Financing May 16, 2022

How to set and track finance KPIs that actually matters

As an early venture, how good are you at transforming investments in marketing and tech into revenue?

How can you truly understand your customers to be able to build better products for them?

And how do you explain your business to investors — both the journey this far and where it’s heading?

How to set and track finance KPIs that actually matters

Key Performance Indicators or KPIs can answer all these questions by measuring how your company is doing overall. But first, you must know the metrics important to your business, how to keep track of them, and how they influence your profit margin. This will allow you to make informed, data-driven decisions every time and of course appeal to your stakeholders with confidence.

Using my insights from working hand-in-hand with multiple companies to drive their growth potential — I’ve gathered the finance metrics below. They are a good starting point to start the journey for your startup’s key metrics.

Basic metrics that can assess your company’s financial health

Remember it’s never too early to start tracking and projecting KPIs – which will help you to understand how financially healthy your company is from the start. In short: track your cash; know your runway; plan for your fundraising. The metrics below will help you get started.

Runway – how many months do you have before you run out of cash

Burn rate – how much money you’re spending per month

Revenue – income from sales, do not confuse this with contract values or bookings

MRR/ARR – recurring revenue & the key here is the word recurring, monthly or yearly

GMV – gross merchandise value, total sales going through a marketplace (not the same as revenue)

Monthly churn – how many customers you lost

CLTV or LTV – long term value of a customer, how much a customer makes you net profit while they are your customer

CAC – the cost of acquiring new users

CAC payback – how quickly can you get back the money you used to get a new customer

Gross margin – revenue minus cost of goods sold

Month-on-month growth – your monthly growth rate

Here’s a great resource to dive deeper into different metrics: https://a16z.com/2015/08/21/16-metrics/

Identifying the right KPIs for your business

What do you need to know about your business? You want to look for your growth drivers and track metrics as those help you identify your company’s opportunities and pain points – and of course track your month-on-month growth.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you can’t change or influence what you don’t know, no matter which area of the business we’re talking about – be it finance, marketing, or DEI. So decide which key metrics you want to track and be open to modifying them to fit your need, which is likely to evolve.

Keep your eyes on the progress

Key metrics are only as good as if and how you track them – without which yet again it’s impossible to know how the business is progressing and what needs changing. So set clear goals and don’t forget to also think long-term, like when you’d need to raise your next funding round. Then use the KPIs to keep tabs on how your business progresses – all while trusting the data and adapting the way you work to better reach your goals next time around.

About the author:

Josefiina Kotilainen is CFO at Maki.vc, a seed-stage VC firm partnering with brand-driven & deep tech companies obsessed with challenging category norms. Prior to joining Maki, she was CFO at Europe’s largest startup event Slush.

Josefiina Kotilainen, Maki VC

Insights March 9, 2022

Celebrating Female Founders

This week we are celebrating our female founders at Sting. Gender equality has long been a focus for us. In 2017 we started to measure and set goals for what kind of companies we wanted to help build and the proportion of companies with female founders in our programs.

The starting point

This week we are celebrating our female founders at Sting. Gender equality has long been a focus for us. In 2017 we started to measure and set goals for what kind of companies we wanted to help build and the proportion of companies with female founders in our programs.

Back then, 26% of the companies had at least one female founder. Today 2022 that figure stands at 75% which we are very proud of and shows that diversity and equality are going in the right direction.

Today, the proportion of female founders is one of our most important KPIs and something that permeates the entire business.

Putting numbers into perspective

We went back and looked at our data from 2021 to see what the numbers could tell us. 61 Sting startups raised approximately 1 bn SEK last year of which 54% had at least one female founder.

45% of the raised capital went to companies with at least one female founder.

8% of the capital went to all female-founded companies and 37% of the capital was invested in companies with mixed founding teams with at least one female founder.

How can we put these numbers into perspective? In comparison, according to a survey by Unconventional Venture, in 2020, all-women-founded startups raised just 0.7% of investment in the Nordics and 7.3% went to mixed-gender founding teams. That’s a massive gap and we believe women-founded startups deserve to have much higher numbers in the Nordics.

How did female-founded Sting companies do in founding rounds?

Major funding rounds in female-founded Sting companies include the 117 MSEK round in Volumental, 50MSEK in Evolar, and 48% MSEK raised in Surfcleaner.

