BackingMinds
Status
ACTIVE
Global HQ
Stockholm, Sweden
Countries of investment
- Sweden
- Norway
- Denmark
- Finland
- Iceland
Investment stages
- Pre-Seed
- Seed
Industries
- Climate Tech
- Clean Energy
- Energy Storage
- AI
- Cybersecurity
- Future of Work
- EdTech
- Health Tech
- Fintech
- Social Impact
About
BackingMinds is a Stockholm-based seed venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Susanne Najafi and Sara Wimmercranz, often described as Europe's first female-founded VC fund. In October 2026 it announced a first close of over $56M for its third fund, BackingMinds Invest III, anchored by a $22M commitment from the European Investment Fund under InvestEU's Social Impact Equity component, already larger than its previous roughly $56M fund. Other LPs include Karl-Johan Persson of H&M, EQT founder Conni Jonsson, Mojang co-founder Carl Manneh and King co-founder Sebastian Knutsson. The fund will back around 15 to 20 companies, with at least 90% of capital going to the Nordics, and a final close is planned for Q1 2027. Earlier funds have backed 23 companies including Tavion, CemVision, Transfer Galaxy and Uniqkey.
BackingMinds is a Stockholm-based seed venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Susanne Najafi and Sara Wimmercranz, often described as Europe's first female-founded VC fund. In October 2026 it announced a first close of over $56M for its third fund, BackingMinds Invest III, anchored by a $22M commitment from the European Investment Fund under InvestEU's Social Impact Equity component, already larger than its previous roughly $56M fund. Other LPs include Karl-Johan Persson of H&M, EQT founder Conni Jonsson, Mojang co-founder Carl Manneh and King co-founder Sebastian Knutsson. The fund will back around 15 to 20 companies, with at least 90% of capital going to the Nordics, and a final close is planned for Q1 2027. Earlier funds have backed 23 companies including Tavion, CemVision, Transfer Galaxy and Uniqkey.
Investment Thesis
BackingMinds invests in early-stage Nordic and European companies across three areas: Climate & Resilience, AI & Digital Sovereignty, and Human Potential. It backs founders who break the pattern and are often overlooked by mainstream venture capital, including women, founders with immigrant backgrounds and teams based outside capital cities, writing initial tickets of $1.1M to $3.4M with reserves for follow-ons. Its edge is an operator-built team, a track record of sourcing outside Stockholm, and an LP base of prominent Nordic tech founders.
Manager's Experience
Susanne Najafi has founded more than 10 companies and exited several, including the Nordic beauty e-tailer Eleven, while Sara Wimmercranz co-founded Footway, an e-commerce company listed on First North Stockholm. Together they have run BackingMinds since 2016, backing 23 companies across two funds, with Fund I showing a reported paper return of 500% by 2021 and energy storage company Tavion reportedly valued at 6 times BackingMinds' entry level.
Team
Sara Wimmercranz - Founding Partner
Susanne Najafi - Founding Partner
Lisen Oliw - Investment Partner
Alexander Hjertström - Principal
Niclas Wijkström - CFO & Investment Director
Zacharias Veiksaar - Investment Analyst
Olivia Ingemarsson - Operations Manager
Portfolio
Tavion
CemVision
NitroVolt
Helios Innovations
SNERPA Power
Transfer Galaxy
Uniqkey
Cetasol
Lingio
Serviceform