| Morten Lund | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 April 1972 Roskilde, Denmark |
| Education | Odense University |
| Occupation | Venture capitalist |
| Children | four |
Morten Lund, (born April 3, 1972) is an entrepreneur from Copenhagen, Denmark. Along with Soren Kenner, Lund is founder and managing partner of LundKenner, a venture capital firm focusing on technology ventures.[1] From 2007 he has also fronted the startup catalyst LundXY.
Described variously as an 'archangel investor' , startup 'ideologist' and 'visionary', Lund has founded or co-invested in more than 40 high-tech start ups in the last decade, most famously Skype, the VoIP bought by eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005.[2] In May 2008 Lund made headlines again with the sale of Danish social networking and mobile backup site ZYB to operator Vodafone Europe BV for a sum believed to be in the region of $49m.[3] He had co-founded the business with entrepreneur Tommy Ahlers three years previously.[4]
At 37 years of age he is one of the most active seed investors in Europe. His portfolio features over 80 companies spanning the Internet, telecoms, health and alternative energy.[5]
On January 13, 2009, Morten Lund was declared personally bankrupt by the Copenhagen Maritime and Commercial Court.[6] However, on April 7 2010, he announced via his Twitter profile that he was out of bankruptcy.[7]
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Lund has established a category of investments in his portfolio entitled 'WILD' - Worldwide Investments and Involvement in Life Development - through which he is investing in water purification, marine energy systems, landmine detection and solutions to hunger and obesity. Lund is a special member of Clinton’s Global Initiative and frequent speaker at international conferences. His blog has more than 40,000 monthly visitors.[8]
His investment model focuses on early stage businesses, providing resources to make a "head start" . He has stated that startups “need help from smart people – not takeovers from smart asses.” [9]
Lund has started three funds, encompassing Chinese property, Indian technology ventures and a private equity vehicle for Middle Eastern green technology.[10]
Within his 'WILD' investment portfolio, he is currently involved with AquaDania, a company that has developed an efficient new water purification system under the brand name of WaterStillar[11] ; IJoule, a startup working to fight obesity and Aresa A/S, a company that uses genetically modified plants to detect landmines.
In October 2006 he co-founded (with a minority stake) Denmark’s soon-to-be largest daily newspaper, Nyhedsavisen, a free newspaper, with the goal of "merging the offline distribution with an online presence" . Later, in January 2008, Icelandic investment firm Baugur Group announced that it had sold Lund a 51% share of Dagsbrun Media, their holding company for the newspaper.[12] It is rumoured that Lund and his business partner, Morten Wagner of Freeway - owner of social networking sites dating.dk and arto.dk - "picked up the stake" for one Danish crown.
Critics have pointed out that Nyhedsavisen suffered funding issues from the outset; at launch, analysts were concerned that Baugur's £4.5m investment was too small to keep it afloat.[13] It was revealed to have posted total losses of DKK 426m ($89.7m) on its accounts for 2007, before Lund's takeover.[14] However, under his stewardship it became the most widely read newspaper in Denmark, with a daily circulation of 551,000. On July 30, 2008, American venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) invested a significant but undisclosed sum in the newspaper, enabling Lund to increase his stake in Nyhedsavisen from 51 to 85 per cent,[15] but it was eventually closed down in late August 2008 due to financial problems.
Lund also established the international communications agency HelloGroup in 2006 and the company now employs 65 people in downtown Copenhagen, making it the fastest growing advertising and media agency in Scandinavia.
Post Nyhedsavisen: One of Lund's recent investments, LiveStub was considered the next wave of his disruptive investment strategy.[16] LiveStub was a no fee secondary ticket marketplace.
After Lund's bankruptcy, and due to other problems including the economy, Livestub ceased operations for the foreseeable future.[17]
In 2009, Morten Lund co-founded travel technology start-up Everbread becoming CEO of the company. As of 2010 he is also Chief Visionary Officer in Tradeshift e-invoicing company.[18]
VoIP giant Skype; web agency NeoIdeo, sold to US advertising firm Leo Burnett, ZYB, sold to Vodafone Europe BV
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