Sweden has a highly innovative startup ecosystem, with Stockholm being a major global tech hub. As of 2023, Sweden is home to around 8,000 startups. The Swedish government supports innovation through initiatives like Vinnova, which provides funding and resources for startups. In 2022, Swedish startups raised approximately €4 billion in venture capital. These factors collectively highlight Sweden's dynamic and evolving startup landscape.
Size of the Market
As of 2023, Sweden's startup ecosystem includes around 8,000 startups. In 2022, these startups attracted approximately €4 billion in venture capital funding. This substantial investment underscores the ecosystem's growth potential and robust nature. The market's size and financial backing reflect its capacity to foster innovation and sustain a competitive edge within Europe and beyond.
Key Strengths
Sweden's startup ecosystem is characterized by several key strengths, including a high level of digitalization, a strong education system, and a favorable business environment. The country excels in sectors such as fintech, healthtech, and cleantech. These strengths are bolstered by Sweden's robust industrial base and government support, positioning it as a leader in the European startup scene.
Major Hubs
Stockholm is the primary hub of Sweden’s startup ecosystem, known for its strengths in fintech, healthtech, and cleantech. The city attracts significant investments and has produced notable unicorns like Klarna and Spotify. Gothenburg and Malmö also have vibrant startup scenes, particularly in automotive tech and gaming, respectively. These cities are instrumental in driving Sweden's economic growth and technological advancements.
Emerging Hubs
In addition to Stockholm, emerging hubs like Uppsala and Lund are gaining prominence in Sweden’s startup ecosystem. Uppsala is known for its strengths in biotech and pharmaceuticals, while Lund is becoming a hub for advanced manufacturing and nanotechnology. These emerging hubs are expanding the reach and diversity of Sweden’s entrepreneurial landscape, offering new opportunities for innovation and growth.
Support Systems
Sweden’s startup ecosystem benefits from a strong network of incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces that provide essential support and resources for entrepreneurs. Initiatives like Stockholm Innovation & Growth (STING) and SUP46 have significantly boosted the ecosystem by offering mentorship, resources, and international exposure. This supportive infrastructure is crucial for nurturing early-stage companies and fostering a collaborative entrepreneurial environment.
Challenges
Despite its strengths, the Swedish startup ecosystem faces challenges such as high taxes and regulatory complexities. Navigating these hurdles can be time-consuming and complex for startups. Addressing these issues requires strategic efforts and supportive policies to sustain growth and competitiveness in the global market.
Opportunities and Future Outlook
Sweden has significant opportunities for growth in sectors like fintech, healthtech, and cleantech. The country's strong focus on sustainability and green technology drives innovation in renewable energy and environmental technologies. Sweden's strategic location in Europe provides startups with opportunities for international expansion. With continued investment and innovation, Sweden's startup ecosystem is poised for further growth, contributing significantly to the European and global markets.
Resilience and Adaptability
Sweden's startup ecosystem demonstrates remarkable resilience and adaptability. The country's commitment to innovation, coupled with strong government and institutional support, enables startups to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities. The diverse talent pool and high level of digitalization attract entrepreneurs and investors alike, ensuring sustained growth and success in the face of global economic shifts and market dynamics.
How to connect with Angel Investors in Sweden?
Top Angel Investors
Sweden's startup ecosystem benefits from the support of influential angel investors who provide crucial early-stage funding and mentorship. Prominent figures include Hjalmar Winbladh, co-founder of Wrapp and an active angel investor, and Jane Walerud, a serial entrepreneur and investor in tech startups. These investors typically contribute between €50,000 and €500,000 per deal, offering not only capital but also strategic guidance and industry expertise. Their involvement is essential for the growth and development of early-stage companies, helping them navigate initial challenges and scale effectively.
Leading Venture Capital Firms
Sweden's venture capital landscape is driven by leading firms that provide substantial investments into high-growth startups. Firms such as Northzone, Creandum, and EQT Ventures are at the forefront, funding sectors including technology, health, and fintech. Northzone, for instance, has a diverse portfolio that includes companies like Spotify, Klarna, and iZettle. These firms typically engage in Series A to Series C funding rounds, with investment sizes ranging from €1 million to €50 million, facilitating significant scaling opportunities for startups.