Propel Capital, the investment arm of Sting, made 59% of its investments into startups with at least one female founder.

We are very proud of last year’s figures but remain dedicated to working for more female founders in Sting companies, helping to support our startups to build strong teams that take a long-term approach to funding, and view dialogues with investors as an ongoing process.

To celebrate women and encourage more of them to become entrepreneurs, we are opening up our open coaching to make our expertise more accessible. From the 7th-11th of March, female founders or idea owners can book a free coaching session with one of our experienced coaches to get personal advice on how to move their ideas further on their journey.

https://apply.sting.co/femalefounders/

NEWS February 24, 2022

The winner of Sting Test Drive Sustaintech 2022 is SaniSOLE

Changing the scene with sustainable sanitary products made from agro-food industry waste.

Last evening marked the “grand finale” of this year’s Sting Test Drive Sustaintech where 13 early-stage startup teams within the energy and climate space pitched their ideas to a jury and “Best Sustaintech Pitch” was selected.

The winner was SaniSOLE, with the jury’s motivation reading:

“In addition to delivering a great pitch with a lot of passion, SaniSOLE impressed with their circular approach, turning industry waste into biopolymers, offering a much needed sustainable and bio-degradable alternative to today’s single-use disposable sanitary products.”

SaniSOLE’s technology is the result of 5+ years of research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, focusing on developing biopolymers with functionality towards sustainable solutions. Instead of using virgin and fossil-based raw materials, biopolymers made from agro-food waste are used, offering a natural biobased material that is biodegradable and harmless to the environment.

The jury also selected two runner-ups, Cellfion and Cresponix, sharing second place.

“The Sting Test Drive Sustaintech 2022 program has been the floor for many positive feelings and encouraging reflections. We were provided with the essential tools that every early business idea needs and served as a driving force to understand that the time to contribute to a better future is here and now. From our side, and I am surely speaking from all the great ideas presented this year, the program allowed us to answer several questions we had, and now as a team, we feel more prepared to take the next step.” says Antonio Capeza, CEO and Founder of SaniSOLE.

“It is extremely rewarding to work with all these super-talented early-stage startup founders passionately and tirelessly working to bring new ideas and solutions to help solve the energy and climate challenges our world is facing. In this batch we see an impressive mix of innovations in key areas such as sustainable energy, food and agriculture, green transports, circularity and reduced waste.” says Karin Ruiz, program leader, business coach and Deputy CEO at Sting.

Jury:

Karin Edström: Investment Manager, Almi Invest Greentech

Raoul Stubbe: Business Coach Deeptech, Sting

Katarina Chowra: Business Development Coach Sustainability, KTH Innovation

About Sting Test Drive Sustaintech

Sting Test Drive Sustaintech is a practical training program created for teams with an early-stage startup idea based on a pioneering Sustaintech innovation or solution. Since the beginning of the year, 13 Sustaintech startups have tested and developed their ideas through a series of workshops with Sting’s coaches.

Sting’s Test Drive program mixes theory with practice, helping the startups validate their ideas and working closely with the entrepreneurs with challenges startups often meet. The program ends with a Grand Finale where the participants pitch their ideas in front of a jury and a winner is selected. Many startups that later join Sting’s Incubate and Accelerate programs started off in the Test Drive program.

This Sting Test Drive Sustaintech program is arranged as part of Sustainable Energy Action, a joint initiative by Sting, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, KTH Innovation, KTH Holding, THINGS and Ignite Sweden, with funding from the Swedish Energy Agency.

Interested in the Sustainable Energy Action initiative? Follow us on our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/sustainable-energy-action

Do you want to know more about Sting’s offer for Sustaintech startups? Read more here https://sting.co/sustaintech

What is Sustaintech?

When we talk about Sustaintech, we mean innovations in areas like renewables, energy, climate tech, circular economy, cleantech, green transport, bioeconomy, food and agrotech, waste and water, sustainable materials, sustainable fashion, and more, with a clear positive environmental impact.

2022 Sting Test Drive Sustaintech participants

Cellfion – Develops and manufactures bio-based materials for clean energy devices.

Cresponix – A new proprietary technology, which enables sustainable farming of giant shrimp in Sweden.

ElvfTech – Small-scale 3D printed heat exchanger for generating electricity from waster heat.

