Swedish Tech News week 13, 2024

Here are all the news that I covered in this week's daily newsletters, unabridged in one go.

Mergers & acquisitions

• Embracer (Karlstad, video game holding company, founded 2008, publicly traded) is selling the video game development company Gearbox Entertainment to Take-Two Interactive, for $460M (English).
• A consortium has placed an acquisition bid on Awardit, publicly traded Stockholm-based SaaS provider of loyalty programs founded in 1999. The consortium, which together represents 49.4% of the shares, comprises the Danish PE firm Polaris Private Equity, Awardit founder Niklas Lundqvist and chair person Samir Taha, as well as the Avito founders Filip Engelbert and Jonas Nordlander. The recommended public offer values Awardit at around SEK1.143B (€100M, $110M), a 45% premium compared to Friday's closing price. In the press release, Niklas Lundqvist describes the challenge of running Awardit as a public company, and the need for a "new environment that promotes stability", in which he and the team "can focus on building the platform and developing the business" (English).
• Happy at Work (Gothenburg, employee engagement platform, founded 2018) is being acquired by the Finland-headquartered HR company Webropol. The price was not disclosed. Happy at Work was founded by Marcus Nordquist and Jens Östgaard, has raised around SEK8.5M in funding, and was most recently valued at SEK18.8M (Swedish / Di Digital paywall).
• Netigate (Stockholm, SaaS feedback solution for brands, founded 2005) acquires the Finland-based, Icebreaker.vc-backed startup Lumoa, which describes itself as "the first customer experience platform to offer generative AI". Financial terms were not disclosed (English). In August 2022, Nordic PE firm Gro Capital bought a majority stake in Netigate.

Funding news

⬜️ publicly traded

• Dema.ai (Stockholm, e-commerce analytics platform for profitable growth, founded 2022): €7M ($7.6M) in a seed funding round mostly from existing investors, including J12 Ventures and angels, with participation from new investor Daphni, co-founder and CEO Marcus Tagesson confirmed to me this morning. I covered an unannounced partial closing of this round in early January. The round has now been closed at the cited €7M. As reported in my previous coverage, the pre-money valuation was SEK300M.
• Terra Labs, initially named "Farmr (Stockholm, stealth startup that will use AI and satellite technology to monitor land in real-time from space, founded 2023): €4M ($4.3M) in a seed funding round from Norrsken VC, according to data registered with Bolagsverket (which then was confirmed and thereby quasi-announced to Di Digital). The pre-money valuation was SEK200M. The startup, which was founded by Peder Stahle and Adam von Corswant, previously raised SEK6M from CoFounded Kapital. I first covered TerraLabs (back then it was named Farmr) on July 11, 2023 – as far as I can tell, before everyone else. ➡️ Coincidentally, I just stumbled upon another new Stockholm-based startup doing a similar thing: CarbonAct. You find details on the early-stage startup tracker page, or in the Google Sheet's "new startups" list.
• Buddywise (Stockholm, B2B real-time risk detection solution for preventing injuries and loss of life at the workplace, founded 2020): €3.5M ($3.8M) in a seed funding round co-led by Kvanted and J12 Ventures. Existing investors Aligned, Antler, and angel investors Hans Stråberg, Hans-Olov Blom, and Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss also participated. Buddywise raised a €1.2M pre-seed round in fall 2022 (English, Swedish / Breakit paywall). For 2022, the startup reported net revenue of SEK800K.
• Agteria Biotech (Stockholm; scalable, patent-pending feed additive "almost 100 times more affordable than red seaweed", founded 2023): €1.4M ($1.5M) in a pre-seed funding round led by Norrsken Launcher, with participation from Mudcake (English, Swedish / Di Digital paywall). ℹ️ Company details added on November 17, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page, and to the Google Sheet's "new startups" list.

Continue reading after the break...