Investment Size and Scope
The size and scope of investments in Sweden's startup ecosystem vary, catering to different stages of business growth. Early-stage investments, often provided by angel investors, range from €50,000 to €2 million. For growth-stage companies, venture capital firms offer larger funding rounds, typically between €5 million and €50 million. The scope of these investments spans various sectors, including AI, biotechnology, fintech, and cleantech, reflecting the diverse and dynamic nature of Sweden's entrepreneurial landscape.
Number of Investments
Sweden's venture capital and angel investment activity are robust, with a significant number of deals annually. In 2022, over 300 venture capital deals were recorded, amounting to approximately €4 billion in investments. This high level of activity underscores the vibrancy of the Swedish startup ecosystem, with both angel investors and venture capital firms actively seeking out and funding promising startups across a broad spectrum of industries.
Future Outlook of the Investment Market
The future outlook for Sweden's investment market is highly optimistic. With a continued emphasis on innovation and technology, sectors such as AI, biotechnology, and clean technology are expected to drive substantial growth. Government support through initiatives like Vinnova further bolsters the ecosystem. As global interest in sustainable and innovative solutions increases, Sweden's startups are well-positioned to attract significant international investments, fostering an environment ripe for continued expansion and success.
Support and Mentorship
Support and mentorship are critical components of Sweden's startup ecosystem. Angel investors and venture capitalists often provide more than just financial backing; they offer strategic advice, industry connections, and operational support. Programs like Stockholm Innovation & Growth (STING) and SUP46 enhance this support, offering structured mentorship, resources, and access to capital. This comprehensive support system helps startups navigate early challenges and scale effectively.
Government and Institutional Support
The Swedish government and various institutions play a pivotal role in nurturing the startup ecosystem. Initiatives such as Vinnova and support from organizations like Almi Invest provide substantial financial support and incentives. Additionally, entities like the Swedish Energy Agency offer grants, loans, and advisory services. This extensive support infrastructure is vital for fostering innovation, reducing financial barriers, and promoting sustainable growth within the startup community.
Conclusion
Sweden's startup ecosystem is bolstered by top angel investors, leading venture capital firms, and extensive support systems. With a diverse range of investment sizes and scopes, the market is poised for significant growth. The future outlook remains positive, driven by innovation, government support, and a collaborative environment. As Sweden continues to attract global investments and foster entrepreneurial talent, it stands to become a key player in the global startup landscape, contributing to advancements across various high-growth sectors.
Case Studies: Successful Funding Rounds with Angel Investors on Angels Partners
Staffan Helgesson serves as General Partner at Creandum. Helgesson serves as the board member at Edgeware, KnCMiner, itslearning, Epidemic Sound, Vigour.io. Previously he served as Managing Partner at Startupfactory. He also has extensive international management experience from McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble and IKEA, in Europe, USA and Asia. Staffan was previously founder and Managing Partner of Startupfactory and started Creandum in 2003. He serves as Advisor Board Member at SUP46.
Shaun Abrahamson
Investing in PropTech • Hardware (& Manufact...
