The Swedish economy is projected to grow by 4% in 2021 and 3% per cent in 2022, on the back of rising exports, which boost manufacturing production and investment, and strong fiscal and monetary support. The country’s entrepreneurial spirit and innovation-oriented mindset have turned Sweden into one of the most advanced countries in the world, and Stockholm, its capital, has gained the reputation as Europe’s “unicorn factory” as it is home to more than $1 billion-plus companies per capita than anywhere outside of Silicon Valley. The country has an advanced and cost effective banking sector and has historically been at the forefront of developing new technology for this industry.
Sweden’s government is extensively active in protecting and supporting their unique startup ecosystem. To this end, there are many government backed funding programs for entrepreneurs. Business-Sweden is a merger between the Swedish Trade Council and Invest Sweden, whose role it is to help Swedish startups penetrate export markets with the correct strategies. The Swedish government has also introduced new tax advantaged employee share options for small and early-stage companies to promote the recruitment and retention of key employees. Sweden based startups are “hot” and draw the attention of foreign investors to a great extent. Angel investors play a critical role in expanding the pipeline of investible businesses by providing early-stage ventures with essential resources including capital to bridge the funding gap and by sharing their expertise and networks to unlock business opportunities that facilitate growth.
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Top Angel Investors in Sweden
1. Hampus Jakobsson:
Hampus Jakobsson is a General Partner at Pale Blue Dot, a seed-stage ClimateTech fund investing in startups that reduce and reverse the effects of climate change and prepare for a new world. Hampus is also a Board Member and Founder of Malmö Startups, a grassroots organization uniting the startup community in southern Sweden. Hosted over 60 events with more than 2000 attendees 2015, and built the initial community with more than 200 local companies. He is an active and supportive angel investor.
Sector: Internet of Things, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, E-Commerce.
Portfolio: Greta, Clue, Minut, Aula.
Connect With Him: AngelList | LinkedIn
2. Ted Elvhage:
Ted Elvhage is the Managing Partner of RymdKapital, an investment company with the vision to propel a sustainable and multi-faceted space ecosystem and to bring the benefits of space technologies to earth. Rymdkapital was founded by Ted Elvhage, Niclas Lilja and Ulf Palmnäs, bringing together solid experience from investing in technology startups with space industry knowledge and network. Ted is also the Managing Partner of Edge Venture Capital.
Sector: Clean Technology, Consumer Internet, Healthcare, Medical Devices.
Portfolio: Upcomer, Kivra, ByteActive, Cellip.
Connect With Him: AngelList | LinkedIn
3. Ludvig Linge:
Ludvig Linge is the Investor and Board Member of Propel Capital, an investment company established in 2014 by the Swedish business accelerator Sting – Stockholm Innovation & Growth. He also Co-Founded TAT, a licensed embedded software and mobile UI design company to top mobile brands. He now works with new startups as angel investor, enjoys people with big and scalable ideas that can make a difference.
Sector: Games, Mobile, Consumer Internet, Financial Services.
Portfolio: Elk, Kivra, Hemma, Pacemaker.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
4. Henrik Torstensson:
Henrik Torstensson is a Partner at Alliance Ventures, a Nordic venture capital firm investing in exceptional early-stage tech companies and purpose-driven founders with global ambitions. He is also the Co-Founder and Board Member of Lifesum, a health and wellness startup.
Sector: Healthcare & Wellness, Security, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software.
Portfolio: Teamtailor, Castle, Brisk, FishBrain.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
5. Mattias Miksche:
Mattias Miksche is an active angel Investor and mentor. He is the Tech Advisory Board Member of Altor Equity Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm focused on investing in and developing medium sized companies in the Nordics and the DACH-region. He is always interested in learning new things & meeting new people.
Sector: Big Data, Enterprise Software, Artificial Intelligence, Education.
Portfolio: Estrid, VALIDIO, Typelane, Fishbrain.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
6. Jane Walerud:
Jane Walerud is a Partner at Walerud Ventures. She actively invests in Artificial Intelligence, deep tech, high tech and impact tech sectors. Walerud Ventures joins high tech companies in very early stages, repeatedly from just an idea and a couple of people. Jane has co-founded & been CEO of two deep tech startups, worked full time in the management team and invested time and money in fifteen more.
Sector: Artificial Intelligence, E-Commerce, Fin-Tech, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Satcube, Klarna, Lensway, Midsummer.
Connect With Her: LinkedIn
7. Hjalmar Winbladh:
The epitome of the serial entrepreneur, Hjalmar is a seven-time founder, having previously built and managed global technology companies such as Wrapp, Rebtel and Sendit. As a founding partner at EQT Ventures, Hjalmar launched the fund with the mission of creating global winners out of Europe and creating the kind of VC that he would have wanted on his entrepreneurial journey.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Artificial Intelligence.
Portfolio: Party.Space, BIMobject, Wolt, Sportradar.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
8. Martin Wattin:
Martin Wattin is the CEO of Inbox Capital AB, a family owned venture capital firm based in Stockholm, Sweden. He is also a Chairman at Rabble Communications AB. Since 2006, Martin has also been an active investor and board member of companies in Sweden, USA and India. In 2006, he co-invested in a start-up fund acquired from Carnegie, including holdings such as AHHAA 118 100, Itesco and Ikivo.
Sector: Blockchain, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Education.