• Brain Stimulation (Umeå, digital tools for stroke rehabilitation, founded 2011): SEK15M (€1.3M, $1.5M) from existing investors including Backing Minds, Fort Knox and Partnerinvest Norr, as well as new investors including Lars Stenlund, Seniorhusen AB, Torgny Stigbrand, and several other local angel investors. The company writes having customers in around half of Sweden's regions. It also has a contract with Oxford University Innovation, and just submitted its FDA application, to be permitted to enter the US market (Swedish, machine translation). Brain Stimulation has previously raised around SEK20M in equity funding, according to data registered with Bolagsverket. 📊 Recent financial figures
• Everdrone (Gothenburg, developer of drone technology for emergency response, founded 2017): SEK11M (€1M, $1.1M) from the company's major shareholders, serial entrepreneur Maciej Drejak (who also is Everdrone's head of software), and GLA Invest (Swedish / Breakit paywall). This brings total equity funding to around SEK35M, based on data registered with Bolagsverket. For 2022, Everdrone reported net revenue of SEK2.8M, and a loss of -SEK13.4M.
• DREV (Gothenburg, developer of sustainable battery cleaning technology, founded 2023): €700K ($760K) in a pre-seed funding round led by Unconventional Ventures, with participation from undisclosed angel investors. The funds will be used to "accelerate the product development", and to "support the pilot project" at "one of the world's largest gigafactories" (English). Until now, DREV funded its development through grants announced last year.
• Aurora Arts (Skövde, developer of upcoming open world pet collecting role-playing game Fae & Fauna, founded 2023, LinkedIn page): SEK5.7M (€510K, $550K) in a funding round led by game entrepreneur Ellen Mellåker, who invests SEK5M. Aurora Arts, which was founded by Tilla Segerstedt, previously raised over SEK2M form Skaraborg Invest (English). The pre-money valuation was SEK19.2M, according to data registered with Bolagsverket.
• Parlametric (Lund, business intelligence and market research provider, founded 2017): SEK4M (€360K, $390K) in an oversubscribed funding round from existing investor I Love Lund, and other undisclosed investors (Swedish, machine translation). In late spring last year, Parlametric announced its previous round, which amounted to SEK10M, at a pre-money valuation of SEK65M. For 2022, the company reported net revenue of SEK7.2M, a doubling from 2021, and a loss of -SEK11.2M.
• Monthly of Sweden, formerly MonthlyCup (Halmstad, D2C brand for silicon-based menstrual cups, founded 2015): SEK3M (€270K, $290K) from undisclosed investors, in an ongoing round with a target of SEK6M (English).
• Vasuma Eyewear (Stockholm, D2C fashion driven sustainable eyewear brand, founded 2005): unspecified "seven-digit SEK amount" in first outside funding, from Tom Dinkelspiel (Swedish, machine translation).
• Catch Me (Stockholm & Katrineholm, digital fair staffing platform specializing in side jobs, founded 2022): undisclosed amount from Sörmlandsfonden and other undisclosed investors (Swedish, machine translation). In late 2023, the startup announced its first funding, amounting to SEK6.7M from unspecified "66 investors" (Catch Me operates as public limited company). ℹ️ Company details added on August 30, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page.
• Arevo announced the Industrifonden-led SEK75M funding round which I covered on February 20 in the "unannounced funding" section (English). In conjunction with this, Impact Loop talked to Arevo CEO Niklas Åström (Swedish, machine translation).
• EQT Ventures led a $50M Series B round raised by Hume AI, a US-based startup and research lab "building AI optimized for human well-being" (English).
• J12 Ventures led a $1.6M pre-seed funding round raised by UK-based startup ayora, which is building "the world's first revenue management co-pilot for lawyers" (English).
• In a follow-on investment, Pale Blue Dot participated in a $14M Series A round raised by Ember, a Scottish company building an all-electric intercity bus network in the UK (English).

UPDATE March 29: Please also see the two funding news covered in this extra issue.

