The Stockholm Investor Guide

You’re an investor.

You’re looking for great companies to invest in.

You’re looking for great companies in Stockholm.

This is your guide.

The Tech Ecosystem

The first thing you want to do is get familiar with the tech ecosystem. This overview highlights the basic parts of the community.

The most relevant parts for you are:

The Angel Networks

If you’re an angel investor you should definitely connect with one of the angel networks. They are Stockholm Business Angels (STOAF), Keiretsu Forum Nordics, Angelr and others. I’m pretty sure all of them would be glad to host you if you’d like to join one of their meetings.

The Events

For any investor looking to connect with the Stockholm community, STING Day is a must. It’s an invite-only event where you can apply to participate and it’s perfect for investors that want to get plugged into the ecosystem.

STHLM Tech Fest is the biggest tech event in Stockholm and it’s normally held in the first week of September. If you can’t wait until September you should attend the STHLM Tech Meetup held every first Monday of the month, a true community event that has grown to the biggest monthly tech meetup in Europe.

There’s a long list of other good events, like Sweden Demo Day, in the Landscape Overview and Startup Events List.

The Coworkingspaces

If I was an investor flying in to meet with startups I would set up shop in one of the many coworkingspaces in town. The main ones are SUP46 and Epicenter, but what’s so great about Stockholm is that there are so many more with a specific vertical focus. If you’re interested in HealthTech for example you should visit H2 Health Hub, if you’re interested in Hardware you should go to THINGS, and so on. You’ll find a full list in the Landscape Overview.

The Investment Promotion Agency

Stockholm, like many other cities, has an Investment Promotion Agency that provides assistance and guidance free of charge to investors that want to invest in Stockholm. In Stockholm the organisation is simply called Invest Stockholm.

The Verticals

What’s so impressive with Stockholm is the number of verticals where you’ll find extremely strong companies. Some tech hubs are characteristically strong in specific areas, like FinTech in London. But in Stockholm you’ll find a lot of activity in many different verticals.

FinTech

FinTech is the largest tech vertical in Stockholm. Klarna and iZettle stand out as the top companies but there are 100+ other FinTech companies that are innovating in this space. For a complete list of all companies and an overview of this space, you should check out the Stockholm FinTech Report 2018.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

The blockchain community is taking form in Stockholm. There is a coworking space for blockchain companies called BlockBlock and one company has even created the "Wordpress for Blockchain Applications" to make it easy for anyone who wants build dApps. You can read about Blockchain startup here: Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Startups in Stockholm.

MusicTech

Music is a tough industry to innovate in and not many investors invest in this space for that reason. But Stockholm goes completely against the grain on this one and has become one of the top MusicTech hubs in the world. The obvious company that’s leading the way is Spotify, but not many people know that Soundcloud was also founded in Stockholm and companies like Kobalt, Tidal and even Apple Music have ties to Sweden and the Nordics. The Stockholm MusicTech story is fascinating and you can read more in this report or this article: The Swedish MusicTech Landscape.

EdTech

The Education Technologies space is very active in Stockholm and Sweden. There is a big yearly EdTech event and community called EdTech Sweden and even an industry association called The Swedish Edtech Industry Association. There are also a number of startups that are making good progress in changing the education landscape for the better, read more about them in the article EdTech Startups in Stockholm.

Gaming

Many well known games, like Candy Crush Saga, Minecraft and Battlefield are made in Stockholm. The city actually has one of the highest density of game developers in the world and is a true leader in the industry. In the article The Game Development Scene in Stockholm you’ll find some of the top gaming companies in the city. I would also recommend a visit to Embassy Folkungagatan and connect with Sting Games.

AI

AI is quickly becoming the norm among tech companies but some companies stand out in their progress in this field. You’ll find some of them in the Stockholm.ai meetup, one of my favorite meetups among the many events in Stockholm. The event is run as a non-profit and the organising team are doing an amazing job of building the AI community. Besides the event you can find a list of AI companies in this article: Artificial Intelligence in Stockholm.

