News March 2, 2022: Bokio, Instabox, Spotify, Klarna, Polestar and more

Here is today's curation of news from Sweden's startup and tech sector, as well as some interesting reads.

Mergers & acquisitions

• Bokio (Gothenburg, digital accounting services for small businesses) is being acquired by Norwegian business software company Visma. Financial details were not disclosed (English, Swedish).

News from Swedish startups, the tech sector and VCs

• 28 Swedish companies are included in the Financial Times' sixth annual list of the fastest growing companies in Europe based on compound annual growth rate in revenue between 2017 and 2020. Out of all included Swedish companies, last-mile delivery and smart locker provider Instabox is taking the crown, ranking #10 (English).
• Bad luck with timing: In early February, Spotify opened a "representation office" in Moscow due to new Russian regulatory requirements. A job ad, in which the company was looking for a person in charge of podcasts for the Russian market, has now disappeared (Swedish, machine translation).
• Klarna is teaming up with US mall owner Brookfield Properties to bring installment payment plans to thousands of retailers at over 150 shopping centers (English).

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• European VCs examine Russian ties (English / Sifted soft paywall, alternative URL).
• Startup funding announcements slowed dramatically following Ukraine attack (English).
• Uber has made clear for a while that it wants to become a super app, and it's making progress towards achieving this goal (English).

Other interesting things from Sweden

• Swedish EV brand Polestar unveiled its second concept vehicle, the O₂ - it has an autonomous drone built in (English, Swedish).
• All cats in Sweden are to be registered and either chipped or tattooed - or the owners could face a fine (English).

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That's it for today.