Unannounced funding

• Sib Solutions (Lund, AI video analytics platform for logistics, founded 2017): SEK15M (€1.3M, $1.5M) from existing investors including Scania Growth Capital II. The pre-money valuation was SEK244M, the same as in December 2022, after Sib Solutions raised SEK50M. According to the document submitted to Bolagsverket, this follow-on investment was agreed on during the 2022 raise, if certain conditions would be met. Sib Solutions has not yet reported its 2023 figures. For 2022, it reported a drop in net revenue to SEK2.5M (total revenue SEK8.3M), and a loss of -SEK34.7M.
• Profundus (Gothenburg, eye diagnostics with telescope technology, founded 2014): SEK9.7 (€860K, $940K) from undisclosed investors, at a pre-money valuation of SEK50M, 6.5% down from June 2023. The company has registered slightly over SEK40M in total equity funding. Among investors are Gobia Enterprises, GU Ventures, and Almi Invest. For the financial year that ended in June 2023, Profundus reported revenue of SEK9M (up 15% YoY), and a loss of -SEK3.7M (similar to the previous period).
• Interlinked, formerly Tada Group (Stockholm, patented technology which prevents accidental disconnection events in healthcare settings, founded 2016): SEK3.7M (€330K, $360K) from undisclosed investors. This funding was raised in fall 2023 at a pre-money valuation of SEK237.9M, up 48% from fall 2022, after the company registered equity funding of SEK8.2M with Bolagsverket. Total registered equity funding is now at around SEK24M. The company previously also announced SEK19M in convertible notes, though none have been registered so far. 📊 Recent financial figures
• Letshare (Stockholm, SaaS solution specifically designed for the manufacturing and production industries, founded 2017): SEK2.3M (€200K, $220K) from three private investors. This is the first registered equity funding and was raised at a pre-money valuation of SEK10.4M. Despite having been founded seven years ago, the company appears to have become operationally customer-focused only recently, judging from the past year's financial figures.
• OhCleo (Stockholm, creator platform for erotic audio stories, founded 2020): SEK1.5M (€130K, $140K) from unspecified existing investors. This funding was raised at a pre-money valuation of essentially zero (SEK50K), down from SEK50M in spring 2021, after OhCleo raised SEK10M. This new cash injection brings total funding registered with Bolagsverket to SEK17M, raised from angel and private investors. In fall 2022, the company faced an "imminent bankruptcy risk", pivoted and raised a small "down round". Now it did it again. 📊 Recent financial figures
• Hydro Diagnostics (Stockholm, develops technical solutions to combat legionella, founded 2021): SEK1M (€90K, $100K) from one angel investor. The pre-money valuation was SEK8.1M. The startup has previously registered SEK840K in equity funding with Bolagsverket. It was founded by Erik Wåhlin and Kevin Siu.
• World Football Player (Ljungskile; platform that makes it easier for football clubs and players around the world to create a connection on their own terms, founded 2023): SEK1M (€90K, $100K) from one private investor, at a pre-money valuation of SEK9M. This is the first equity funding and was raised in fall 2023. Here's a just released press release on the platform's launch (Swedish, machine translation).
• CheckWatt (Stockholm; provider of smart, sustainable energy services, founded 2010): SEK600K (€50K, $60K) from undisclosed investors, at a pre-money valuation of SEK130M. Previously, CheckWatt only had raised around SEK6.5M in outside funding. Recently it was reported that the company's revenue exploded in 2023, growing 10x to "over SEK100M". The valuation for this small capital injection does not in any way mirror the 2023 growth. So it's probable that the investors are individuals close to the company/employees, who got a good deal.

The information in this section is based on public data registered with Bolagsverket (Swedish Companies Registration Office), and represents a curated, non-exhaustive selection.

Data from Bolagsverket is sourced via Eivora.

