Swedish Tech Weekly #256

Welcome to the latest from Sweden's startup & tech sector.

I'm Martin Weigert. Swedish Tech Weekly brings you a selection of some of the news I covered in my PRO newsletters last week. Today's email is being sent to 2386 subscribers (+17).

Mergers & acquisitions

• Summa Equity, Stockholm-based investment firm, has acquired a majority stake in the German company FAST LTA, a SaaS provider of secure and compliant data storage (English).

Funding news

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• X Shore (Nyköping, maker of all-electric boats): SEK100M (€8.5M, $9M) from several existing major shareholders, including company founder Konrad Bergström (English)

• Epishine (Linköping, developer of organic solar cell technology for low power electronics): SEK38M (€3.3M, $3.5M) grant from the EU for a consortium led by Epishine, which "aims to demonstrate the potential of Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) technology to meet the diverse energy needs of markets such as Retail, Property Tech, and Consumer Electronics" (English).

• Cetasol (Gothenburg, AI-powered energy optimization solutions for small and medium-sized vessels): €2M ($2.1M) in a seed funding round from Sarsia, ShipsFocus, and Impact X Capital (English).

• Trine (Gothenburg, platform enabling investments in solar energy in emerging markets): over SEK21M (€1.8M, $1.9M) from existing investors Chalmers Ventures and Gullspång Invest, as well as "other new and existing investors (Swedish & English). ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on April 25.

• AI Medical Technology (Stockholm, AI powered diagnostic solutions enabling healthcare providers to make faster and more reliable diagnoses): SEK12M (€1M, $1.1M) in an oversubscribed bridge round from existing investors, including Northern Venture CapSek, and unspecified new investors (English). ➡️ Part of this funding first covered in my PRO subscription on April 12.

• Sproud (Malmö, producer of a milk drink made from peas): SEK10M (€850K, $920K) from existing major shareholders, including Findeln, Dream Beverage Group, and London-based VGC Partners (Swedish, machine translation).

• Carla (Stockholm, online store for used electric vehicles): SEK8M (€690K, $740K) from Verdane, in an extension of the SEK62.5M funding round raised from existing investors in late 2023/early 2024 (Swedish, machine translation).

• STILFOLD, part of Stilride (Stockholm, technology for manufacturing personal mobility devices using industrial origami): SEK5M (€430K, $460K) grant from EIT Manufacturing, for the newly launched training initiative MetaFold Academy, which is aimed at advancing green manufacturing practices within the automotive sector (English).

• Humy (Stockholm, specialized AI teaching assistants): SEK1.5M (€130K, $140K) convertible note from Osito Ventures, Visionary.vc, and angel investors in the US and Sweden, to "fuel the expansion of the user base in the US and further development of the product". In fall, Humy plans to close its seed round ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on May 2.

• BonusBlock (Stockholm, marketplace with AI-driven data scoring that connects Web3 projects with quality users): undisclosed amount from VNTRs (English).

• NorrWatt (Umeå; provider of battery solutions, grid balancing support services, and solar installations): undisclosed amount from Ekström Invest (Swedish, machine translation).

• The Inner Foundation invested an undisclosed amount in Kenya-based startup Shamiri Health, which aims to make psychotherapy affordable and accessible in underserved regions of the world, starting with Africa (English).

I covered 11 additional rounds, as well as more details, in my PRO newsletters last week.

News from Swedish startups & the tech sector

• "A global, free, open, crowd-sourced database, akin to a 'Wikipedia for sustainability data'" – that's the goal of the Open Sustainability Index, just launched by the Stockholm-based non-profit our commons foundation (English).

• Closar AI launched its SaaS solution for medical professionals, and its app for patients who want to let their doctor use their wearables health data.

• MIOO, Stockholm-based startup offering an app that streamlines bike ownership, announced "having reached profitability" (English).

• Airpelago, Gothenburg-based provider of support software for efficient inspections of linear infrastructure with drones, secured a multi-year contract with Tensio, one of Norway's biggest electricity network operators (English).

• Sifted writes about the turn around of Joint Academy. The Malmö-based provider of an evidence-based digital (and now even physical) treatment solution for chronic joint pain was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2022, but now expects an annual revenue of SEK200M, and a positive EBITDA in Q2 (English).