PropTech / Real Estate Tech

Tech companies in the real estate industry are starting to have a massive impact. I’m personally intrigued by this vertical because of the relatively small investments made in tech & innovation compared to the size of the overall industry. You don’t necessarily have to introduce “advanced” technologies to have an impact as a startup. But entering this industry as a young company is challenging and that’s why having a community around innovation in Real Estate is so important. If you’re interested in PropTech you should connect with the Nordic PropTech Initiative, and in the article Real Estate Tech Startups in Stockholm you’ll find an overview as well as some of the leading companies.

HealthTech

The healthcare industry is facing major challenges in Sweden, and probably in many other countries as well. Tech companies will hopefully provide some relief from that pressure by making healthcare more effective and introducing new preventive methods. In Stockholm, the County has taken many steps in towards incorporating tech by setting up an innovation fund and supporting the H2 Health Hub. Read more about Healthcare startups in this article: Health and Wellness Tech-Startups in Stockholm.

IoT / Hardware

Sweden has a long history of manufacturing, hardware and design. Most of this activity around hardware today revolves around the hub THINGS, which is a must for any investor interested in this space. You’ll find some of the leading startups in A Guide to Hardware and IoT in Stockholm — Part 1 and Part 2.

eSports

The eSports industry is taking off, and in Stockholm you’ll find not only great teams and events but you’ll also find innovative tech companies. Some of the biggest eSport companies in the world like ESL and Dreamhack have ties to Stockholm and the community around eSports is maturing. If you’re interested in eSports startups you should join the next eSports Meetup and read this article: The eSport Industry in Stockholm.

VR / AR

If you’re interested in VR/AR and want to know more about what’s happening in this space in Stockholm, you should check out VR Sweden and connect with the Mission IX team. For an overview you can read this article about VR: A Guide to the VR scene in Stockholm and this article about AR: Augmented Reality in Stockholm.

DeepTech

Most investors are looking to invest in DeepTech, and you’ll find DeepTech companies in most of the verticals listed. If you’re specifically interested in this space I would turn to KTH Innovation. KTH is the leading tech university in Sweden and has been the breeding ground for many of the innovations and tech companies in the region.

FashionTech

Sweden is a leading fashion country with companies like H&M, Acne and WeSC. This is yet another industry that is being transformed by technology and there are quite a few startups in the space in Stockholm. You can read about 10 of them in FashionTech Startups in Sweden.

NewsTech

NewsTech startups are tech companies that are innovating in the News industry. I was surprised to find 9 companies in Stockholm that are innovating in this space, and you can read more about them here: NewsTech — 9 Tech Startups Innovating in News.

AutoTech

Tech startups in car and automotive industry are increasing in numbers. We’ll see more and more companies come up in this space as we move towards fully autonomous electric vehicles. Some major examples include NorthVolt, Einride and Uniti. Here is a list of other startups that are aiming to change the automotive industry: Auto Tech Startups in Stockholm.

HR Tech

Technology companies in Human Resources range from new types of recruiting platforms to job-coach AI bots. In Stockholm, we’re starting to see more and more companies in this space. You can read about 10+ HR Tech startups in HR Tech in Stockholm.

Baby & KidsTech

Digital toys, tech platforms for daycare and photo sharing platforms for families. These are some examples of what tech companies are building in what can be called “Baby / KidsTech”. In the article Baby and Kids Tech Startups you can read more about startups in this space.

TravelTech

Travel Tech is technology and innovation in the travel industry. It could be everything from online booking services to ride-sharing platforms. You’ll find 7 innovative companies in this space in the article Travel Tech Startups in Stockholm.

Sharing Economy

There are several startups in different categories in Stockholm/Sweden that are all considered to be leading the way in the sharing economy. There's is also an industry association called Shared Economy Sweden. Read more in the article Sharing is Caring - 10 hot startups in the sharing economy space.

SportsTech

Tech and innovation in the sports industry are gaining more attention. There’s a European SportsTech community taking form and a major SportsTech event in Helsinki every year in conjunction with Slush. You’ll find more info in the SportsTech in Stockholm article.

Find more articles about the Nordic tech and startup scene on Twitter and Linkedin.