News from Swedish startups, the tech sector and VCs

• Midday, the new Stockholm-based startup aiming to build "the #1 OS for business owners" and which I covered in early February (on the early-stage startup tracker page and in the Google Sheet's "new startups" list), just launched its beta version "for early adopters". It promises users to provide them with greater insight into their business, to "automate the boring tasks", and to allow them "to focus on what you love to do instead". Notably, Midday also made its pitch deck public. One whose attention it caught is Guillermo Rauch, CEO of San Francisco-based frontend developer platform Vercel. In a post on X (where he has 200K subscribers), he linked ot the deck stating "kinda sickening how good this is". He's likely referring to the interactive deck itself, but good publicity regardless.
• Venga – that will be the name of an upcoming app to host and share real life gatherings, whose first unannounced funding round of SEK3.5M I covered in early December – back then still under the legal name "Loop Moments AB", as co-founder Lucas von Hertzen wasn't ready to reveal the product name yet. von Hertzen is former COO, CFO and deputy CEO of Budbee. According to Venga's LinkedIn page, the launch is planned for June.
• Wimt, founded in 2022 and formerly named "Winning Impact", launched the beta version of its platform for sports community building and financing (Swedish, machine translation). In August last year, co-founder and CEO Sebastian Lundgren told me that the startup had raised a total of SEK17M from 39 investors by then, among them "many of Sweden's most outstanding athletes". According to Bolagsverket, the post-money valuation then was SEK130M. ℹ️ Company details added on January 27, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page.
• PowerMate, Stockholm-based startup founded a few months ago, has launched its iOS and Android app for sharing access to private EV charging stations (English). In early March, PowerMate was announced as participant in SSE Business Lab's latest incubator batch. ℹ️ Company details added on February 2 to the early-stage startup tracker page, and to the Google Sheet's "new startups" list.
• Northfork, Stockholm-based provider of solutions to make recipes shoppable, announced a strategic partnership with publicly traded US-based online grocery company Instacart. The latter recently unveiled a developer platform, and Northfork will act as exclusive recipe shopping partner, enabling "recipe creators and publishers" to make their recipes shoppable through Instacart (English). Northfork was created in 2019 as spin-off from Gastrofy, a startup founded in 2016 which does not exist anymore. Northfork raised its most recent funding round four years ago, SEK10M led by J12 Ventures. For 2022, the company reported net revenue of SEK20.8M (up 37% YoY), and a profit of SEK1.2M.
• Not So Ordinary (NOS), Gothenburg-based women fashion rental platform founded in 2021 by Jenny Bruhn and Lina Karlsson and launched in 2022, has recently signed several large Swedish fashion retailers as customers, such as Gina Tricot, Bubbleroom, and Ellos. NOS essentially handles the digital aspects of the rental process for participating stores/chains, while the latter provide the fashion items to NOS users (Swedish). NOS has not raised any known funding so far.
• Brief profile of Karlstad-based startup DIRI Safety Solutions, which last year launched a risk management tool for the workplace. Co-founder and CEO Melinda Persson says that she secured the first pilot customer "when the product still only was a sketch on a napkin". Now the startup is transitioning from the pilot to the commercial phase. "We have a product, we know it works, and that there's a need on the market" (Swedish, machine translation). The company raised some pre-seed funding from Nyföretagarcentrum, Almi, Sting bioeconomy and Digitalwell ventures in 2022. ℹ️ Company details added on June 1, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page.
• Brief profile of I-Safety, a new Linköping-based startup founded by Cecilia Gärding, who previously worked as coordinator for an EU-funded project against extremism and terrorism. She has developed a digital solution for the police and the private sector, which allows them to receive anonymous tips about upcoming acts of terrorism or crime – from people who are aware of those plans (Swedish, machine translation).
• Profile of PaperShell, the three-year-old Swedish startup developing technology to build paper back into a more resistant version of wood, and its founder and CEO Anders Breitholtz (English). The company recently was part of Wired's 2023 list of "the hottest startups in Stockholm" (even though it's technically not based in Stockholm).
• Sportscom, Helsingborg-based subscription app for live sports audio streaming which launched in August, is already shutting down again, with immediate effect, citing "the current funding climate" (Swedish, machine translation). Sportscom was founded in 2022 by Ola Heffler, Katarina Koritz, and Peder Rotkirch. The company was initially backed with SEK1.8M in announced funding from Jonas Tellander, Karl Andersson, Ann Grevelius, and Loop Capital, and raised an additional SEK4M in August at a pre-money valuation of SEK25M from undisclosed investors, according to data registered with Bolagsverket.