EnergiNode – The blockchain way of real-time energy tracking and management.

KOASTAL – Providing ready-to-use sea farms for locals to cultivate and share profit between two parties.

Redare – Empowering food retailers with product sustainability data.

Refillistic – Convenient and sustainable consumption by refilling FMCGs with unmanned refilling robots in common areas.

SaniSOLE – We want to provide you with a choice of disposable and biodegradable sanitary pads designed from environmentally friendly biopolymers so that you can save the world with us, one pad at a time.

SAVE | THE | DATE – Connected clothes to spread a challenge and reward sustainable action.

Sovlinjen – Comfortable overnight commuting for the business traveler.

Sprout – Support and learn from communities fighting for a sustainable future.

TINT – Replacing single-use food and drink packaging to smart sustainable reusable packaging-as-a-service. Takeaway should be tasty and waste-free.

Typographus – Early detection of bark beetle outbreaks in boreal forests, based on UAV air-monitoring platform.

NEWS December 20, 2018

Cyber security company Defentry raises 3.6 MSEK

The Defentry team

Defentry helps companies control their data and coach people to become cyber security experts using AI. During the fall, the company has closed a funding round of around 3.6 MSEK from, among others, the private investor John Fällström, to further expand the business.

Defentry has had strong growth in the last quarter and signed agreements with market-leading partners. The company has also joined forces with two of the world’s foremost white hackers, Dan Egerstad and Adam Ljungrell, and bought one of the world’s largest databases of leaked information.

“Both private individuals and companies are increasingly aware of the importance of cyber security. That companies should do everything in their power to protect their data is a no brainer, companies that do not prioritize this issue will die quickly,” says Christer Hernestig, founder of Defentry.

In addition to John Fällström, the investors Malin Sjöstrand (Scriin), Per Vasilis, Jonas Brunius and Gerhard Dal also participate in the 3.6 MSEK funding round. The capital will be used to build the organization for Defentry’s growth journey. In the coming days, the company moves to new premises and several key people are joining the company.

“Cybersecurity is a hot topic and a matter for everyone, both companies and individuals. Defentry is the most exciting company in the market right now, that’s why I chose to invest in them,” says John Fällström, CEO, NV Capital.

About Defentry
Defentry helps companies control their data and coach people to become cyber security experts using AI. Using our technology, users can control their own data. We make sure your personal information remains yours. #BeYourOwnHero
www.defentry.com

More information
Gabriella Kepinski, PR, Defentry, gabriella@defentry.com

NEWS December 18, 2018

Care to Translate launches medical interpretation app to break language barriers globally

Care to Translate co-founders (from left): Martin Schalling, Annie Backman and Linus Kullänger

Care to Translate was launched one year ago and is already one of the most used translation tools in Swedish healthcare. The company has grown organically, and the app has over 22,000 users. Care to Translate is now launching its service to the European market. The goal is to help healthcare personnel and patients communicate across language barriers.

Care to Translate was founded in 2018 by a team of physicians and medical students who left the clinic to wholeheartedly devote their time and efforts to solve problems caused by the lack of interpreters in healthcare.

“The problem with language barriers in healthcare is serious and overlooked. Inability to communicate leads to additional costs for healthcare providers and a significant reduction in quality of care and patient safety. Additionally, insufficient translation makes patients feel insecure. These issues are what we seek to change,” says Linus Kullänger, CEO and co-founder.

Compared to other translation tools, such as Google Translate, Care to Translate delivers medically correct translations, providing secure communications between healthcare personnel and patients.

“In Sweden the need and demand for correct translations is huge. The fact that our service, in such a short period, has attracted so many users only through word of mouth is a clear sign that Care to Translate meets an important need. The need is in fact global. Therefore, it is a natural step to expand outside Sweden,” says Annie Backman, COO and co-founder. The first focus in Europe is the German and English speaking markets.

The new release of Care to Translate was improved via user feedback. It now has an increased capacity and can translate 500 medical phrases in over 20 languages. The interface has been developed with field specific categories and a search function, making it a lot more useful.

“We will be able to help many different healthcare professionals, including personnel in ambulances, emergency rooms, delivery and general wards to communicate. Soon, clinics will be able to distribute the service amongst all of their employees,” says Linus Kullänger.

