Still building from across the table.
For more than a decade, we have helped turn bold ideas into market leaders. We came together to create something greater than the sum of our parts with Upright, and back ambitious founders sitting where we once did.
Builders at heart, backers by choice.
We didn’t set out to build an investment firm. We started as founders, creating products, building teams and learning what it really takes to grow something from nothing. Over time, we realised that most investors spoke a different language. Spreadsheets instead of stories and growth charts instead of craft. So we founded Upright to be the kind of partner we would have wanted when we were on the other side of the table. We bring experience from building real businesses and the conviction to back people who do the same. No jargon, no shortcuts, just patient growth, built on trust, persistence and a shared belief that value compounds over time.
Upright was started by a group of partners who came together in 2010, united by a shared belief that there was a better way to build technology companies. What started as a small team of founders has since grown into a collective of experienced partners who share the same ambition to build lasting companies with purpose and patience. Together, we draw on decades of experience in founding, leading and scaling businesses to help others do the same.
The principles that have shaped us
Lead by example.
We love a high bar, so we keep setting them. Our heritage of craft and learning by doing gives us the real world strategic insight to transform industries. For us talk is cheap, actually doing wins every day of the week. Whether the work involved goes unseen or is shouted from the rooftops, we are devoted to our craft and give everything we have got. We will not be happy until we have built a product that stands head and shoulders above the rest in any industry we enter.
Embrace the unknown.
Upending stodgy old industries means we have to be comfortable in a world of surprises. When the unfamiliar, the complex or the downright tricky rolls around, we do not get tripped up, we lean in. Progress rarely comes from certainty, but from the willingness to explore what others hesitate to touch. To us, unknowns are invitations to think deeper and build something better than before. We welcome the chance to grow and engage openly with our partners and team when the path forward is unclear.
Growth through unity.
Time has taught us that together we can solve what would be impossible alone. We have always believed that surrounding yourself with talented people who learn from one another and stand together through success and failure creates momentum that compounds over time. Strong outcomes are built through trust, shared ambition and community. When people work toward a common goal and take responsibility for one another, progress follows naturally for ourselves and our partners.
Enjoy the ride.
There is no such thing as an overnight success. The road to the top is rarely straight and will always include bumps, roadblocks and detours. Progress comes from staying curious and committed, even when the path is unclear. Experience does not remove uncertainty, it teaches you how to move through it. We believe that innovation takes courage to risk failure and the patience to learn from it. Every unexpected turn is par for the course, and part of why we care deeply about building things that last.
Act with integrity.
Integrity means doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking. We believe nothing matters more than our reputation, and that standard is fundamental to who we are and how we operate over the long term, especially when it is difficult. At every level we act in ways that reflect what we expect of each other and our partners. From the smallest piece of feedback to the biggest ask, we address it mindfully, with thoughtful questions, a listening ear and a clear intent to do right.
Born from a belief in Do Right.
Doing right has always been our compass, quietly guiding how we build, invest and collaborate. What began as a simple credo has grown into a shared belief across all our companies. To us, integrity is not a slogan. It is the quiet discipline behind every decision, partnership and product we help bring to life. Over the years we have often asked ourselves if something is ’Do Right’ or not. The answer is rarely the easiest one, but it always guides us toward long-term decisions that hold up over time. Doing right means putting people and purpose before quick returns, trusting craftsmanship over spreadsheets, and believing that good work attracts good outcomes. When integrity leads the way, results may take longer, but they tend to last longer too.
“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”— C.S. Lewis
Fifteen years of patient progress.
Back in 2010, we banded together with a few wild ideas, two borrowed desks and a firm belief that we could build something lasting. The app industry was still young, and so were we, learning by doing, undoing and redoing until things began to take shape. What started as long nights and stubborn optimism slowly turned into Shape, which grew from a small Copenhagen studio into one of Europe’s leading digital product companies.
A few years later, that same spirit led us to build Shape Games from the ground up, extending our vision beyond apps and into new industries. From the very beginning, we had sketched out a structure for a group of companies that could stand on their own yet share the same yolk. More than fifteen years later, that plan has quietly taken shape, built on patience, conviction and pride in the craft that defines what we have built today.