Los Angeles - California, U.S.A. - Germany - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icela
Previous Investments
• CrowdTwist:
$20000
• Hades:
$1900000 (Seed Round)
• Radiator Labs:
$2400000 (Seed Round)
• Radiator Labs:
$300000 (Pre Seed Round)
• Radiator Labs:
$220000 (Pre Seed Round)
• Arbor:
$2600000 (Seed Round)
• ChargeLab:
$15000000 (Series A)
• ChargeLab:
$4000000 (Seed)
• ChargeLab:
$1000000 (Pre Seed)
• Covetool:
$30000000 (Series B)
• Covetool:
$800000 (Seed)
• Electric Visionary Aircrafts:
(Convertible Note)
• Electric Visionary Aircrafts:
(Seed)
• HAAS Alert:
$5000000 (Seed)
• HAAS Alert:
$1000000 (Seed)
• Partsimony:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Oonee:
(Pre Seed)
• Pallon (fka Hades):
$2000000 (Seed)
• Aquagenuity:
(Pre Seed)
• FIRMUS:
(Pre Seed)
• FIRMUS:
(Convertible Note)
• Metalmark Innovations:
(Pre Seed)
• CoInspect:
$150000 (Seed)
• CoInspect:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Hubbster:
(Seed)
• Evolve Energy:
(Pre Seed)
• Kift:
(Convertible Note)
• Food for All:
$700000 (Seed)
• Flair:
$810000 (Seed)
• Flair:
$300000 (Convertible Note)
• Flair:
$230000 (Convertible Note)
• Flair:
$330000 (Seed)
• Flair:
$130000 (Convertible Note)
• GreenQ:
(Convertible Note)
• Thrilling:
(Angel)
• RoadBotics by Michelin:
$4000000 (Seed)
• RoadBotics by Michelin:
(Seed)
• Coord:
$5000000 (Series A)
• Blueprint Power:
$4000000 (Series A)
• Miles:
$4000000 (Seed)
• Rentlogic:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Rentlogic:
(Series Unknown)
• Campsyte:
$100000 (Seed)
• VERSATILE:
$1000000 (Seed)
• Bowery Farming:
$8000000 (Seed)
• Citymart:
$750000 (Seed)
• Citymart:
(Seed)
• Kelvin:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Kelvin:
$300000 (Pre Seed)
• Kelvin:
$220000 (Pre Seed)
• BlocPower:
$200000 (Pre Seed)
• BlocPower:
$600000 (Pre Seed)
• Rachio:
$7000000 (Series A)
• Rachio:
$500000 (Convertible Note)
• Rachio:
$700000 (Convertible Note)
• Future Motion:
(Series A)
• Architizer:
(Series A)
• Architizer:
(Convertible Note)
• Mark43:
$11000000 (Series A)
• LogCheck:
(Seed)
• Valet Anywhere (VA):
$1000000 (Seed)
• Valet Anywhere (VA):
(Convertible Note)
• Revivn:
(Seed)
• BRCK:
$1000000 (Seed)
• BikeSpike:
(Convertible Note)
• Skycatch:
$3000000 (Convertible Note)
• Dash:
$1000000 (Seed)
• KIWI:
(Convertible Note)
Shaun Abrahamson
Los Angeles - California, U.S.A. - Germany - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icela
Investing In
PropTech • Hardware (& Manufacturing) • Energy • CleanTech • A.I. (& Big Data) • Robotics • Real Estate (& Construction) • DeepTech • Mobility • Woman Focused
Description
Most Interested In
We're interested in teams re-imagining cities in 3 areas - GHG reduction, climate adaptation and solving problems associated with high density (like traffic or public safety).
Cities are complex, so founders continue inspire and amaze us by identifying new systemic issues and solutions. If you're re-imagining city life, we'd love to hear from you.
Not Interested In
We don't invest in edtech or healthtech. Certainly not a vote on whether we want to see these categories succeed, we just think they need additional focus/skills which we don't have. That said public health is a growing area of interesting.
Shaun Abrahamson is a Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Urban Us. Shaun is a Member of the Investment Committee, and he leads investment selection and communications with portfolio companies, members of the Network, and limited partners in Fund II. Before founding Fund I, Shaun was an active angel investor, investing in more than 20 firms between 2007 and 2013 in his personal capacity. Early-stage investing and advising is informed by his experiences building MediaSentry (acquired by SafeNet in 2005), Starmedia Network (acquired by France Telecom) and Oculus Technologies (MIT CADLab spin-out). In 1999, he was an early employee at govWorks, one of the earliest startups focused on serving local government. govWorks was ahead of the market and failed during the dot-com bust, becoming the subject of the documentary Startup.com in 2001. Shaun has written for organizations such as The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Huffington Post, and CNNMoney. Crowdstorm, published by Wiley, was his first book and is a guide to working with large online crowds to find and evaluate ideas. The book is based on Shaun's experience working with Starbucks, Omnicom Group, $300 House, and Life Edited. Shaun has an MSc from MIT; an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership; and a BSc from the University of Cape Town. He is also an Angel Investor.
