Swedish Tech Weekly #312: Voyado, EsterCare, anch.AI, Scrive, Mitigram, Polar, EmbeDL, Studio 555, SWEBAL, Arrow Lake, BlueRedGold, Mai, NitroCapt, Din Psykolog, North House, LayerLogic, ethira, BRYM, Loyative, and more

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

I'm Martin Weigert. Every Monday morning, Swedish Tech Weekly brings you a selection of some of the news I previously covered in my daily PRO newsletters. Today's newsletter was sent to 2933 subscribers.

Mergers & acquisitions

• The investment firm Viking Global acquired a majority stake in Voyado, Stockholm-based customer experience platform for e-commerce and retail. The transaction values Voyado at SEK3.5B (€320M, $370M) (English).

• EsterCare (Stockholm; digi-physical healthcare provider specialized in women's health) has acquired Stockholm-based startup Ovulai, which offers a digital health app focused on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) management (English).

• anch.AI (Stockholm, ethical governance platform to encourage adoption of responsible AI practices) was acquired by Canada-based industry peer Fairly AI (English, Swedish / Di Digital paywall).

• Scrive (Stockholm, specialist for electronic signature and ID solutions) acquired Denmark-based contract management platform Contractbook (English).

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Funding news

Are you a founder in fundraising mode? Get free access to the FOUNDER version of my funding and investor database. Closed a funding round? Submit it here.

Note to first time founders: Raising VC funding is not a goal in itself, and not every company is a fit for it. If you plan to choose that path, make sure to understand the implications.

• Mitigram (Stockholm, digital platform for global trade financing): SEK231M (€21M, $24.5M) in convertible notes from existing investors, raised last year and early this year (Swedish / Breakit paywall).

• Polar (Stockholm, monetization platform for digital products & SaaS): $10M seed funding round led by Accel (English). ➡️ Startup first covered in PRO in 2023, when the company was still operating under the radar.

• EmbeDL (Gothenburg, develops advanced solutions for efficient AI deployment in embedded systems): €5.5M ($6.3M) in a pre-series A funding round co-led by new investors Fairpoint Capital and SEB Greentech VC, and existing investor Spintop Ventures (English).

• Studio 555 (Stockholm & Helsinki / Finland, developing "the world’s best interior design game for interior lovers and casual gamers alike"): €4M ($4.6M) in a seed funding round led by HOF Capital and Failup Ventures (English). ➡️ Startup first covered in PRO on August 13 last year.

• SWEBAL (Stockholm; establishing a manufacturing plant for TNT in northern Europe, as a vital part of European supply chain): €3M ($3.5M) from Thomas von Koch, Pär Svärdson, and Karl Engelbrektson, among others (English). ➡️ Startup first covered in PRO on November 27.

• Arrow Lake (Malmö, developing energy-efficient ozone generators for improving water- and air treatment): SEK32M (€2.9M, $3.4M) from Briban Invest, Salén Group, and Jan Dahlqvist, among others (Swedish / Rapidus paywall). ➡️ Recent financial numbers covered in PRO on June 5.

• BlueRedGold (Stockholm, high-tech indoor automation systems for saffron cultivation): €2.73M ($3.1M) led by PINC, with participation from The Food Tech Lab and PolarVentures (English).

• Mai (Stockholm, service that automates the selling of people's clothes): SEK7M (€640K, $730K) from new investor VEQ, and existing investors Icebreaker.vc, SSE Ventures, and Erik Ringertz (Swedish, machine translation).

• NitroCapt (Uppsala, fossil-free nitrogen fertilizers): $2M in grant funding after winning the prestigious 2025 Food Planet Prize (English).

• Din Psykolog (Stockholm, digital psychology platform, founded 2019): SEK20M (€1.8M, $2.1M) from new investor Aggregate Media, and existing investors such as Fåhraeus Startup And Growth. This includes a SEK5M loan from Nordea Growth. The pre-money valuation of the equity part was SEK140M. ➡️ First covered in PRO on June 16.

• North House (Stockholm, B2B SaaS governance platform, founded 2022): SEK7M (€640K, $740K) from mostly existing investors such das Hidden Dreams, Holmströmgruppen, and angels (Swedish / Di Digital paywall). ➡️ Partial closing first covered in PRO on May 20.

• LayerLogic (Gothenburg; sensor for reliable and instantaneous bacteria detection): €470K ($540K) in pre-seed funding led by Scientifica Venture Capital (English). ➡️ Startup first covered in PRO in April 2024.

PRO subscribers learned about many more rounds last week, including unannounced ones. PRO subscribers also get full access to the unique Startup Database by Swedish Tech News.

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News from the Swedish startup & tech sector

• SSE Business Lab, the incubator and accelerator of the Stockholm School of Economics, has admitted 13 startups to its summer program (English).

