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It’s Stockholm’s moment. Even though the Swedish capital has built a reputation as a genuine Silicon Valley rival in the last decade, Spotify’s $26.5 billion IPO in April felt like a turning point for many. “The massive success of Spotify has given a riding tide of confidence and pride to Sweden,” says Natalia Brzezinski, CEO of Brilliant Minds, organiser of the city’s annual Symposium Stockholm event. Previous exits of Mojang, king.com and Skype have given the city a wealth of experienced entrepreneurs and investors, iZettle was recently acquired by PayPal and Klarna is expected to IPO in 2018 at a multi-billion dollar valuation.
“Even the government and the older generation are for the first time bragging openly about how strong Swedish innovation and the overall cultural values of Sweden are,” says Brzezinski. “This provides immense pride and the courage for young Swedes to try things, fail and try again, which is critical to a strong tech ecosystem.”
NA-KD
Jarno Vanhatapio knows e-commerce: his previous venture, Nelly.com, is one of Sweden’s largest online retailers. His follow-up NA-KD, founded in 2015, is a women’s fashion brand built for Instagram: with no brick-and-mortar stores, it has mastered influencer marketing – already hitting 1.6 million followers, and is growing quickly. In January 2018 it raised $45 million to expand into nine new territories in 2018. na-kd.com
Hedvig
Hedvig wants to make home insurance simpler, through automation. Founded by Lucas Carlsén and Fredrik Fors in 2016, the company lets its customers sign up using a chatbot and says it uses machine-learning to help process claims faster and with lower fraud rate. And, like Tel Aviv’s Lemonade, it will donate excess money left over from claims to good causes. hedvig.com
Sana Labs
As a teenager, Joel Hellermark taught himself to code using online Stanford University courses. At 21, he founded Sana: AI-enabled education that adapts to every student. “No two people learn the same way,” he says. “Sana measures students’ answers, response times and contextual information, to figure out precisely what they know, how they best learn and how they forget.” Hellermark says its API is being used by a number of large education companies. His ultimate goal? “Personalising education at scale.” sanalabs.com
Anyfin
Anyfin can refinance your loan with a photograph. Launched in 2016 by Filip Polhem, Mikael Hiussain and Sven Perkmann – veterans of Swedish success stories Klarna and iZettle – the startup asks customers to take a photo of a repayment statement for your personal loan or credit-card bill, then uses its AI to establish your risk (it says that repayment history, not your credit rating, is a better indicator) and, if accepted, offer a lower-interest alternative. In February, it landed €4.8 million in funding, led by Accel, to continue its expansion, although it’s only available in Sweden for now. anyfin.com
Amuse
Amuse calls itself the “world’s first mobile record label”. Founded in 2015 by a group of Spotify, Warner Music and Universal Music alumni (although will.i.am joined as a questionable “co-founder” in 2017), the app lets independent artists self-publish to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and elsewhere through an app for free, track their usage data and collect royalties. Amuse then uses that data to sign up-and-coming acts to full-on record deals. amuse.io
Karma
Your next takeaway could be leftovers. Karma lets restaurants sell their edible food waste on to consumers at reduced prices; businesses can then use the data to adjust their orders and cut total waste accordingly. A re-entry from 2017, Karma has had a busy 12 months: it now works with more than 1,000 businesses, and in February launched in London, partnering with restaurants including Aquavit, Hummus Bros and Detox Kitchen. karma.life
Tink
Since 2012, Tink has been letting customers manage their personal finance details from multiple bank accounts in a helpful smartphone app. But founders Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg had bigger plans. In April, it launched an API which provides access to data from more than 300 European banks and institutions – anticipating the roll-out of the EU’s Revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2) “Open Banking” regulations. Its plan: to become the foundation for the next wave of fintech platforms. tink.se
Sniph
Lisa Kjellqvist and Tara Derakshan are changing the way you think about perfume. Where people once picked a fragrance and stuck with it, Sniph wants you to think about it as another item in your wardrobe – to be mixed and matched. The subscription service sends one 8ml vial of a new scent each month, with the option to purchase a full bottle at reduced prices for those you love. After launching in the UK in September 2017, it has its sights on further international expansion. sniph.co.uk
Racefox
Racefox is an AI coach for a particularly Swedish sport: cross-country skiing. The app uses your phone’s sensors, plus a sensor belt, to measure posture, gait, heart-rate and other bioindicators, then uses AI to tailor a training regimen, analyse for injury risk and more. It recently launched a running coach, currently focused on Swedish routes but with plans for international expansion. racefox.se
DPOrganizer
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation – the reason behind those emails that annoyed you all spring – has provided an opportunity for regtech startups to help companies deal with their new data obligations. DPOrganizer, founded in 2015, is an online dashboard that lets companies visualise, manage, and report the personal data they process, while ensuring it’s compliant with laws and regulations. GDPR’s deadline means it’s grown fast: it now serves customers in 16 countries, and in November 2017 it raised €3 million in funding led by Industrifonden to expand internationally. dporganizer.com
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
