Swedish Tech Weekly #265

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 recently, and is sent to 2454 subscribers today.

📢 Swedish Tech Weekly is currently on a reduced summer frequency. You'll receive the next issue in two weeks, on Monday July 29. Hope you'll have a relaxing time!

Mergers & acquisitions

• Off Script (Stockholm, e-commerce platform for media companies and creators) is being acquired by the younger US-based industry peer Superfiliate (English).

• Monterro (Stockholm, software growth investor) acquired a majority stake in the Swedish SaaS company Pihr, which offers a platform that identifies, and resolves pay gaps to ensure fair compensation in workplaces (English).

• Vitec (Umeå, provider and acquirer of standardized software and SaaS solutions for various niches) is acquiring a majority of the shares in Taxiteknik, a Stockholm-based startup offering a traffic management system for the taxi and transport sector (English).

• Intelliplan (Stockholm, SaaS systems for recruitment and staffing) acquires the Danish industry peer Emini (Swedish, machine translation).

• MoveByBike (Malmö, publicly traded smart city logistics provider with distribution via e-cargo bikes) acquires Denmark-based peer Chainge (English).

• IFS (Linköping, global enterprise technology company) acquires the 25-year-old US-based software company EmpowerMX (English).

• Lumera (Stockholm, insuretech company) acquired ITM, a UK-based independent provider of data management and technology solutions for the life and pensions industry (English).

Funding news

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• Phyron (Stockholm, fully automated video advertising platform for car dealers): €10M ($11M) in a Series B round led by Round2 Capital (English).

• Steep (Stockholm, business analytics platform): €4M ($4.3M) seed funding round led by Connect Ventures, alongside existing investor Inventure, with participation from existing investors Alliance VC, Antler, and Greens Ventures (English).

• Novatron (Stockholm, developer of fusion power technology): SEK44M (€3.9M, $4.2M) in a seed extension round from undisclosed investors (Swedish / Impact Loop paywall). ➡️ Funding first covered in my PRO subscription on July 1.

• Arkion, formerly Skyqraft (Stockholm, drone-based data collection for grid inspection): $4M led by existing investor Subvenio Invest, with participation from other existing investors such as Neptunia Invest and Antler, for the expansion in Sweden, Europe and North America (English).

• Meela (Gothenburg, therapist-patient matchmaking platform): €2.6M ($2.8M) seed funding round led by Peak (English). ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on June 27.

• Mavatar (Stockholm, AI- and digital twin-powered technology for matching patients with optimal treatments): SEK25M (€2.2M, $2.4M) from family offices and angel investors (Swedish / Breakit paywall). ➡️ Funding first covered in my PRO subscription on April 8.

• Din Psykolog (Stockholm, digital psychology platform): SEK24M (€2.1M, $2.3M) from Fåhraeus Startup And Growth Fund, and existing investors. The company "is now Sweden's second largest digital psychology platform with over 60,000 appointments a year" (English). ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on July 4.

• Wimt, formerly Winning Impact (Stockholm, app for sports community building and financing): SEK20M (€1.8M, €1.9M) from new and existing investors, including Jula Holding (Swedish, machine translation).

• Airmee (Stockholm, last-mile delivery provider): SEK12.8M (€1.1M, $1.2M) led by existing investor Bonnier Capital (Swedish / Breakit paywall).

• Polar Light Technologies (Linköping, developer of new light efficiency standards): SEK12.3M (€1.1M, $1.2M) from new investors Almi Invest, Butterfly Ventures, and STOAF, to "accelerate the microLED development" (English).

• Hypertype (Stockholm, AI-based solution for smart sales communication and customer support): €600K ($660K) in a funding round led by Butterfly Ventures and Bust (English).

• DREV (Gothenburg, developer of sustainable battery cleaning technology): SEK2.3M (€200K, €220K) grant from RE:Source (English).

• Sajkla (greater Skövde area, circular furniture platform for businesses): SEK2M (€180K, $190K) from Nordic Ignite and existing investor Skaraborg Invest (Swedish).

• Readioo, initially innoKids (Stockholm, upcoming AI-powered edtech platform that aims to transform kids books into interactive adventures): SEK1.5M (€130K, $140K) in first funding from angel investors (Swedish, machine translation). ➡️ Company first covered in my PRO subscription on March 28.

• Norrsken VC led a $10M funding round raised by German cement and concrete decarbonisation startup alcemy (English).

• Swedbank led a €10M Series A2 funding round raised by Estonia-based startup eAgronom, which helps farmers generate additional revenue, improve soil quality and access better financing (English).

• Partinc led a €2.2M funding round raised by Dutch R&D productivity platform Findest (English).