• ethira, a new Stockholm-based startup founded by Jasper Mills and other alumni of Trustly and Klarna, announced its next-gen risk and resilience platform powered by AI (English). ➡️ Startup first covered in PRO (under its working name) on April 16; announcement covered in PRO on June 11.

• Loyative, a Stockholm-based startup formerly named Reach offering a platform helping businesses integrate company data and e-commerce into their loyalty programs, is bankrupt. Despite rapid growth, the company's planned SEK30M funding round fell apart last minute (English, Swedish). ➡️ Bankrupcty first covered in PRO on June 13.

• BRYM, a new Stockholm-based startup, wants to "build a gym for the brain", through EEG-based neurofeedback training (English). ➡️ Startup and background first covered in PRO on April 16.

• Robot Minds, a bootstrapped Stockholm-based startup founded by Elena Sjödin, unveiled the first version of a robot to assist in the handling of garbage containers (Swedish, machine translation).

• Intergiro, Stockholm-based digital banking infrastructure provider, is losing its permit from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority to issue electronic money, due to "serious shortcomings in its work to combat money laundering and terrorist financing". The company is appealing (English, Swedish).

• InviSense, a Linköping-based developer of a system built around super thin moisture sensors for different applications, is bankrupt. ➡️ Bankruptcy covered in PRO on June 16.

• The Swedish fintechs Zaver and Anyfin have obtained banking licenses, responding to new regulatory requirements.

• Stockholm-based startup Tagd is launching its AI-driven contract management solution in Finland – the third market after Sweden and Norway (English). ➡️ Unannounced first funding covered i PRO in early 2025.

• Mavatar, Stockholm-based startup specialized in AI- and data-driven precision medicine solutions, is opening its first office in the US (English).

• Prima Materia, the investment firm of Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek, led a €600M investment in German defense tech startup Helsing, which is now valued at €12B (English).

• Klarna will launch a mobile phone plan, first in the US, and later in the UK, Germany, and other markets (English).

• Stockholm-based early-stage VC firm VEQ has raised SEK200M for its second fund, doubling the size of the first one. The firm is going against the grain, by not specifically focusing on AI startups (English, Swedish / Breakit paywall).

• GOKAP Invest, the investment firm co-founded by Gothenburg University's GU Ventures focusing on startups in western Sweden, is currently raising funding (Swedish, machine translation).

PRO subscribers learned about many more news last week, including various exclusives that have not been covered or reported anywhere else. Join PRO now.

Special shout-out to my partner Eivora for providing me with access to their awesome AI-powered ownership database of Swedish companies.

Selected Swedish tech startup jobs

A non-exhaustive selection of open positions at Swedish tech startups.

• GTM talent, Applied AI Engineer (gradr)
• People / Recruitment Manager, and other roles (Trafiko)
• Senior Fullstack Developer (Gofido)
• Growth Specialist, Senior Fullstack Developer (Quickbutik)
• Marketing Special (Symcel)
• Product Owner - App & Platform Development (Tendy)
• Senior Database Engineer (DBtune)

To the listings

Other interesting things from the startup/VC world & beyond

• The applications for the European Prize for Women Innovators 2026 are open. The joint initiative by EIC and EIT supports women entrepreneurs whose innovations create real impact. Three prizes of €100K, €70K and €50K are awarded (English).

• After its turbulent and eventually unsuccessful attempt to establish itself in Stockholm, global startup accelerator Techstars is now pausing its Berlin and Paris programs (English).

• ChatGPT is starting to eat B2B software (English).

• Uneed is a European Product Hunt alternative (English).

Other interesting things related to Sweden

• 61% of people living in Sweden believe that AI poses a greater risk than opportunity for society – an increase of seven percentage points since 2023, according to the new report "Svensk AI-opinion" (Swedish, machine translation).

• In 2024, Sweden's CO2 emissions increased the most in 15 years, mostly caused by the increased use of fossil diesel in road traffic and work machinery (Swedish, machine translation).

• The City of Stockholm has rejected an application by Tesla to test its self-driving software FSD Beta in the Swedish capital (English, Swedish).

• Sweden's central bank has cut its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, bring it down to 2% in total (English).

• The Öresund Bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden apparently is the world’s priciest crossing to drive over, due to the bridge toll (English).

• Swedish universities have sparked the creation of over 2,500 new companies that are now generating SEK18B in revenue, according to a new report (English, Swedish).

• Volvo Group and Daimler Truck have launched the Gothenburg-based 50-50 joint venture Coretura, which will develop a new software-defined vehicle platform and establish a new industry standard for commercial vehicles (English).

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That's it for this week. Thank you for being a subscriber!

Martin