Sweden, besides gracing the world with IKEA and ABBA, is also a country bringing fresh, forward-thinking innovation to global markets.
Benefiting from a blessed marriage of quality education and large investments, Swedish R&D efforts are continuously on the hub and the country is a European key hub for innovation and startup traction. It also counts on a committed government that backs the startup ecosystem and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
Sweden is also world-famous for its natural landscapes and the magical Northern Lights. This connection to nature brings inspiration to the nation’s innovators, and GreenTech and Life Sciences stand out as the two most-fastly growing and developed sectors. It’s also a diverse nation, though, and we can’t forget that Sweden also gave us leading global innovations such as Spotify and Bluetooth.
Sweden’s startup ecosystem is in a fairly strong position for 2023, having enjoyed a powerful wave of growth from 2021 lead through 2022. According to the ‘Swedish tech report 2022’ the value of Sweden’s startup ecosystem nearly doubled in just a year, now valued at €239 billion. We were able to see some mega-rounds such as Northvolt’s €2.5 billion Growth Equity, four funding rounds totalling €2.4 billion for Klarna, Epidemic Sound Growth Equity rounds, and Kry‘s Series D. A fertile ground for start-ups, Sweden is home to a total of 35 unicorns to date. We also recently caught up with Joanna Törngren Redebran, the founder of Nyfikna Investerare to learn more about Swedish startup ambitions.
We took a deep dive into the Swedish startup ecosystem in order to find the 10 most promising and exciting startups for the year ahead. All of these startups are looking strong as 2023 unfolds and are all founded post-2020.
Juni: Founded in 2021, Juni offers an all-in-one integrated payment solution for ecommerce companies. The platform frees up teams’ time up by relieving them from administrative burdens so they can focus on growing the business. In this way, it’s like a digital financial assistant for digital companies. The tool also integrates with banks and major payment providers, and it automates routine functions, and the platform provides a complete overview of company finances as it pulls together physical and virtual cards, credit cards, accounting data, analytics and digital advertising platforms into one place. So far, the company has raised about €281 million after landing €192 million in June 2022.
Sesamy: Stockholm-based Sesamy is shaking up the subscription game. Subscription-based commerce is on the rise and Sesamy wants to give users the possibility to pay only for the thing they really want to read or listen to, rather than having to pay for the common whole subscription – and then only use a small amount of it. Based in the Swedish capital, Sesamy provides frictionless single purchases and consumption of digital content, without restricting the users’ choice of app or device. It brings a touch of personalisation to subscription, and with these two elements being in high demand we expect a big year in store for Sesamy. Founded in 2021 it has raised a total funding amount of €8.7 million so far.
Lassie: Stockholm-based PetTech startup Lassie Is one of the pioneers in the European pet health insurance market. Founded in 2020, Lassie made it onto our list of female-founded startups to watch this year, thanks to its unique approach to pet insurance. Through the app, owners can attend training on how to prevent common injuries and pet health courses. Doing so rewards users with a lower insurance premium. Since 80% of all of its insurance customers use the app and more than half have completed educational courses, Lassie has already established a large database on pet health, enabling the company to make discoveries about preventive health. Lassie has also launched Tass Fund, which distributes pet insurance to people who cannot afford to insure their pets. it has raised about €13.5 million to date, securing €11 million in May last year.
Carla: Electric Vehicles and e-mobility options are undoubtedly the way forward for transport in Europe. Founded in 2021, the startup aims to give people an easy, affordable and environmentally-friendly way to get from A to B with its marketplace. With Carla, customers can buy, sell or lease electric cars online. Customers are offered a pickup and delivery time of just 72 hours and all EVs go through battery testing and inspection to ensure the best condition of each vehicle. This is in addition to a 12-month guarantee, favourable financing, a 14-day right of withdrawal, and free returns when Carla picks up the car. The team raised €19 million in June last year, taking its total amount raised to over €32 million.
Yabie: A Stockholm-based provider of POS and payment solutions, Yabie offers intuitive and user-friendly tools to help entrepreneurs to manage their businesses. Its comprehensive in-store transaction system allows small businesses to focus on what really matters, like connecting with customers, or pursuing new ideas. The solution is designed to be a one-stop-shop for efficient sales experiences, streamlining operations and freeing up time to focus on growth and development. Founded in 2017 this fintech company is growing fast and it’s already counting big names into its client list, like IKEA.
Moralis: Founded in 2020, Moralis has developed a next-generation blockchain development platform to boost efficiency. The platform powers the creation of decentralized apps (dApps), uniquely allowing developers and companies to focus on the front end, while handling the entire back end of development. The plug-and-play solution is accessible to all developers, enabling blockchain projects to be built more efficiently, and allowing teams to hire from larger talent pools. The result is a product that saves time and money for projects and teams that otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to build, manage, and maintain complex blockchain infrastructure. Founded in 2021, it has raised a total funding amount of €53.4 million including a €11.5 million raise in October 2021.
Kavall: Headquartered in Stockholm, Kavall’s grocery delivery app offers a hyper-local and hyper-fast service. Launched in 2021, the startup aims to cater to the growing demand for instant delivery and it does so by leveraging local supply chains. Offering a wide range of fresh produce and items you might need in day-to-day life, Kavall’s Ee-bike riders deliver goods to doorsteps in about 10 minutes. The service is now active in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Oslo, and it’s growing fast. The team has now raised about €20 million.
Quartr: Founded by GenZ founder, Sami Osman, Quartr aims to bridge the gap between companies and stakeholders. Founded in 2020, Quartr enables publicly listed companies to distribute information globally and reach a wider audience while delivering insights and data. With Quartr’s productivity tools, companies and investors can stay up to date with the entire global financial market searchable. The app is used by both investors and companies to achieve more insights and information, helping make investment decisions that are more informed and inherently better for the long run. We chatted with Sami last summer to learn more about it and the company also secured €7 million last year.
Go North: This Swedish company is on a mission to become a disruptive Amazon aggregator in the Nordic region by snapping up profitable e-commerce companies. The company’s platform provides entrepreneurs with resources by buying their Amazon FBA brand. This enables clients to have a high client acquisition rate and quick brand profitability. The company also focuses on building greener brands, helping ambitious teams to enter new markets and reach ambitious targets. Go North was established in 2020 and began 2023 by increasing its bond loan by about €4.85 million in an oversubscribed round, adding to a recent equity raise of €13 million.
Medoma: Healthtech startup Medoma enables hospital-level acute care in the comfort of your home. Shifting health care from hospitals to patients’ homes can reduce complications and in-hospital length of stay, reduce re-admissions and increase patient satisfaction – all while cutting costs. Medoma aims to make this more accessible through its digital tools. Medoma enables a combination of physical visits from medical staff alongside digital consultations coordinated through a tech platform that also monitors vital parameters and optimises the ‘care-out-of-home’ logistics. Personalised health and solutions that bring patients home are set to soar this year, and it’ll be interesting to see what’s to come for Medoma. The startup has now raised about €7 million.
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