Optise selected as TOP 5 most promising startup at Techarena

TLDR

Optise was selected for Techarena 2026 TOP100, advanced to the TOP46 and then made it all the way to the Top 5 finalists in the startup competition. We presented our Self Driving B2B Website Platform on the main stage in front of thousands of people and quite literally warmed up the stage for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. We also became the first Icelandic startup to ever make it to the final Top 5.

Techarena 2026 was not about hype. It was about execution, traction and building companies that can scale. That is exactly how we think about the future of the B2B website.

From TOP100 to Top 5 on the main stage

Techarena is the biggest tech conference in Scandinavia, and this year had a noticeably different energy. It felt sharper and more grounded. The conversations were not about pitching abstract AI visions. They were about building companies that can actually scale. Investors were not looking for flashy decks. They were asking hard questions about go to market, defensibility and real traction.

When we were selected for the TOP100, it already felt significant. Out of hundreds and hundreds of applications, only a fraction make it through. Advancing to the TOP46 meant pitching live in Stockholm among some of the strongest startups in the Nordics. You could feel the difference between early stage ideas and companies with clear conviction and execution.

Then we advanced to the final stage.

Making it into the Top 5 finalists placed Optise among the five most promising startups in the entire competition. It also marked something bigger for our ecosystem. We became the first Icelandic startup ever to reach the final Top 5 at Techarena. For a small country with a fast growing innovation scene, that mattered.

Standing on the main stage in front of thousands of founders and investors is a moment that compresses months of work into a few intense minutes. Every sentence counts. Every slide matters. The crowd is engaged, the judges are experienced and the expectations are high. When the Icelandic crew in the audience started cheering as we walked on stage, it gave us an extra push. It felt like the entire Icelandic startup community was there with us.

And yes, we warmed up the stage for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. We pitched, the energy was high, and then Zlatan took over. It was surreal, and one of those moments that makes the startup journey unforgettable.

Announcing the Self Driving B2B Website Platform

On stage, we presented the Self Driving B2B Website Platform. The idea is simple but powerful. B2B websites do not win because they look the best. They win because they continuously improve.

The strongest companies at Techarena had traction signals, defensible moats and a clear path to market leadership. That is exactly how we think about websites. A B2B website should not be a static marketing asset. It should be a system that learns, improves and compounds over time.

Most B2B teams rely on their website as their number one salesperson. Yet it is often not strong enough, not deep enough and not optimised for discovery across Google and AI engines like ChatGPT. Improvements are slow. Technical issues pile up. Messaging becomes outdated. Conversions stagnate.

We believe websites should evolve through thousands of small, data driven iterations. That is what a self driving platform enables.

What we learned from reviewing 500 plus B2B websites

After reviewing more than 500 B2B websites for the B2B Website Awards, we saw consistent patterns in the companies that perform best.

They have clear messaging and positioning.
They are highly discoverable across search engines and AI engines.
They optimise for conversions and leads, not just traffic.
They are transparent, especially around pricing.
They build trust through content depth and product clarity.
They prioritise technical strength and mobile experience.
They measure everything and improve continuously.

The companies that stood out at Techarena demonstrated the same mindset. Clarity. Execution. Real answers to hard questions.

A platform built to automate and simplify B2B website optimisation

One of the biggest reactions we got in Stockholm was not just about the vision, but about how practical the product actually is. Many founders and investors came up after the pitch and said the same thing. The B2B website is critical, but managing it is messy. Analytics live in one tool. Content creation in another. The CMS feels clunky. Improvements depend on developers. Nothing talks to each other.

That fragmentation is exactly what we set out to fix.

Optise brings automated improvements, a super user friendly CMS, a content creator and powerful website analytics into one unified platform. Instead of logging into five different systems, teams operate from one place. The analytics do not just show dashboards. They identify friction and suggest specific actions. In many cases, they can implement those improvements automatically.

The CMS is designed for speed and clarity. No unnecessary complexity. No bloated backend. Just a clean, intuitive interface that makes it easy to update messaging, launch pages and iterate continuously. The content creator sits directly inside the workflow, helping teams produce SEO and AI engine optimised blogs, product pages and solution pages in minutes, grounded in real website data and industry best practices.

Everything connects. Analytics inform improvements. Improvements update the site. The content creator fills gaps. The CMS makes it easy to ship. The workboard keeps the whole team aligned.

That is what makes it a Self Driving B2B Website Platform. Not just a website builder. Not just analytics. Not just AI content. A system designed to continuously improve your B2B website as a revenue channel.

How Optise helps B2B teams execute

Optise combines website data with additional signals and proven best practices to guide teams toward meaningful improvements. It does not just surface dashboards. It suggests concrete actions and can even implement updates automatically.

Teams get behaviour driven analytics. They get a content creator to produce SEO and AI engine optimised pages. They get an easy to use CMS and a collaborative workboard. Everything is built around helping B2B teams ship improvements in minutes rather than weeks.

The goal is to make running a high performing B2B website simple and repeatable.

Why investors are looking to Iceland

Another highlight of the week was joining the panel “Why investors are looking to Iceland” hosted by Business Iceland. The panel was moderated by Saemundur K Finnbogason and included Ragnheidur H. Magnusdottir and Ari Jonsson.

The conversation focused on why Iceland is producing ambitious, globally minded startups with strong technical foundations. The ecosystem is small but focused. Founders think internationally from day one. Execution is valued over hype.

Showing up in Stockholm together with such a strong Icelandic group and hearing the cheering when we hit the stage was powerful. Huge thanks to Bryndis Alexanders, Ágúst Sigurðarson and the entire Icelandic crew for making the week unforgettable.

What this week really confirmed

Techarena 2026 felt like a proving ground. The startups that advanced did not just have compelling stories. They had compelling answers. That is what separated the Top 5 from the rest.

For us, making it to the final stage confirmed that the problem we are solving is real. The B2B website is still massively underworked as a revenue channel. The teams that treat it like a scalable system, not a design project, will win.

Conclusion

From TOP100 to TOP46 to Top 5 finalist. From pitching our Self Driving B2B Website Platform on the main stage to warming up the stage for Zlatan. From representing Iceland to speaking on why investors are looking north.

Techarena 2026 was a milestone week for Optise, but it also reinforced a bigger belief. The future of B2B growth runs through the website.

If you want to see how your website can become a high performing revenue engine, get your free website insight inside Optise and start optimising like the best B2B teams in the world.

FAQ

1. What is Techarena
Techarena is the largest tech conference in Scandinavia, bringing together startups and investors.

2. What does being a Top 5 finalist mean
Optise was selected as one of the five most promising startups in the competition.

3. Was Optise the first Icelandic startup in the Top 5
Yes, Optise became the first Icelandic startup to reach the final Top 5 at Techarena.

4. What did Optise present
The Self Driving B2B Website Platform focused on continuous website optimisation.

5. What stood out at Techarena 2026
Execution, traction and realistic paths to scale rather than hype.

6. Why is the B2B website so important
It is often the primary revenue channel and discovery engine for modern buyers.

7. How does Optise help B2B teams
By combining analytics, automatic improvements, content creation and collaboration tools.

8. What was the Iceland panel about
Why investors are increasingly looking to Iceland for high potential startups.

9. Did Optise really warm up the stage for Zlatan
Yes, we pitched right before Zlatan Ibrahimovic took the stage.

10. How can I learn more about Optise
Get your free website insight inside Optise and see how your B2B website can perform better.