Portfolio: Albert, 24 Storage, KnCMiner.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
9. Dan Nilsson:
Dan Nilsson is the Owner of White Tree AB, a Holding company for active investments and domain investments. Dan is also the Co-Founder of Fyndiq AB, an e-commerce company. Through the years he has started, co-founded or invested in over 20 e-commerce projects.
Sector: E-Commerce, Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet, Internet of Things.
Portfolio: Quickbutik, Wellbefy, Fieldly.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
10. Carl Silbersky:
Carl Silbersky is the CEO, Angel Investor and Board Member with 20 years of experience leading tech companies to capitalize on its market opportunities. Earned the reputation of being a person with the ability to turn around companies and create shareholder value. Carl is a systems thinker who thrives on setting ambitious targets and building world class teams to deliver results.
Sector: Artificial Intelligence, Mobile, Fin-Tech, Machine Learning.
Portfolio: Qubulus, Hinnerdu, Mapillary, Numerai.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
11. Lars Jornow:
Lars Jornow is the Founding Partner of EQT Ventures, a multi-stage VC fund with €1.2bn under management to help fuel European tech start-ups to become global winners. Lars Jornow also sits as a Board Member of Lenus eHealth and Hiber. Lars focuses primarily on early stage consumer companies in Europe.
Sector: Games, Fin-Tech, Mobile, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Hiber, Wajve, Willa, Reworks.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
12. Peter Dahlgren:
Peter Dahlgren is the Founding Partner of Confidus Venture Capital, a venture capital and private equity firm based in Sweden. He actively invests in digital transformation and automation companies. He is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Skilled in Banking, Digital Banking, Life Insurance, Asset Management, and Pension Funds.
Sector: Fin-Tech, SaaS, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software.
Portfolio: TradeTech Consulting, evoluteIQ, Phyron, Centiglobe.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
13. Georgi Ganev:
Georgi Ganev is the Chief Executive Officer of Kinnevik AB, an investment management company based in Sweden. As a long-term investor, he strongly believes that investing in sustainable business models and diverse teams will bring the greatest returns for shareholders. Georgi Ganev actively invests in healthcare, foodtech and fintech sectors.
Sectors: Healthcare, Food-Tech, Fin-Tech, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Quit Genius, MatHem, Vivino, HungryPanda.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
14. Lennart Blecher:
Lenart Blecher is the Deputy Managing Partner of EQT Partners, a purpose-driven global investment organization with close to three decades of consistent investment performance across multiple geographies, sectors, and strategies. Prior to joining EQT Partners, Lennart was the Managing Director and Senior Banker in the investment bank of Unicredit/HypoVereinsbank in Munich.
Sectors: Mobile, E-Commerce, Fin-Tech, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Storytel, DESOTEC, Vinted, Indesso.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
15. Niklas Adalberth:
Niklas Adalberth is the Founder of Norrsken Foundation, a non-profit foundation to help entrepreneurs. The foundation supports and invests in both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations. Prior to founding Norrsken Foundation, he was Deputy CEO of Klarna AB. Niklas has a master’s degree in international business from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Sector: E-Commerce, Fin-Tech, Social Media, Mobile Payments.
Portfolio: Klarna, Stitch, Mollie, JustArrived.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
16. Sven Estwall:
Sven Estwall is a Partner of NFT Ventures, a venture capital and private equity firm based in Sweden. He looks for investing in established startups with strong, scalable concepts and dedicated teams. Sven Estwall has also been Head of Sales and CEO of Eurocard AB.
Sector: Fin-Tech, Location Based Services, Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Yepzon, Voxo, Credit Kudos, Betalo.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
17. Andreas Pennervall:
Andreas Pennervall is the Investment Director and CFO of Fairpoint Capital, a B2B technology investment fund sprung out of the technology team of SEB Venture Capital. He is an experienced Investment Manager within Venture Capital, with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Skilled in Corporate Finance, Asset Management and Financial reporting. Strong finance professional graduated from Umeå University.
Sector: Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Avassa, Foreseeti, TrusTrace, Curity.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
18. Hjalmar Didrikson:
Hjalmar Didrikson is the Founder of Alfven & Didrikson AB, an active and long term backer of passionate entrepreneurs and teams with international growth ambitions. Since 2010, the Alfvén & Didrikson team has made investments in fast growing Northern European companies. He is also the Co-owner and Board Member of Acast.
Sector: Transportation, Consumer Internet, Ed-Tech, Education.
Portfolio: Onto, Kognity, Klevu, Paligo.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
19. Markus Kitunen:
Markus Kitunen is the CFO of INBOX CAPITAL AB, a family owned investment company based in Sweden. He actively invests in Nordic based tech companies with proven performance in key areas. Markus also has audit experience from KPMG, and has been positioned as group CFO for VCG, a pan-Nordic PE-owned telecom company. Markus holds a degree from Uppsala University.
Sector: Fitness, Games, Fin-Tech, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: Kavall, Voi, Dirac, Woshapp.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
20. Fredrik Lundberg:
Fredrik Lundberg is the Partner and Head of Investments of NFT Ventures, a venture capital company that invests in Financial Technology start-ups in the Northern European Region. He is an active angel investor and mentor. Fredrik has managed to help small startups grow in large-scale businesses.
Sector: Fin-Tech, Location Based Services, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software.
Portfolio: Yepzon, Voxo, Betalo, Paydrive.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn