Swedish start-ups booming: investor

A record number of investors flocked to the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship Start-Up Day and have indicated that Sweden will be a hub for new start-ups in the wake of Spotify and Skype’s global success.

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Over 500 investors attended the event over the weekend, hoping to catch wind of the latest entrepreneurial ideas and tips for following the trend of Swedish success on the start-up market.

“Recently we’ve seen a number of international venture capitalists investing in start-ups that were founded by our alumni, for example SoundCloud, Klarna, Videoplaza and Tripbirds, said event planner Marie Sundström to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).

“This has been a contributing factor as to why we’re seeing so many investors at this event,” she said.

Australian star investor and main attraction Frank Meehan of Horizons Ventures in London was also present, and spoke about Sweden’s strong future, as well as how the country’s past may have been an influencing factor.

”I’m always looking for a new product that goes against the usual flow. When everyone overseas was still using iTunes I came to Sweden where everyone was listening to Spotify,” he told DN.

“Then I understood that something was happening, and it’s these things that you want to see as an investor. We’re always searching for products that make life easier and more fun,” said Meehan to DN.

Meehan is no stranger to Swedish shores, having studied at the Karolinska University in Stockholm as an exchange student. He points to Ericsson, ABB and Volvo as stalwart Swedish institutions that have paved the way for the modern successes.

“This all comes, perhaps from the Viking age when Swedes were out conquering the world. Daniel Ek and Niklas Zennström where never after a quick sale, they wanted to build something big,” he said.

With this in mind, and with the boom in social media interaction and game playing, Meehan points to Sweden as the hotspot in terms of the next start-up explosion.