• In November last year, I covered the voluntary liquidation of Addressya, Stockholm-based "address as a service" solution for developing countries. Now Di Digital wrote a piece about Addressya's end, though the article does not contain any new information. As co-founder and CEO Karoline Beronius told me back in November, talks with potential buyers of the assets are still ongoing (Swedish / Di Digital paywall).
• Troopr, Stockholm-based social platform for arranging and discovering sports and fitness, is bankrupt, according to public Swedish company data. The startup was founded in 2022 by Carolina Westin and Tim Axelsson, participated in the TV show Draknästet, and raised around SEK4M from Curitas Ventures, Wave Ventures, and angel investors including Jacob de Geer. Troopr has not published an annual report for the period after March 2022 yet, so recent financial figures are not known.
• Also bankrupt: Recilio, a mostly bootstrapped Lund-based virtual wellbeing platform for organizations founded in 2019 by Lisa Granath, Ida Wikholm and Eugen Groh. For 2022, Recilio reported insignificant net revenue and total revenue of SEK838K.
• ShimmerCat, an Umeå-based company that started as "ZunZun" offering a web server software, and later pivoted to image optimization solutions for e-commerce, is bankrupt, t0o. The website shimmercat.com appears to be down, too. ShimmerCat was founded in 2014 by Ludvig Bohlin, and had raised around SEK10M in equity funding according to Bolagsverket, from Partnerinvest Norr, Northern Light Capital, Silverängen Invest, and Sparbanksstiftelsens Norrlands Riskkapitalstiftelse. For 2022, ShimmerCat reported net revenue of SEK1.3M, and a loss of -SEK1.7M.
• Open Payments, Stockholm-based SaaS solution providing infrastructure for open banking, just registered SEK10.6M in equity funding with Bolagsverket. Breakit published an AI-generated article about it. However, a year ago Open Payments announced a €3M funding round, of which only SEK20M have been registered with Bolagsverket so far. Given that, and that the valuations are the same, I currently treat this "new" funding as part of the previously announced round – unless and until I hear anything to the contrary. I have contacted co-founder and CEO Lousie Brandt and asked if she can shed some light onto this.
• Volta Greentech, Stockholm-based developer of feed supplement for cows from seaweed founded in 2019, signed a letter of intent with its three-year-long pilot partner and investor, the Swedish food company Protos, to scale up the commercialization of Volta's product starting from 2026 (English). In November 2022, Volta Greentech raised its most recent funding round, amounting to SEK20M from Protos, Novax, and Konsumentföreningen Stockholm.
• Steep, Stockholm-based "BI tool for modern companies" which recently started to offer a free plan for individuals and small teams, launched on Product Hunt. "Our goal is to make BI something that your whole organization can do together–letting data teams focus on the data and definitions and empowering end users to answer all their questions themselves", writes co-founder and CEO Johan Baltzar (English).
• Christian Sjölander, founder and CEO of Gothenburg-based small modular reactor ("SMR") project development startup Kärnfull Next, has been appointed as an expert in the Swedish government's inquiry into nuclear power's future (English). In summer last year, Kärnfull Next raised its first funding, amounting to €2M.
• Kivra, Sweden's leading digital mailbox service, is launching a feature which allows users to get discount offers from local grocery stores into their Kivra app. The first chain to make use of this is Coop (Swedish, machine translation).
• In the UK, Spotify is testing the waters for an online education offering of freemium video courses, that are produced in partnership with third parties like the BBC and Skillshare (English).
• Five of Sweden's 23 customer-owned regional "Länsförsäkringar" insurance companies, have launched the digital home insurance provider Sejfa.
• The Financial Times published a long piece detailing how two-decades-old publicly traded Swedish supplier of accounting software Fortnox has seen its stock price rise fivefold since 2020, and why some hedge funds and professional short sellers are questioning the company's recent rise and financial reporting (English / FT paywall, alternative URL).
• Dora Palfi, co-founder and CEO of imagi, shares how she attended an AI event at the Sana Labs office last week "which was filled with demos by startups building with LLMs". She and a friend were the only two women (English).
• Mehkar Sheikh is new CEO of Venture Cup, the Swedish non-profit that arranges annual startup competitions. Sheikh is succeeding Therese Olsson (English).
• 📺 Eira Tobrand, Reid Jackson, and Daniel Karsberg – VCs at Stockholm-based Luminar Ventures – discuss Europe's energy transition, the startup opportunities that come from this, and why the Nordics lead the charge in revolutionizing energy systems for a sustainable future (English / 20 minutes).