• Inventure and Spintop Ventures led an early-stage funding round raised by San Francisco-based startup Valo.ai, which aims to revolutionize Salesforce administration with an AI solution (English).

• Skanska participated in a €1.1M pre-seed round raised by Norwegian construction tech startup Leasi (English).

• For PRO subscribers: 18 additional rounds, as well as more details, valuations, and numbers for many covered rounds (week 27, week 28).

• For PRO subscribers: Google Sheet with funding data, 1000+ rounds added during the past 12 months, updated daily (English).

News from Swedish startups & the tech sector

• Klimio, an under-the-radar Stockholm-based all-in-one provider of heat pump installations, grew annual net revenue by 71% to SEK32.4M and turned profitable. ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on July 3, including details about Klimio's upcoming first larger funding round.

• LazeraH, Gothenburg-based developer of nuclear technology, had an investor drop out on the day of signing. The Swedish lead VC is still on, founder Håvard Lillebo writes. He is now looking for the right co-investor "who is not scared of the journey" (English). ➡️ First covered in my PRO subscription on July 1.

• Stockholm-based startup Bencha, founded and led by Amanda Thorén and known from the past as comparison platform for sustainable fashion, launched its a data platform for second-hand market analytics.

• Cilia, formerly Safety by Cilia, will soon launch a personal alarm app, that offers security features to prevent assaults and facilitate evidence collection in the event of a crime (Swedish, machine translation).

• ADDEL has developed a patented method to create the infrastructure for EV street charging without costly and time-consuming dig­ging. Here's a brief interview with co-founder and inventor Per Ranch (Swedish, machine translation). ➡️ Company first covered in my PRO subscription in December 2022.

• Kavall, Stockholm-based hyper-local grocery delivery service, will launch an equity crowdfunding round (Swedish, machine translation).

• FLOX Robotics, Stockholm-based provider of autonomous wildlife management as a service, is opening its first office in the US, close to Silicon Valley (English).

• There sadly has been a large number of bankruptcies among Swedish tech startups during the past weeks, among them Mycorena, Coloreel, gofrendly, and &Repeat. I covered several more in my bankruptcy and shutdown tracker for PRO subscribers.

• Interview with Aerit founder Teo Rizvanovic about the drone delivery company's recent bankruptcy (Swedish, machine translation).

• Extensive interview with Northvolt founder and CEO Peter Carlsson on the battery maker's current challenges (Swedish / Di paywall).

• Swedish startups can now apply to the "2024 Challenges" program launched by the NATO accelerator DIANA.

• Swedish startups also can apply for the TINC - Accelerator Fall 2024 Program, which will run four weeks virtually, and one week in Silicon Valley (English).

• The date for the Tech Arena 2025 conference in Stockholm has been announced: February 20-21.

• The Swedish Energy Agency will award a total of SEK36M in grants over a period of 15 years to companies developing solutions in the field of bio-CCS (Bio-energy with Carbon Capture and Storage ) (Swedish, machine translation).

• By adding comments to podcasts, Spotify is taking yet another (small) step toward building a social networking experience (English).

• Stockholm-headquartered "Impact House" Trill Impact has closed its inaugural Ventures Fund above €90M (English).

• Swedish early-stage fund node.vc has so far raised 90% of its SEK800M fund announced in spring 2023. Three investments out of a planned 24 have been made so far, co-founding Partner Daniela Sjunnesson shares in an interview about one of the firm's main target areas, the Swedish gaming startup sector (Swedish / Di paywall).

• For PRO subscribers: 24 new Swedish tech startups, among them several in stealth mode (English).

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• The Finnish AI lab Silo AI is being acquired by US chip giant AMD for approximately $665M (English). A major investor in Silo AI is Swedish PE firm Altor.

• VC investment in Europe has risen by 12% so far in 2024, according to Dealroom (English).

• German VC firm First Momentum published the "Deep Tech Hardware Napkin", to "demystify the fundraising landscape for Deep Tech hardware Startups in 2024" (English).

• Most technical founders are initially blissfully unaware of commercialization and of what true GTM excellence looks like and feels like. Only once they realize that, they are unlocking the rest of the journey (English).

• AI infrastructure startups are insanely hard to build (English).

• The Economist asks "what happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution", referring to the weak economic impact so far (English).

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• The commercialization of hydrogen flight could go really fast now, according to a new study from Chalmers University of Technology (English).

• Parents in Sweden now can transfer some of their parental leave allowance to the child’s grandparents (English, Swedish).

• News about the small Swedish town Götene selling plots of land starting at 1 krona per square meter led to media reports all around the world, sparking huge interest (English, Swedish).

• Less than 2% of Swedes buy wine online. Due to the country's alcohol monopoly, many incorrectly believe it is illegal (Swedish, machine translation).