Marek Olszewski
Investing in Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) &b...
San Francisco Bay Area, Germany - U.S.A. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icela
Previous Investments
• CodeFights:
$2500000 (Seed Round)
• Capsule Wallets:
(Seed)
• Remox:
(Pre Seed)
• Numoen:
$1000000 (Seed)
• CyberBox:
$150000 (Seed)
• impactMarket:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Paychant:
$400000 (Pre Seed)
• Ari Swap:
$700000 (Pre Seed)
• Payourse:
$600000 (Pre Seed)
• Coinprofile:
$600000 (Pre Seed)
• Netra:
$500000 (Convertible Note)
• CodeSignal:
$3000000 (Seed)
• Accion Systems:
$2000000 (Seed)
Marek Olszewski
San Francisco Bay Area, Germany - U.S.A. - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icela
Dr. Marek Olszewski is a Co-Founder of Celo. He is a Co-Founder and served as the Chief Technology Officer at Locu. Prior to Locu, Marek was a senior PhD candidate at MIT CSAIL. He is a Facebook Fellow and the recipient of the J. Edgar McAllister Fellowship. He has prior work experience at a number of technology companies including Google, Microsoft (Research) and Sun (Labs). He is also an angel investor.
: Germany France Italy Spain Poland Romania Netherlands Belgium Czech Republic Greece Portugal Sweden Hungary Austria Switzerland Denmark Finland Slovakia Norway Ireland Luxembourg Malta Iceland Monaco, U.S.A.
The Mezzanine and Private Equity Group of Hartford Investment Management is an active provider of capital to private equity markets. The Group provides direct mezzanine debt and equity, and can provide equity on a stand alone basis in support of leveraged transactions. In addition to its direct investment activities, the firm seeks to invest in top-performing, middle market private equity and mezzanine funds that will provide a source of co-investment opportunities. The Group typically invests between $5 million and $30 million in mezzanine financing and up to $10 million in equity financing within the United States and Canada. Selectively, the firm will also invest in top performing funds that target investments outside of its middle market focus. As of December 31, 2012, the firm managed approximately $1.8 billion in mezzanine and private equity assets and commitments.
Rodrigo Sepulveda
Investing in Advertising • Productivity
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - France - Luxembourg - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg,
Previous Investments
• Culture Secrets:
(Seed Round)
• Demenager Facile:
(Seed Round)
• Holberton School:
$2000000 (Seed Round)
• RecargaPay:
(Convertible Note)
• Dott:
$100000000 (Series B)
• Dott:
$34000000 (Series A)
• Wizata:
$3000000 (Series A)
• Wizata:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Nannybag:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Nannybag:
(Convertible Note)
• Wefarm:
$13000000 (Series A)
• Smartrenting:
(Series A)
• Spire Global:
$40000000 (Series D)
• Spire Global:
$70000000 (Series C)
• Service:
(Convertible Note)
• Verse:
$5000000 (Series Unknown)
• OpenExo:
(Convertible Note)
• Pliops:
$30000000 (Series B)
• Salonkee:
$1000000 (Seed)
• Passbolt:
$530000 (Seed)
• Glose:
$3000000 (Series Unknown)
• Catalyte:
$27000000 (Series A)
• Tribe:
$3000000 (Seed)
• Tribe:
$3000000 (Seed)
• Tribe:
$500000 (Seed)
• Nektria:
$2000000 (Series A)
• itravel:
$2000000 (Series A)
• Attach:
(Seed)
• Boostable:
(Seed)
• Allmyapps:
(Series A)
• Manifest:
(Seed)
• Getaround:
$3000000 (Seed)
• amiando:
(Seed)
• Wavestorm:
(Seed)
Rodrigo Sepulveda
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - France - Luxembourg - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg,
Investing In
Advertising • Productivity
Description
Most Interested In
Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, SpaceTech, DeepTech, AI, ML
Not Interested In
FinTech, AdTech, Ecommerce, CleanTech, BioTech
CEO at @sepulveda-capital. Managing Parter Expon Capital. Serial entrepreneur (5 founded, 3 sold). Invested in North America (CA, NY, FL), Europe (FR, DE, CH).
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