Continue reading after the break...

Selected Swedish tech earnings

⬜️ publicly traded

• Imbox (Gothenburg, customer relations SaaS solution, founded 2013) reports net revenue of SEK46.8M for 2023, up 12% YoY. Profit was SEK8.3M, the same as in 2022. The company was founded by Joakim Rosén and Marcus Johansson and has not raised any outside funding.
• LaddaTillsammans (Helsingborg; provider of smart EV charging solutions to condominium associations, communities and property companies, founded 2021) reports net revenue of SEK15.5M for 2023, up 5X YoY, and a small profit. I covered the bootstrapped company in October, when it was named "startup of the year" in the Helsingborg region. 💭 This company must not be confused with Svensk Fordonsladdning, a similarly named Swedish B2B startup which also is growing rapidly (as covered on March 11) without having raised institutional funding ℹ️ Details of LaddaTillsammans added on October 30, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page, and to the Google Sheet's "new startups" list.
• Qnister (Jönköping, digital compliance solutions for businesses, founded 2017) reports net revenue of SEK10.5M for 2023, up 40% YoY, and a break-even result like in the previous years. The company was founded by Anna-Lena Isaksson and Emelie Terlinde.
• Elk (Stockholm, technology enabling a new generation of connected musical instruments and audio processors, founded 2014) reports revenue of SEK8.3M (net revenue SEK3.2M) for the financial year that ended in September 2023, down from SEK12.8M in the previous period. Loss was -SEK17.6M, vs -SEK13.7M during the previous period. In summer last year, the company raised SEK17.4M (likely from existing investors) in unannounced funding, at a pre-money valuation of SEK20M, according to data registered with Bolagsverket in early January. 💭 Considering last year's burn rate, the company will have to raise again soon to survive – unless it managed to radically cut costs and increase revenue during the past half year.
• StartupTools (Stockholm, SaaS platform for running a startup, founded 2021) reports net revenue of SEK3.2M for 2023, up 39% YoY, and a small loss of -SEK500K (roughly stable YoY). The company was founded by Hannes Rosén, Niklas Rudemo, Daniel Lundqvist, and Erik Byrenius, and appears to be bootstrapped.
• Campstream (Örnsköldsvik, camping gear & solutions for electric vehicles, founded 2022) reports revenue of SEK2.2M for 2023, the company's first year with commercial activity, and a break-even result. Last August, the startup ran a Kickstarter campaign, though it only reached one third of the funding goal of $66K ℹ️ Company details added on August 17, 2023 to the early-stage startup tracker page.
• Emsense (Trollhättan, automotive-grade technology for contactless health monitoring, founded 2020) reports net revenue of SEK819K for the financial year that ended in September 2023 (up from SEK588K during the previous period), and a small loss. Emsense was founded by Rickard Wahlström and Thomas Wingate, participated in a number of accelerators and secured some grants, but has so far not raised a proper funding round.
• Dibz (Stockholm, queue-management platform for housing, founded 2020) generated revenue of around SEK10M in 2023 (that would represent a 4X increase YoY), and a small loss of -SEK3M, co-founder and CEO Lovisa Qvarner tells Breakit. ARR grew by 160% to SEK17.3M at the end of 2023. Dibz has raised funding once, SEK6.6M from angel investors in late 2021 (Swedish, machine translation).
• Plexian ⬜️ (Malmö, creator of customer loyalty technology, founded 2017): year-end report 2023 (Swedish, machine translation).
• Twiik ⬜️ (Malmö, online fitness coaching tool and marketplace, founded 2013): year-end-report 2023 (Swedish, machine translation).

