Sweden has a very vital startup scene, and its capital, Stockholm, is second only to Silicon Valley when it comes to the number of “unicorns” that it produces per capita. Just a few weeks ago, for example, Paypal acquired the Stockholm-based payments company iZettle for $2.2 billion. So it’s no surprise that startup investments in Sweden are at record levels and just recently, even the Church of Sweden started investing in tech startups!
This week we took a closer look at the Swedish startup scene, with the goal to provide you with a list of 10 exceptionally promising startups to keep an eye on. Here they are:
Uniti – Founded in January 2016, Uniti is developing a high tech electric city car, with a contemporary approach to safety, sustainability and user experience. Helped by Siemens, the 2- seater Uniti One can cover 186 miles with its 22 kWh battery and will emit 75% less carbon than other EVs over its lifecycle. Pre-orders for the car have now reached $60 million and are set to reach first customers in 2019. A 5-seater is planned to be developed by 2020.
Trine – Trine has developed a novel crowd-investing model that connects disposable income from private individuals with local solar companies in emerging markets that are in need of financing. The Gothenburg-based startup was founded 2015 and their crowdfunding platform has so far helped to reduce over 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and have provided more than 170,000 people with electricity.
Dooer – Dooer is a Fintech startup founded with the goal of changing the accounting industry. Founded in 2015, the Stockholm-based startup wants to make life easier for small business owners and their employees, with easy-to-use tools and services that eliminate administrative overhead with their proprietary AI software. Their digital bookkeeping service is offered for a fixed monthly rate, saving you both money and time.
Just Arrived – Just Arrived is a social impact driven company and a digital service that enables foreign-born competence to enter the Swedish labour market. Following the influx of refugees to Sweden in 2015, Just Arrived was established to welcome refugees by matching them with companies looking for workers, as the founders believe that including refugees in the workforce will have a beneficial effect on business and society. Established in 2016, the startup’s app is so far available in English, Swedish, Farsi and Arabic, with more languages to be added in the future.
Karma – Karma is fighting food waste globally by offering an app, which helps restaurants, grocers and cafés reduce their food waste by selling their surplus to consumers at reduced prices. It’s a win-win situation: retailers minimise their food waste and reach new customers, while users eat well and save money. Karma works with more than 400 food providers, in over 1,000 locations and has over 250,000 users in Sweden and the UK. Since the start in 2015, they have saved an estimated 15,000kg of food to date.
Resolution games – Founded in 2015 by Tommy Palm, one of the key figures behind the success of the King’s Candy Crush Saga, Resolution Games is a VR and AR games studio. The young company is working on a VR fishing game called Bait!, which is one of the most popular titles to date with more than 2 million downloads and Wonderglade, one of the highest rated games on Daydream. The Stockholm-based startup was the first investment in Europe by Google Ventures.
Cellink – Founded in early 2016, Cellink is a 3D Bioprinting company and one of the first companies in the world to offer 3D printable bioink. The startup leverages its bioink to print human organs and tissue models. In over two years of existence, the company has been able to commercialize products in more than 40 countries and sold to more than hundreds of prestigious labs around the world. In 2017, Cellink’ IPO was more than 1070% over-subscribed and the founder Erik Gatenholm was also placed on the Forbes’ “30 under 30” list in 2018.
Byon8 – Founded in 2015, Byon8 is developing Neo health, a digital healthcare ecosystem, consisting of smart digital solutions. The healthtech startup offers its first product Aitopia, medical diagnostic software that tries to improve health care through increased quality and saving valuable time for healthcare personnel, by answering questions through an application and with the help of AI, making the diagnosis. Their two other solutions, Project X and Project V, are under development.
Na-kd – Na-kd is a Swedish fashion e-commerce startup led by Jarno Vanhatapio. It functions as an online direct-to-consumer fashion brand for women, specifically targeting millennials and marketed through social influencers. Founded in 2015 and with a total funding amount of €66 million in several funding rounds, Na-kd has a record growth of 150%+ in 2017 and certainly one of Europe’s top 20 fastest growing companies.
Aifloo – Aifloo is a digital health startup that developed a SmartCare self-learning program for elderly or disabled people. Aifloo compiles information about a person’s behavior through a smart wristband and sensors placed around the house, learns about the person’s everyday habits, and can alert someone via smartphone apps if a problem is detected. They aim to digitalize detection of human behavior in a non-intrusive way and last year they raised €5.1 million to help them achieve it.
By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!