“Today, a large group is exposed to poor care due to language barriers. It is common that children and other family members have to act as translators. Our goal is to make healthcare more equal and safe, both in Sweden and globally,” Linus Kullänger further states.

Contact
Linus Kullänger, co-founder and CEO, linus.kullanger@caretotranslate.com, +46 73-322 55 45

Care to Translate, is a company driven by medical students and physicians. Their app translates 500 different healthcare phrases in 20 different languages. The company’s vision is for healthcare personnel and patients to be able to communicate with each other regardless of language. It was founded by Linus Kullänger, CEO, and Professor Martin Schalling from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital with co-founder Annie Backman, MD and COO. The new service launched in December 2018 in EU. The plan is to launch in 10 additional language markets next year. www.caretotranslate.com

NEWS September 3, 2018

Here are the 14 new Sting companies

Democratization of artificial intelligence, micro lending on equal terms, speech synthesis, ID hijackings, crowd funding of music, leisure activities, language challenges in healthcare and interpretation of radiographs are some of the areas addressed by the 14 carefully selected companies that have been accepted to Sting this autumn. The list of companies is announced today when the entrepreneurs meet for the first time at Sting’s newly opened premises at A house.

“It has been a tough selection process leading up to the start of the autumn programs,” says Karin Ruiz, business coach at Sting. “It’s a strong line up of companies that represent a wide range of exciting business ideas. We see a clear trend in an increasing number of startups that utilize the power of artificial intelligence and deep learning to tackle major challenges related to for example safety, health and climate,” she continues.

In addition to office space at A house and the network with each other and the Sting team, the companies will get individual coaching in business development and financing, recruitment support and access to Sting’s wide network of industry contacts and investors. The companies also have the opportunity to get an investment of SEK 300,000 from Propel Capital, Sweden’s most active private seed investor.

“With our new premises at A house, we now have the opportunity to run the Incubate and Accelerate programs in one place, which we believe will contribute to an even stronger Sting Community and better opportunity for the startups to exchange experiences and networks with each other,” says Fredrik Rosengren, new Program Manager of the Sting Accelerate Program.

Poki Robotics is one of the new Sting Incubate companies. The company develops task-specific robots to help businesses become more efficient and sustainable.

“Our participation in the Sting Incubate program will give us a great opportunity to scale up Poki Robotics. We are looking forward to getting to know the network and being inspired by the other companies, as well as challenging ourselves. In the spring, the goal is to sell the first robots to customers in Sweden. A challenge for us will therefore be to further develop our product with limited time and resources,” says Fredrika Kringberg, co-founder at Poki Robotics.

Fairlo, one of the new Accelerate companies, challenges the micro loan market with its service that gives people the opportunity to solve an unexpected expense with a loan on equal terms.

“We launched Fairlo in April and got off for a good start. Now we want to use the momentum we have to accelerate into 2019, with the goal of making “Vardagslånet” the obvious choice for unexpected expenses. We hope that Sting, with its solid and proven models, will help us to identify the next-generation star developers, and that the network and experience in the organization will provide great support in the international expansion of our business,” says Jimmy Hanna, CEO and co-founder of Fairlo.

Sting has coached over 240 startups since the start in 2002. The companies had revenues of over 210 MEUR in 2017 and have attracted almost 450 MEUR in private capital. Stings alumni companies include companies like Barnebys, Bioservo, DPOrganizer, Karma, Videoplaza, Volumental and Yubico.

Companies selected to Sting Accelerate
Defentry is a cybersecurity company that combats ID hijackings and hacked accounts through the use of large data acquisition, AI and machine learning. Defentry supports its customers in anticipating risks and finding new solutions that prevent intrusion and fraud with the objective of making them less exposed on the internet. Defentry also offers a personal and secure platform for its customers to monitor its data, identity and integrity. www.defentry.com

Fairlo is a TechFin startup that launches a new era for small loans. With a system based on the latest technology, Fairlo offers people the opportunity to solve an unexpected expense with a small loan at equal terms. Whoever borrows from Fairlo owns the power and can at any time pay off the loan, change the amortization plan or change the due date, all in one click and free of charge. fairlo.se

Friendtivity provides leisure activities for school kids in a new way –at home, in small groups around an interest such as music, programming or something totally different and led by an employed friendtivity leader. Via the platform , parents can seamlessly find leaders, book and pay for the activity at a very competitive price.  friendtivity.se