New Swedish tech startups

‌‌This week, I've added information about the following 8 new Swedish tech startups to the subscriber-exclusive early-stage startup tracker page (also available in the Google Sheet's "new startups" list):

• innoKids (Stockholm, upcoming AI-powered edtech platform that aims to transform kids books into interactive adventures)
• CarbonAct (Stockholm, develops a system powered by satellite monitoring and AI analysis, that will enable farmers to earn an additional income for improving soil health on farmland)
• I-Safety (Linköping, solution for police and the private sector to receive anonymous tips about upcoming acts of terrorism or crime)
• Fractal.Work (Stockholm, SaaS tool for teams designed to foster a tailor-made Agile workflow that grows with the team's unique needs)
• World Football Player (Ljungskile, platform that makes it easier for football clubs and players around the world to create a connection, on their own terms)
• Daana (Stockholm, SaaS solution that streamlines the journey from raw data to actionable insights)
• StaySaver (greater Malmö area, upcoming platform for hotel discounts)
• Clubmate (Stockholm, SaaS solution for sport associations to manage and offer tickets, lotteries & match programs)

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• The Norwegian tech scene is up in arms over a proposed 37.8% exit tax on unrealised assets over €43k that have been accumulated in Norway (English).
• Norway has set a target for all new trucks sold in the country to be electric by 2030 (English).
• The Climate Capital Stack tool helps to explore and understand climate tech investors.
• 70% of Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch are AI startups. The founders are 84% Male vs 16% Female (English).
• GPTs created by subscribers on OpenAI's GPT Store accounted for just 1.5% of desktop visits to ChatGPT's site in February, suggesting limited appeal (English / FT paywall, alternative URL).
• Despite a crypto rally, VC funds focused on crypto are struggling to raise money, as limited partners prioritize tangible gains after the 2022 wipeout (English).
• In the AI space, a lot of revenue is experimental, and may not have the same retention qualities of true ARR. It’s important for founders to recognize this (English).
• Selling software will evolve to selling AI agents that act on behalf of users. The fear of losing a job to AI may often be enough to stonewall its purchase. The companies who master this skill will be the early leaders of the next era of SaaS (English).
• How to build a trillion-dollar company (English).
• Web3 social projects often begin as a skeuomorphic representation of their Web2 counterparts to attract an initial audience, and then they rapidly experiment to introduce weird and crypto-native features (English).

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• In November 2020, an iron meteorite fell on a private property north of Stockholm. Now the owner of the land won a legal battle to keep the 14-kilogram (31-pound) meteorite. An appeals court ruled that such rocks should be considered “immovable property” (English).
• Until 2028, the Swedish operator of the electricity transmission system may call up to a thousand civilians for training on an ongoing basis, so that they could help maintain the Swedish electricity system in the event of war (Swedish, machine translation).
• A major Nordic study (led by Gothenburg-based provider of SaaS solutions for dental imaging and digital dentistry Boneprox) showed that AI is better at both detecting and classifying caries than human dentists. It also produced fewer false negatives (Swedish, machine translation).
• Volvo Cars just made its last-ever Diesel vehicle (English).
• A Swedish lawyer filed a lawsuit against Facebook Sweden, on behalf of clients who fell victim to scam ads on the social network (Swedish, machine translation).
• Sweden drops 1 position to #7 in the Economist Intelligence ranking of the countries with the best business environment (English).
• 13 Swedish media companies have published seven recommendations on when and how Swedish media consumers should be informed about the use of AI in editorial media products (English).

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That's it for this week. Have a great long Easter weekend!

Martin