News December 12, 2022: Ericsson, Nordic Quick Systems, Gigstr, Stockeld Dreamery, Volvo on Demand, Hello Fresh, EHAB and more

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

Mergers & acquisitions

• Ericsson has agreed to sell its loss-making IoT business, including its IoT Accelerator connectivity management platform and Connected Vehicle Cloud platform, to California-based IoT provider Aeris (English).

Funding news

• Nordic Quick Systems (Piteå, patented solutions for machine components with replaceable wear parts): SEK8.2M (€750K, $800K) from unspecified existing investors (Swedish, machine translation).

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

News from Swedish startups, the tech sector and VCs

• Gigstr was declared bankrupt last week after the founders filed, just as the Stockholm-based gig work company completed its pivot to become a platform for connecting fulltime and freelance creatives with brands (Swedish, machine translation).
• Stockeld Dreamery, Stockholm-based startup developing plant-based cheese, says it plans to launch on the US market in 2023 and also start production there (Swedish, machine translation).
• The car sharing and subscription service Volvo On Demand (formerly known as "M") is being launched in Gothenburg and Malmö. Until now it was only available in Stockholm (English).
• Workplace conditions at the contractor-operated Swedish logistics and packing facility used by German meal-kit company Hello Fresh are reportedly awful (Swedish, machine transpation)
• Interview with Swedish serial entrepreneur and investor Saeid Esmaeilzadeh. His Esmaeilzadeh Holding owns stakes in over 100 companies. He says he's particularly optimistic for digital B2B startups (Swedish, machine translation).

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• According to a new report from GP Bullhound on the state of Europe SaaS, US SaaS companies were valued 10.5x more than their European counterparts at the end of 2021. On September 30 this year, that had dropped to 1.7x more (English).
• Public companies are less profitable today than a year ago. Surprisingly, the profitability of companies built around product-led growth has suffered more than sales-led businesses (English).

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• Thoughts on the phenomenon of publicy listed “serial acquirers", of which there are many in Sweden but few across the rest of Europe (English).
• During October and November this year, Swedish households consumed 20% less electricity than during the same months of 2021 (Swedish, machine translation)

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That's it for today.