> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.swedishtechnews.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# News January 23, 2023: Spark Vision, Fuzed, Tada Group, Spotify, Pihr, Northfork, Swedish quantum computer, GPT-SW3 and more
- URL: https://www.swedishtechnews.com/news-jan-23-2023/
- Published: 2023-01-23T15:59:52.000Z
- Updated: 2023-09-24T14:42:33.000Z
- Description: Here are today's news from Sweden's startup and tech sector, sent as daily email newsletter exclusively to subscribers of Swedish Tech News.
- Author: Martin Weigert
- Tags: Daily (PRO), spark vision, Monterro, jce, Fuzed, tada group, Spotify, Pihr, northfork, gpt-sw3, modelio equity, exits

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

💡

This post has been unlocked and made available for free a month after publication.  
  
[Subscribe to Swedish Tech News](https://www.swedishtechnews.com/#/portal/signup) to get access to a ****daily newsletter** that brings you a brief overview of news from the Swedish startup & tech sector, curated by [Martin Weigert](http://www.twitter.com/martinweigert).  
  
Or, if you prefer a ****free weekly newsletter**, [subscribe to Swedish Tech Weekly](https://swedishtechweekly.com/)!

### Mergers & acquisitions

- Nordic B2B software growth investor [Monterro](https://www.monterro.com/) and the investment company [JCE](https://jce.se) acquired a majority stake in [Spark Vision](https://spark-vision.com/), a Gothenburg-based company founded in 2004 offering sales support SaaS for online and point-of-sales. Financial terms were not disclosed ([Swedish](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/monterro/pressreleases/saas-bolaget-spark-vision-vaexlar-upp-med-monterro-3228539?utm%5Fsource=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fcampaign=Alert&utm%5Fcontent=pressrelease), [machine translation](https://www-mynewsdesk-com.translate.goog/monterro/pressreleases/saas-bolaget-spark-vision-vaexlar-upp-med-monterro-3228539?utm%5Fsource=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fcampaign=Alert&utm%5Fcontent=pressrelease&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fsl=auto&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Ftl=en&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fhl=en&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fpto=wapp)).

### Funding news

- [Fuzed](https://fuzed.com/) (Stockholm, esports company that wants to create membership-based gaming hubs across Sweden): SEK15M (€1.3M, $1.5M) from investors including Modelio Equity and Stronger founder Joel Almqvist ([Swedish](https://www.di.se/digital/de-satter-unga-datorspelare-i-rorelse/) / *Di Digital paywall*).
- [Tada Group](https://www.tadagroup.se/) (Stockholm, developer of the patented "ReLink" technology which prevents accidental disconnection events in healthcare settings): SEK10M (€900K, $970K) convertible note from undisclosed institutional and angel investors ([English](https://news.cision.com/tada-group-ab/r/tada-group-ab-successfully-closes-investment-round-in-challenging-market-of-2022,c3699814)).

\>> Daily updated, subscriber-exclusive [Google sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19CzBwRojH%5FK8zin277bpLJ8KCgEUp2AWw%5F%5FJuFUujAs/edit?usp=sharing) with all funding rounds raised by private Swedish startups and scaleups. 

### News from Swedish startups, the tech sector and VCs

- [Spotify](http://www.spotify.com) cuts 6% of its workforce, impacting 600 people ([English](https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/23/spotify-cuts-6-of-its-workforce-impacting-600-people/)). Here's Daniel Ek's letter to the employees. He writes Spotify isn’t efficient enough to ensure the company’s long-term success ([English](https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-01-23/an-update-on-january-2023-organizational-changes/)).
- [Pihr](https://pihr.com), Stockholm-based SaaS platform for achieving a more equal pay, announced 3 new board members, including Anna König Jerlmyr – former Mayor of Stockholm – and Anna Ljungdahl of Industrifonden. The company writes it has an ARR of over SEK20M (€1.8M, $1.9M) and strong growth in all of its markets (Nordics, UK, Ireland, and most recently Spain ) ([English](https://pihr.com/news/the-stockholm-based-saas-company-pihr-appoints-outstanding-trio-to-the-board-of-directors-ahead-of-continued-european-expansion/)).
- [Northfork](https://northfork.ai), Stockholm-based startup that so far focussed on providing a solution for making recipes on third party sites and services shoppable, is expanding beyond the boundaries of the grocery sector, by connecting publishers with large retailers who provide a wide range of goods ([English](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-product-launch-makes-all-content-shoppable-publisher-sites-/)).
- [Chalmers University of Technology](https://www.chalmers.se) plans to build a copy of its existing quantum computer, to be made available as a test bed for companies and researchers to run algorithms starting from 2024 ([English](https://news.cision.com/chalmers/r/new-swedish-quantum-computer-to-be-made-available-to-industry,c3699704), [Swedish](https://computersweden.idg.se/2.2683/1.775315/svensk-kvantdator-oppnas-for-forskare-och-foretag)).
- The researchers of AI Sweden announced the pre-release of [GPT-SW3](https://www.ai.se/en/gpt-sw3), a its large language model for Swedish ([English](https://medium.com/ai-sweden/gpt-sw3-pre-release-evaluating-large-generative-language-models-for-swedish-8799abfac670)).
- Nordnet, Swedish digital savings and investments platform, has launched the ["Power Women in Tech" podcast](https://pod.link/1665445346) (in Swedish), which aims to offer inspiration for women in Sweden's tech sector ([Swedish](https://finanstid.se/kvinnliga-ledare-i-techbranschen-delar-sina-erfarenheter-och-drivkrafter-i-ny-podcast-fran-nordnet/), [machine translation](https://finanstid-se.translate.goog/kvinnliga-ledare-i-techbranschen-delar-sina-erfarenheter-och-drivkrafter-i-ny-podcast-fran-nordnet/?%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fsl=auto&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Ftl=en&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fhl=en&%5Fx%5Ftr%5Fpto=wapp)).

### Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

- Microsoft confirmed a new multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment with OpenAI ([English](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/23/microsoft-announces-multibillion-dollar-investment-in-chatgpt-maker-openai.html)).
- UK-based [Highland Europe](https://www.highlandeurope.com/) has announced the close of its fifth fund at €1B ($1.1B), for investments in high-growth European internet, mobile, and software companies with over €10M in annualised revenues ([English](https://tech.eu/2023/01/23/highland-europe-launches-new-eur1-billion-fund/)).
- Twitter is now down to fewer than 550 full-time engineers ([English](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/twitter-is-down-to-fewer-than-550-full-time-engineers.html)).
- What it’s like to fundraise while pregnant ([English](https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsifted.eu%2Farticles%2Fpregnant-and-fundraising%2F)).
- VCs love founders that respond to email almost instantly ([English](https://www.saastr.com/why-vcs-love-founders-that-respond-to-email-almost-instantly/)).

+++

That's it for today.