Signe is a digital platform for crowdfunding of concerts. Organizers, artists and fans can easily create an event and start raising money for an upcoming concert. Signe allows fans to participate and influence who organizers should book, whilst minimizing risk for the organizer to lose money on the event. Signe.io

Språk i Vården develops a medical interpretation tool for healthcare providers that reduces healthcare costs and increases effectivity while it at the same time strengthens patient safety and integrity. Our tool is available as an application for smart devices and can be used by all healthcare professionals in a broad range of healthcare situations. www.sprakivarden.se

Ugglo is a multi-lingual audio book service for kids. We combine the picture book with the audio book to create a truly fun and captivating reading experience. Thousands of kids in Sweden improve their reading and language skills with Ugglo every day. www.ugglo.se

Zenia provides high converting E-Commerce marketing traffic to webstores, helping sellers to market their products organically and through paid posts by sharing – promoting – converting. www.zenia.ai

Companies selected to Sting Incubate
DeepMed’s vision is to redefine how radiographs (x-ray images) are being used in orthopaedics by applying artificial intelligence for the use in x-ray interpretation. With our software, built on deep learning, we support radiologist and other healthcare-professionals in detecting and classifying orthopaedic radiographs in a more efficient and accurate way. deep-med.com

Greenlytics provides data science solutions for the power industry. Our vision is to harness the power of data to create a sustainable energy future. Our first product, WindMind, is a tool that, with the help of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, creates ultra-accurate wind power forecasts, which enables wind power producers to lower imbalance costs, increase profitability of wind power and make wind power cheaper for the consumer. www.greenlytics.io

Kavalri Games emerged from the passion for creating qualitative equestrian games. We’re developing the mobile game Equestrian the Horse game – a game which lets the player build their equestrian career from the ground up. Our players are mostly girls with an equestrian interest, and they’re passionately supporting our development. equestrianthegame.com

PerceptiLabs is a Deep Learning company developing the software QuantumNet. With a vision of democratizing artificial intelligence, QuantumNet simplifies the creation and understanding of AI-models by removing the need of programming and deep mathematical knowledge. The programming is replaced with a simple drag & drop of building blocks where the user e.g. can go into each building block and see how the AI-model learns in real-time. www.perceptilabs.com

Poki Robotics develops task-specific autonomous robots to help companies become more efficient and sustainable. The products are based on a robotics platform that is adjustable to different needs and environments. Our first product is a smart, self-navigating robot that collects golf balls on golf ranges. We offer a technical solution that includes high accuracy local positioning together with intelligent software. www.pokirobotics.com

SciPro’s Thesis Management System is an online IT-support system for management and supervision of theses at bachelor, master and PhD education levels. It allows the entire thesis writing process to be managed in a clear and structured way.  It gives students a clear methodology, supervisors a channel to communicate with students and decrease their administrative workload and school administrators a total overview. www.sciproprojects.com

TorTalk creates text to speech applications for schools, universities and workplaces.
Our end users are people with dyslexia, ADHD and those who prefer to listen to their second language. TorTalk’s software removes barriers, help increase efficiency and reduce stress for users. tortalk.se

NEWS June 25, 2018

CaCharge secures 2.1 MEUR in funding to create a mass-market for electric cars

Kurt Högnelid, Chairman and Louise Kierkegaard, CEO, CaCharge

The e-mobility company CaCharge is pleased to announce the completion of a 2.1 MEUR investment round from experienced investors to expand in Europe. CaCharge’s business model makes it profitable to invest in charging points while drivers benefit from a reasonable mileage rate.

The investors include Stefan Bengtsson of CSB Capital; Mikael Ahlstrom founder of Procuritas; Lars Appelstal, co-founder of Readsoft; Per-Uno Sandberg, co-founder of Skistar; Michael Obermayer, senior partner of McKinsey and chairman of energy storage company Nilar and Carl Hirsch, from property developer Industricentralen.
Carl Hirsch explains that CaCharge’s core business is about pricing, packaging and AI-based software.

Following the announcement, he commented:
“You only need to Google electric cars to understand that the main challenge is the charging infrastructure. The business model and mindset of CaCharge is spot on for me as a property developer. By using CaCharge, I can keep my tenants happy and create a new revenue stream, while my properties become more sustainable”.