• Dagligvaruklipp, Stockholm-based platform for grocery retailers and suppliers to trade discounted and soon-to-be-expired products, is launching a feature which allows suppliers to donate products to Matmissionen (Swedish, no machine translation available). ➡️ Company first covered in my PRO subscription on April 25.

• GoCiklo, Stockholm-based startup offering a battery swap and subscription solution for helping delivery providers and drivers to go electric, reports net revenue of SEK4.2M for its launch year, and a break-even result. ➡️ Company first covered in my PRO subscription on February 1.

• Exparang, Stockholm-based privacy-focused digital marketplace
for leaders and high‑impact positions, announced the beta launch of its "Machine Learning (ML) solution – a product of more than two years of dedicated effort", which does not rely on an LLM (English).

• Neko Health, the Stockholm-based preventive health care startup founded by Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne which offers an AI-supported full body scan, will launch its second physical location (after Stockholm) this summer – in London (English).

• NOQX, Stockholm-based SaaS platform for goal setting success which recently raised SEK2M from angel investors, managed to get the pitch deck it used for that round, into TechCrunch for a teardown (English).

• Spotify is launching a new suite of products and services for its widely adopted infrastructure frontend Backstage (English).

• The applications for the fall 2024 accelerator and incubator program at Sting are open until May 17.

• Sana has released the program and speakers for the "AI Summit 2024" which will take place on May 15, 2024, in Stockholm. There's a waitlist on the website.

• Future Talent Summit, which describes itself as "the most influential AI conference of 2024", will take place in Stockholm on June 18-19.

• There's a scholarship available for spending up to ten months as Fellow at the Nordic Innovation House in Silicon Valley, funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (Swedish, no machine translation available).

Exclusives for PRO subscribers last week

PRO subscribers last week also read about these things (among many others), which have not been covered or curated elsewhere:

• A new Stockholm-based startup for kids that combines gaming and edtech, raised pre-seed funding from a selective early-stage investor, and is closing its next round in June.

• A Swedish foodtech startup increased its net revenue 5X year-over-year and raised funding.

• Bankruptcies of a Swedish startup in the marinetech and greentech space, another one in the HR tech space, and one in the healthtech space.

• A B2B marketplace for alcoholic beverages has shut down, at least for now.

• Fresh annual revenue numbers and financial results from various startups.

• 12 new Swedish tech startups (6 from Stockholm, 2 from southern Sweden, 3 from central/western Sweden, 1 from northern Sweden)

• Access to exclusive Google Sheets with data on funding, new startups, and bankruptcies.

Join PRO, if you are an early-stage investor, analyst, or a sales exec.

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• Sweden ranks #3 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, same as last year. Norway ranks #1, Denmark #2.

• Sweden's AI strategy is being criticized for putting the focus entirely on the application of AI, while ignoring the importance of local infrastructure (Swedish, no machine translation available).

• Ingka Group, parent company of IKEA, wants to boost the AI literacy of its organization, with AI training for approximately 3,000 employees and 500 executives (English).

• Sweden has become the first European country to refuse the use of the controversial Video assistant referee (VAR) technology in its top soccer leagues during official matches (English).

• Researchers at Luleå University of Technology have developed an AI-based method to optimize the glide of cross-country skis for different conditions (Swedish, machine translation).

• Radiation from space is a challenge for today's quantum computers. Now quantum researchers from Chalmers University and the University of Waterloo in Canada will take Swedish quantum bits underground to find a solution to the problem - in a two kilometer deep Canadian mine (Swedish, machine translation).

• Ticket prices for international flights from Sweden have increased by 43% since Q1 2022 (Swedish, no machine translation available).

• Gothenburg will host the Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition – which apparently is the world's most important conference for the EV market – on June 15-18 2025 (Swedish, machine translation).

• PostNord Sweden is testing a "hybrid box" concept where individuals can post their letters, pick up packages, and send return packages (English).

• 🎧 BBC audio documentary exploring the rise of Sweden's super-rich, and what it may mean for society and deep-rooted Swedish norms (English / 27 minutes).