Client goal
You work at Fjord Capital, a Nordic- and UK-focused early-stage fund. Decide whether Fjord should invest in Nordly's EUR 3.5m seed round — and if so, at what cheque size and ownership — working only from the company's pitch deck.
Situation description
Nordly AB was founded in Stockholm in February 2025 by Elin Sundberg (ex-Klarna product lead) and Marcus Lindqvist (ex-Spotify data infrastructure). They spent ten months building an AI forecasting layer that plugs into a brand's e-commerce and ERP systems and turns sales history into daily reorder recommendations. Priya Nair (ex-Zalando ML, PhD ETH Zürich) leads modelling; Jonas Berg (ex-Trustpilot growth) leads go-to-market.
Nordly is raising a EUR 3.5m seed round. Nine days ago Meridian Seed Partners, a Bay Area early-stage fund, issued a term sheet to fill the entire round at a EUR 14m pre-money (EUR 17.5m post-money) valuation, open for eighteen days from issuance.
Fjord has been invited to co-invest on the same terms. Fund I has EUR 2.4m of investable capital left before the investment period closes on 31 December 2026, and the fund's standard target ownership for a seed cheque is 12–18%.
If Fjord does not commit before the term sheet expires, Meridian will increase its own cheque to fill the full EUR 3.5m and Fjord will have missed its only seed-stage entry point.
Using only the “Market Insights” and “Our Platform” slides, how would you size Nordly's addressable market, and is a platform-integrated SaaS layer sold to mid-market e-commerce brands a business model that can plausibly return a venture fund?
A top candidate would have said…Nordly reports 34 brands live, roughly $62m of inventory value under management, a 31% reduction in stockouts, and zero paid acquisition spend. Using the implied EUR 500k ARR (34 customers, ~EUR 14,700 ACV), a 78% gross margin and a four-year average customer lifetime, what do the “Our Traction” and “By the Numbers” slides really tell you about unit economics — and what is missing before you trust the growth rate?
A top candidate would have said…Meridian values Nordly at EUR 14m pre-money (EUR 17.5m post) for the full EUR 3.5m round; Fjord has EUR 2.4m left and a 12–18% target band, and the term sheet expires in nine days. From the “Our Team,” “Why Choose Us” and “What's Next” slides: can this team execute the plan, how durable is the advantage over NetSuite Planning and Blue Yonder, and should Fjord invest — at what cheque size?
A top candidate would have said…Say it out loud instead.
Practise this case type live with an AI interviewer that asks follow-ups and pushes back on your logic.