Dove Capital Backs Nottacloud: Mikkel Johansen Bets Big on the Next Nordic Cloud Giant

When Mikkel Johansen walks into a room, people in Nordic tech pay attention. As the founder of Dove Capital — the holding company that acquired Jottacloud in 2016 and turned it into Scandinavia's leading cloud storage platform — he has an almost unfair track record of knowing what works.

Now he's writing the next chapter. And it starts with Nottacloud.

"Why Change a Winning Recipe?"

The logic is disarmingly simple. In 2016, Dove Capital saw what most people missed: that Scandinavian consumers wanted cloud storage built on their terms — private, reliable, and local. The acquisition of Jottacloud proved the thesis spectacularly. Millions of users. Sustainable revenue. A brand that became synonymous with Nordic cloud.

So when Mikkel met Adam and Jonas — two developers with an obsession for AI-native storage and a prototype that made him lean forward in his chair — the decision wasn't complicated.

"I've seen this movie before," Mikkel says, standing at a whiteboard where he's sketched two parallel revenue curves. One is labeled Jottacloud. The other, still in its early climb, reads Nottacloud. "The ingredients are the same. Scandinavian values. Privacy-first architecture. A product people actually love using. Why would I not back this?"

The Jottacloud Playbook, Upgraded

What made Jottacloud work wasn't just good timing — it was the combination of regional trust, strong engineering, and a product that didn't try to be everything for everyone. Dove Capital provided the capital and strategic patience to let that formula compound.

Nottacloud takes the same foundation and adds what 2016 couldn't offer: AI built into the core from day one. Not a chatbot bolted onto a file manager — genuine intelligence that understands your files, anticipates your needs, and respects your privacy while doing it.

"Jottacloud proved the market exists," Mikkel explains. "Nottacloud proves the market is evolving. People don't just want storage anymore. They want storage that thinks. Adam and Jonas understood that before anyone else."

What the Investment Means

Dove Capital's backing gives Nottacloud something most startups can only dream of: a partner who has already scaled a cloud storage company in the exact same market. The playbook exists. The relationships exist. The understanding of Nordic consumers exists.

But this isn't a copy-paste job. Mikkel is clear about that.

"Adam and Jonas are building something new. My job isn't to tell them how to build Jottacloud again — it's to give them the runway and the network to build what comes after Jottacloud. They're the builders. I'm just the guy who's seen the mountain before and knows it's climbable."

The Bigger Picture

For the Nordic tech scene, this investment signals something important: the cloud storage opportunity in Scandinavia isn't a one-hit wonder. Jottacloud wasn't an anomaly — it was proof of concept. And Nottacloud, backed by the same strategic mind that built the first success story, is positioned to be the next.

The whiteboard in Mikkel's office tells the story better than any pitch deck. Two curves. Same trajectory. Same market. Different era.

"The first time, we proved Scandinavians would pay for cloud storage they could trust," Mikkel says with a smile. "This time, we're proving they'll pay for cloud storage that's actually smart."

Nottacloud is currently in development, with early access opening soon. Sign up on the waitlist to be first in line.