financial power to development cases around the globe.
firm on events worldwide.
Some recent events where he was speaking:
and Aresa A/S, a company that uses genetically modified plants to detect landmines.
As special member of the Clinton Global Initiative Lund aims to use LundXY's global influence and economic clout to realise the founder's vision. On his blog, Lund says he has "an untamed lust to do stuff that makes a difference for the people in this world - especially if I can help to save a child’s life. I want to do it for profit - since thats the only way to attract world class talent."
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark, founded by serial entrepreneur Morten Lund in 2007.
Lund is best known as the seed investor behind Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
, sold to online auction company eBay for $2.6bn in December 2005 , and latterly ZYB, the Danish social networking site sold to Vodafone Europe BV for $49m in June 2008.
Activity
The firm manages a portfolioPortfolio (finance)
Portfolio is a financial term denoting a collection of investments held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial institution or individual.-Definition:The term portfolio refers to any collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash...
of companies encompassing web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
and mobile telecommunications, content and media, financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
and clean technology
Clean technology
Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...
.
LundXY was a backer of the 2008 World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
Technology Pioneer of the Year Nikolaj Nyholm
Nikolaj Nyholm
Nikolaj Nyholm, is a serial technology entrepreneur and investor from Copenhagen, Denmark. He has founded four technology startups that have pioneered different domains, is co-organizer of the lauded conference reboot.dk, and is now a partner at the early-stage venture capital investor, Sunstone...
and his startup Polar Rose
Polar Rose (facial recognition)
Polar Rose is a company from Malmö, Sweden which makes facial recognition software.Polar Rose had a service that allows users to name people in their photos on photo sharing sites like Flickr and 23hq.com using their Facebook contacts...
, as well as Nyholm's previous start-up Imity (acquired by social networking site ZYB for an undisclosed sum in April of that year). Aresa A/S, WEF Technology Pioneer of the Year 2007, has also secured financial backing from LundXY.
LundXY is part of the Digital Life
Digital Life
Digital Life is a research and educational program about radically rethinking of the human-computer interactive experience. It integrates digital world and physical world...
Design Community (DLD) and Lund, the architect and ideologist behind the company, was ranked as one of the most influential people in the tech industry . The viewing figures for Lund's blog put it ahead of local newspapers in Denmark, with more than 40,000 monthly readers.
LundXY owned the now defunct free daily newspaper, Nyhedsavisen
Nyhedsavisen
Nyhedsavisen was a Danish free daily newspaper based on a new concept of distributing a free newspaper to 500,000 Danish homes that became the most read in the country within 18 month of launch...
, in its time the most widely-read newspaper in Denmark. Its stated goal was to transform the nature of printed press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
by merging the offline distribution
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
with an attractive online presence.
In January 2008, LundXY acquired a 51 per cent majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
stake in Dagsbrun Media, which owns Nyhedsavisen, from Baugur Group
Baugur Group
Baugur Group was an Icelandic investment company. The group applied for bankruptcy protection in February 2009, after placing its UK arm in administration.- History :...
, the Icelandic investment firm. As part of the deal, Lund XY injected its own working capital
Working capital
Working capital is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organization or other entity, including governmental entity. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital. Net working capital is...
into the newspaper. Lund's acquisition came 15 months after the paper's October 2006 launch, and three months after it officially took the position of most read daily newspaper in Denmark, outpacing established paid-for titles and rival free sheets with a circulation of 550,000. Despite this, finances continued to be an issue and the paper eventually closed in August 2008.
Lund is a member of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's Clinton Global Initiative, through which LundXY is committing its financial power to development cases around the globe.
Events
Lund represents the Venture CapitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firm on events worldwide.
Some recent events where he was speaking:
- CGI Clinton Global Initiative, September 26-28th, 2007, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- Digital Life Design Conference, 2008, MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - LeWeb, 2007, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 3GSM, 2007, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... - ETRE 2007, BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
- Red HerringRed Herring (magazine)Red Herring was a technology business magazine, which flourished during the dot com boom, with global distribution and bureaus in Bangalore, Beijing, and Paris. It also sponsored conferences designed to bring venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and technologists together. But the magazine went into...
, CannesCannesCannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - SIMESimeSime is a surname which traces back to the Clan Fraser, and the name Shimidh, Gaelic for Simon. It may refer to one of these:* Dave Sime, an American athlete.* Sidney Sime, a British artist.* Sime Darby, a Malaysian company....
07, StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden - Tech Tour, Montreux, Switzerland
'WILD'
LundXY's investment vehicle 'WILD,' or Worldwide Investment and Involvement in Life Development, includes firms like AquaDania with its WaterStillar system for efficient water purificationWater purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials, and biological contaminants from contaminated water. The goal is to produce water fit for a specific purpose...
and Aresa A/S, a company that uses genetically modified plants to detect landmines.
As special member of the Clinton Global Initiative Lund aims to use LundXY's global influence and economic clout to realise the founder's vision. On his blog, Lund says he has "an untamed lust to do stuff that makes a difference for the people in this world - especially if I can help to save a child’s life. I want to do it for profit - since thats the only way to attract world class talent."
Portfolio
Other companies in the LundXY portfolio:- HelloGroup, the fastest growing advertising agency in Scandinavia
- Zecco.comZecco.comZecco.com is an online investing company with operations in San Francisco, California and Pasadena, California. Investors on Zecco.com have access to Zecco Trading, its stock, option, mutual fund and bond trading platform. Investors also have access to Zecco Forex, which provides spot foreign...
, free online stock trading. - MaxthonMaxthonMaxthon is a free web browser for Microsoft Windows. The latest release, Maxthon 3, supports both the Trident and the WebKit rendering engines....
, the most popular web browser in China, with 100m downloads to date - Polar Rose, award-winning facial recognition software
- Bullguard, award-winning anti-virus software
- Wamba, the social movement
External links
- Nyhedsavisen Official Website
- Skype Official Website
- Clinton Global Initiative Official Website
- World Economic Forum Tech Pioneers