News April 27, 2022: Peafowl Plasmonics, Skrym, Spotify, Biorestore, VOI, imagiLabs, Tink, Britbox and more

Here is today's curation of news from Sweden's startup and tech sector.

Funding news

• Peafowl Plasmonics (Uppsala, plasmonic solar cell technology): SEK40M (€3.8M, $4.1M) in a funding round co-led by Industriefonden and Navigare Ventures, with participation from previous investors (English, Swedish).
• Skrym (Stockholm, algorithmic optimization systems for eliminating excess air in e-commerce): SEK13M (€1.25M, $1.3M) from Backing Minds and angel investor Daniel Pilotti, at a post-money valuation of close to SEK50M (English, Swedish).

>> Daily updated, subscriber-exclusive Google sheet with all funding rounds raised by private Swedish startups and scaleups. Request access.

News from Swedish startups, the tech sector and VCs

• Spotify ended the first quarter with 182 million paid subscribers, up from 180 million as of the end of 2021. The company hit 422 million monthly active users (MAUs). The controversy around podcaster Joe Rogan doesn't appear to have had a negative impact for the company (English).
• Stockholm-based startup Biorestore has developed a patent pending sustainable garment restoration solution and just launched a Kickstarter campaign for first orders. Here is an interview with co-founder Wajahat Hussain with some background (English).
• VOI is deploying some of its e-scooters in Oslo with computer vision tech from US company Drover AI, that can identify whether a scooter is on the pavement, road or cycle lane in order to help prevent sidewalk riding (English).
• imagiLabs, Stockholm-based Python learning app startup aimed at teen girls, prepares to launch an education platform, targeting instructors worldwide (English).
• Open banking provider Tink, now owned by Visa, is expanding into 5 new markets across Europe: Netherlands, Norway, Estonia, Finland and Latvia (English).
• The streaming service Britbox, jointly operated by the BBC and ITV, is launching in Sweden and the other Nordic countries tomorrow (Thursday), to provide British programmes (English, Swedish).

Swedish tech earnings reports

• Spotify (Stockholm, audio streaming company): English.
• Bambuser (Stockholm, provider of technology for live video shopping): English, Swedish.
• Upsales (Stockholm, CRM for fast-growing companies): English.
• Maven Wireless (Stockholm, provider of solutions in wireless coverage): Swedish, machine translation.

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• Point Nine Capital's B2B marketplace funding napkin 2022 - what does it take to raise capital, in B2B marketplaces, right now? (English)
• In the last ten years, the dominant VC strategy has been optimizing the holding value. The now higher risk for downrounds might change that (English).

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That's it for today.