CaCharge was founded in 2016 by three entrepreneurs; Kurt Hognelid, Louise Kierkegaard and Tomas Oquist. Together they embarked on a journey to develop a business model that underpins the electric car mass-market.

CEO of CaCharge, Louise Kierkegaard, believes that to make sustainable development scalable you need to generate economic profit. She said:
“CaCharge understands both the point of view of business and the driving and parking patterns of car drivers. Our aim is to create a society where your car is charged as easily as your mobile.”

The CaCharge technology charges the car where it is parked – at home or at work. By using an AI-based solution that effectively distributes electricity between cars, CaCharge can charge 50 cars at the same rate as a fast charging station.

Kurt Hognelid, Chairman of CaCharge, said:
”Being able to charge as many cars as possible, at the lowest possible cost, with available electrical capacity, will be crucial in the future”
CaCharge’s customers in Sweden include Fabege, Stena Fastigheter and Upplands Vasby municipality.

Media enquiries:
Louise Kierkegaard, CEO, CaCharge, louise@cacharge.com
Carl Hirsch, CEO, Industricentralen hirsch@industricentralen.se
www.cacharge.com/

NEWS May 14, 2018

Elly Pistol starts US expansion – closes funding round

From left: Andreas Andersson, Emma Sund, Siah Javaheri, Cecilia de Champs and Peter Lenerius

Elly Pistol, the online fashion company dedicated to the digital generation, raises 2.4 MSEK from existing and new owners and at the same time announces the recruitment of Peter Lenerius as new CEO. Peter will be taking on the challenge of commencing Elly Pistol’s establishment in North America.

Elly Pistol is a digital street wear brand launched in 2015. The company was founded by Cecilia de Champs with the goal of creating non-seasonal products. Since its inception, the brand has received a lot of attention in social media and already has customers in over 40 countries.

“Our biggest market is still Sweden, as it is the only country we have actively marketed us so far, but thanks to our e-commerce and communication with our customers through digital channels, we see that the interest for our products in the US is growing rapidly, says Cecilia de Champs, founder of Elly Pistol.

In order to meet demand from North America, Elly Pistol has during the Spring signed agreements with key distributors in both the US and Canada. The deal with the major US agent The Park Showroom will take the brand out in stores across the country.

“We see it as a strength to be able to partner with a major player as the Park Showroom. Through this partnership, we get a network of re-sellers, marketing and the possibility of physical presence in this gigantic market. We also see increased demand from home retailers and now we feel we have such a strong digital platform and online presence that it’s time for us to meet our customers in more places, she continues.

Elly Pistol has now closed a follow-on financing round of 2.4 million kronor to be used for production to meet increased demand and marketing in the United States. Investors in the financing round include JNE Invest, as well as the entrepreneur and investor Fredrik Adolfsson.

As part of the company’s expansion, the company has also hired Peter Lenerius as new CEO.

“We are delighted that Peter joins us. His experience from fast-growing companies and internationalization will be a very important addition now when we are taking the next step in our journey, says Cecilia.

“Cecilia and the team have done a fantastic job of building Elly Pistol into a strong digital brand in Sweden. There is now a great opportunity to take the company to the next level with new sales channels and markets, where we see the highest potential for rapid growth in the USA,” said Peter Lenerius.

Peter comes from a position as Nordic CEO of the California surf and lifestyle brand Hang Ten and has previously been responsible for the internationalization of the Rehband sports brand, where he worked as a global CEO.

Elly Pistol participated in the Sting Accelerate program during Spring 2017.

About Elly Pistol
Elly Pistol is primarily known for its bomber jackets jackets in different colors seen frequently seen in social media and on influencers. The company has nearly 40,000 followers in its own Instagram account.

More info
Cecilia de Champs, cecilia@ellypistol.com
www.ellypistol.com

NEWS May 7, 2018

Friendship app GoFrendly raises 3 MSEK

Julia Sporre, CTO, Claudia Gård, CEO and Ulrika Lilja, COO. Photo Simon Hellsten

GoFrendly, an app that offers women of all ages an opportunity to create new friendships through accurate and secure matching, has closed an investment round of 3 MSEK. Among the investors are the founder of Apotea, Pär Svärdson, and the former Klarna Manager, Louise Samet. The company will now expand and develop the product further.

