News August 15, 2022: Netigate, Wndy, Lalaplants, Klarna layoffs, CorPower Ocean, Orderhero and more

Here is today's curation of news from Sweden's startup and tech sector, exclusively for subscribers of Swedish Tech News.

I put together a list of almost 800 Swedish tech startups & scaleups that have been mentioned in my newsletters during the past 2 years.

Mergers & acquisitions

• Nordic Private Equity firm Gro Capital is buying 70% of the shares of Netigate, Stockholm-based SaaS feedback solution for brands. The deal also includes a capital injection for Netigate from Gro Capital, to be partly used for future acquisitions. Financial terms were not disclosed (English, Swedish / Breakit paywall).

Funding news

• Wndy (Stockholm, platform that connects entrepreneurs with HR professionals): SEK4.5M (€430K, $440K) from Swedish pop star Danny Saucedo, customers and existing investors (Swedish, machine translation).
• Lalaplants (Stockholm, online store for plants): undisclosed amount from Swedish TV star Ernst Kirchsteiger (Swedish, machine translation).
• IKEA made a minority investment in Danish startup Flow Loop, which is developing a water recycling shower solution and has been partnering with IKEA in product development since 2020 (English).
• Gullspång Re:food participated in a $7M Series A funding round raised by Canadian biotechnology startup Genecis, which is making compostable plastics from waste material (English).

>> 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

• Extensive and critical analysis of how Klarna handled its mass layoffs, based on exchanges with 30 current and former employees. Lots of learnings in here for leaders on how NOT to execute layoffs (English).
• A wave energy power plant developed by Stockholm-based startup CorPower Ocean is soon going to be tested off the shore of Portugal (Swedish, no machine translation available).
• Orderhero, Stockholm-based digital solutions provider for restaurants, has applied for reconstruction, after the company was forced to abandon a public listing (Swedish, machine translation).
• Snap is launching its subscription service Snapchat+ in Sweden and a couple of other countries (English, Swedish).
• The founders of VOI are among the backers of a new $120M fund launched by London-based VC 2xN which will back startups in quantum computing across Europe (English).
• Industrifonden has recruited Mala Valroy as new Stockholm-based investment manager (English).

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• No Swedish firm is present in Sifted's top 10 list of "Europe’s most active Series A investors in 2022 (so far)" (English).
• Learnings of an operator at Stripe about strategy & focus, raising the bar and useful meetings (English).

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• 📺 Inventor, maker and YouTube star Simone Giertz created a machine that can play a song by popping bubble wrap (English).
• Struggling Scandinavian carrier SAS gets $700M loan (English).
• The service Kassagirot, which allows less digitally savvy citizens to pay their bills with cash at selected stores, is shutting down (Swedish, machine translation).

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That's it for today.