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From biotech innovations and fusion energy to fintech and AI, Stockholm boasts an impressive number of start-up superstars.
As the largest city in the Nordics, Stockholm is an ideal hub for sci-tech start-up activity.
One of the city’s biggest success stories is fintech start-up Klarna, which was founded in 2005. In the near-20 years since, the fintech reached unicorn status, became a fully licensed bank and has a recent valuation of more than $14bn as it heads towards a US IPO in April of this year.
Stockholm is also the home of little-known music streaming platform Spotify. Founded a year after Klarna and officially launched in 2008, Spotify has become the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with more than 675m users. Earlier this year, the music platform struck a major multi-year deal with Universal Music Group.
With such strong acts to follow, these are just a small selection of Stockholm based start-ups you need to keep an eye on, covering everything from health to fusion energy.
AnaCardio
Biopharma start-up AnaCardio is a clinical stage company that develops novel drugs to treat heart failure.
Founded in 2017 by Dr Lars Lund, AnaCardio was borne out of research from Karolinska Institutet, which showed improved contractility of the heart muscle through a unique mechanism.
Earlier this year, AnaCardio raised $19m in Series A funding to advance its drug candidate AC01, which aims to treat patients with heart failure.
Flower
Given that Sweden is a major powerhouse when it comes to energy technology – pun intended – it’s no surprise that energy-tech company Flower has made the list.
Founded in 2020 by John Diklev, Flower is a battery storage trading and optimisation company that combines software technology with battery energy storage.
In the second half of 2024, the start-up closed a Series A funding round totalling €45m. The company will use the funds to further develop its battery energy storage systems and to expand in Europe.
Novatron Fusion Group
Another start-up from the energy sphere is Stockholm-based Novatron Fusion Group, which was established in 2019.
The company uses state-of-the-art technology in collaboration with world-leading physicists, engineers and academia to establish fusion energy as the preferred source of energy.
In December 2024, the company secured €3m in funding from the European Innovation Council Pathfinder Programme. This will be used on a new project that aims to revolutionise plasma confinement and energy containment in fusion reactors.
Scayl
Freshly founded Scayl has already gotten investors talking about its financing platform, known as a ‘fintech for fintech lenders’.
Founded in 2023 by Jatin Goyal, Medjit Yalmaz and Patrik Blomdahl, the company’s platform offers fintechs access to transparent funding structures as well as more flexibility and speed compared to banks or credit funds.
Less than six months after the company was founded, Scayl raised €100m for European fintech lenders after emerging from stealth mode backed by a network of banks.
Xensam
Founded in 2016, Xensam has developed an AI-powered platform that helps IT executives track, monitor and manage their software usage.
It is the brainchild of Swedish brothers Oskar and Gustav Fösker, the company aims to provide an intuitive platform for software asset management and resource optimisation by leveraging AI and automation.
This time last year, Xensam raised $40m in funding in order to expand its operations in the US and Europe.
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