The founder team behind GoFrendly, Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja, got the idea of the company through their own need to meet new friends. The friendship app targeted exclusively towards women was launched in October 2016. The timing for a social platform where women can meet new friends has proven to be perfect.

“We see a huge need in a market with few players. Now it’s all about running fast and that’s exactly what we’re going to do with the capital injection. We will develop the platform to create more physical meetings and a premium service is also close in time, explains CEO and co-founder Claudia Gård.

The interest in investing in GoFrendly has been great and the team has had to say no to investors. Among the investors are the founder of Apotea, Pär Svärdson, JNE Invest, angel investors like former Klarna Group Product Manager, Louise Samet, and many others. In addition to capital, the investors also contribute with skills and networks, which is invaluable to the team.

“It’s wonderful to see that so many believes in the potential of GoFrendly and are ready to invest,” says founder Ulrika Lilja.

GoFrendly has users between 18 and 82 years and is used extensively around Sweden. GoFrendly has also launched in Oslo with successful results. Today, the app is free and that has been important in order to attract early users. Revenues so far come from ads and partnerships.

“Our goal of the app is to create physical meetings. Being able to offer our users events with partners has proved to be a winning concept. Many brands want to reach a large female audience, both digitally and physically, and we can offer a comprehensive solution,” Ulrika continues.

“We are proud to address the problem of finding new friends and we already know that our service has changed people’s lives – our goal is to make the world a less lonely place,” concludes Claudia.

More info
Claudia Gård, CEO and co-founder, claudia@gofrendly.com, 070-710 45 56
www.gofrendly.se

NEWS April 23, 2018

List: the five new companies in Sting Incubate

Today, Sting welcomes this year’s second batch of startups to the Sting Incubate program. The five new companies represent a wide range of solutions ranging from deep PC strategy games, a digital treatment method for people with sleep problems, innovative tools for digital receipts and personal administration to an AI based food market recommendation engine.

The new Sting companies will receive coaching in business development and financing, recruitment support and get access to Sting’s wide network of industry contacts and investors, to increase the pace of development, rapidly enter the market, and increase the chance of success. The companies also have the opportunity to get an investment of SEK 300,000 from Propel Capital, Sweden’s most active private seed investor.

One of the newly accepted companies is YourPDi, founded by Patricia Ingemarsson and Jenny Wuori, both with long careers in technology, market, sales and management behind them. Within the coming days, the company launches the YourPDi app, which gives its users a tool for organizing private valuable documents and information in one place, safely in the cloud.

“Although we have many years of developing companies behind us, we can see that we lack experience in some areas that are crucial for scaling a startup to a company of size,” says Jenny. “We therefore see that Sting’s unique network and business coaches with significant experience of entrepreneurship will speed up our pace of development. Now we are aiming for a successful launch of our app and are focusing on user traction, Patricia continues.

The five new Sting Incubate companies:

IQ Chef is a foodtech company that develops innovative solutions for the digital food market. The company’s recommendation engine, based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, gives IQ Chef’s partners in the food industry completely new opportunities to tailor and individualize their customer offerings. iqchef.com

Learning to Sleep has developed a digital, clinically validated, treatment method to help people with chronic sleep problems. So far, the company has treated over 900 people and 94 percent of patients get a lasting improvement in their sleep. learningtosleep.se/

Treeno creates a new digital communication channel between consumers and businesses by building an innovative service for digital receipts. Using Treenos service, consumers can easily get their digital receipts collected in one place as well as a unique insight into their spending habits. At the same time, Treeno contributes to a significant reduction in tree devastation and waste management that paper receipts result in today. www.treeno.se/

Warpzone Studios is founded by three game industry veterans. Our goal is to make deeply engaging strategy games for mainly PC. We will aim to create games with superior replayability and high quality, while keeping close contact with our players and encouraging user modifications and extensions. warpzonestudios.com/

YourPDi, Your Personal Digitalization, is the app where you quickly and safely organize and keep important information and valuable documents. YouPDi gives you everything from receipt of your stolen bike, documents from the kitchen renovation, log-in details for Netflix, family vaccinations to colour codes in your home. Everything organized in one place and safely stored in the cloud. www.yourpdi.com/