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 September 26, 2018

Healthtech company Learning to Sleep raises 3.3 MSEK

Learning to Sleep, a company that develops a digital CBT-based tool to help people with sleep problems, has raised 3.3 MSEK from Almi Invest, Alltrum, Proos Consulting and Malte Rohlin. The capital will be used to continue the company’s expansion, both in Sweden and internationally.

Learning to Sleep has developed the clinically validated digital treatment program Sov bättre, which treats people with persistent sleep problems. With Sov bättre, the patient receives an individualized 5-week treatment based on CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy and a personal sleep coach.

“More than half a million individuals seek care for sleep problems every year, only in Sweden. At the same time, waiting times for assistance through therapy are often long and the cost for society high. With Learning to Sleep’s evidence-based digital tools, more people can get help faster, at lower cost,” says Per Antonsson, Investment Manager at Almi Invest.

The fact that the tool is digital, proving its users with reminders to perform their tasks, gives greater compliance than other non-digital aids programs. So far, Learning to Sleep has treated over 1,000 patients in Sweden and 94 percent of them now have better sleep.

“We are very pleased to welcome Almi Invest as an investor in the company, now when we are preparing to take the next step in our journey. Almi Invest provides us not only with capital, but also a large network of investors and expertise in financing. Now we are looking forward to an exciting autumn and to contribute to a better health in Sweden and in the countries we are about to expand our business,” says Micael Gustafsson, CEO of Learning at Sleep.

The capital will be used to continue the establishment of the service on the Swedish market, primarily in primary care, and to start the preparations for the international launch.
Learning to Sleep is a Sting Incubate company.

For further information contact
Micael Gustafsson, CEO Learning at Sleep, tel +46 736 993 601, mail micael@learningtosleep.se

Per Antonsson, Investment Manager Almi Invest, tel +46 708 728 717, mail per.antonsson@almi.se

NEWS September 6, 2018

Almi Invest and Söderberg & Partners invest in the Edtech company Learnster

Almi Invest invests in the Edtech company Learnster, which develops the next generation’s learning platform for companies engaged in education or internal competence development. Söderberg & Partners also participates in the financing round. The capital will be used for further development of the platform and for continued market launch.

Stockholm-based Learnster offers a cloud-based learning platform, where trainers can design and distribute courses and educations in relevant learning environments. Learnster is suitable for both the teacher-led, physical classroom and e-learning programs and everything in between.

The learning platform contains a user-friendly design tool to easily create courses and educations, as well as functionality for publishing courses, handling course participants and course programs, automation of bookings and handling of payments.
The platform is built with state-of-the-art technology and is responsive, making it work on all types of digital devices – from computer to mobile. This enables the participant to learn on his / her terms and take part in the course content – before, during and after the training.

“Learnster facilitates lifelong learning, which is becoming more important in today’s working life,” says Jens Bäckbom, investment manager at Almi Invest. “The platform is as powerful for small educational companies as for large companies and is fully adapted to today’s and the future’s digital climate, giving the company good potential to succeed,” he continues.

Although the Learnster learning platform was launched relatively recently on the market, it has already proven itself very competitive in terms of large-scale, established systems. The customer list includes the SATSELIXIA gym chain, which is already running and uses the system for introductory training for its 8,000 employees.

“We are very pleased to welcome Almi Invest as an investor,” says Learnster’s CEO Mikael Larsson. “With the help of their capital, skills and network, we can further increase the pace of our development.”

For further information contact
Mikael Larsson, CEO of Learnster, tel 070-431 48 16, mail mikael.larsson@learnster.com
More information about Learnster can be found at www.learnster.se

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 August 23, 2018

Sting Bioeconomy to accelerate future growth companies within renewable product and services

Today, Sting Bioeconomy, a new cutting-edge incubator, is being launched to help develop innovations in forest-based bioeconomy and increase the number of fast growing companies in this area. Victor Isaksen, experienced entrepreneur and forest owner, becomes president of the newly-started Karlstad-based incubator.

The venture is a collaboration between the world-leading cluster of forest-based bioeconomic companies, Paper Province, Region Värmland, Karlstad Municipality and Sting, the Nordic region’s leading incubator for startups with high growth potential.

The new incubator will be based in Karlstad, with the aim of leveraging Värmland’s strong position within forest-based bioeconomics. Värmland is home to world-leading industry within this area with large companies like Rottneros and Nordic Paper, as well as the strong bioeconomic cluster Paper Province. Stockholm-based incubator Sting will also participate as a partner in the project, contributing its experience in developing high tech startups and its international network of investors and business contacts.

Victor Isaksen will take on the challenge to build Sting Bioeconomy. Victor has a background as an entrepreneur and as a forest owner, providing knowledge and experience that will be useful in his work. “I look forward to building Sting Bioeconomy into a world-leading ecosystem for young promising companies focusing on sustainable services and products based on renewable resources,” says Victor. “I also look forward to the cooperation with Sting, that is internationally recognized as one of the world’s best incubators with its proven working methods,” he continues.

Sting Bioeconomy welcomes startups from all over the country to its program and, with its base in Karlstad, will provide part of its offer virtually and with close connections to Stockholm. Promising startups with business ideas in areas such as bioenergy, new packaging solutions and optimization of forest and paper industry processes are expected to join the incubator. Business develop support, financing and internationalization will be important part of the new incubator’s offer to accepted startups.

Since the start of 2002, Sting has supported over 240 companies. The companies currently have aggregated revenues of over SEK 2.1 billion. Pär Hedberg, CEO and founder of Sting, commented on the collaboration:
“For us at Sting, this is the first time we put our name on a venture outside of Stockholm, and we are look forward to contributing our experience and our networks to Sting Bioeconomy with the aim of building an edge incubator that truly delivers value for promising startups within this important area. We are also very excited to cooperate with world-leading large companies and regional players in Värmland to make this initiative a success,” says Pär Hedberg.

Contact
Victor Isaksen, CEO Sting Bioeconomy, 070-636 93 25
Pär Hedberg, CEO Sting, 070-855 03 18

NEWS July 3, 2018

Propel Capital IV raises 8 MSEK from Saminvest and opens for matching of business angel investments

From left: Pär Hedberg (Sting), Peder Hasslev (Saminvest), Erik Wijnbladh (Saminvest), Jens Lundström (ABI) and Jeanette Andersson (Minc)

Propel Capital IV, founded by Sting, is one of three selected business angel companies that raises capital from Saminvest to improve the financing and growth opportunities for its incubator and accelerator companies. In addition to the 8 MSEK investment in Propel Capital IV, Saminvest undertakes to invest together with selected business angels when they make follow-on investments in Propel Capitals portfolio companies.

Propel Capital I – IV are business angel companies linked to Sting, the leading ecosystem in the Nordics for startups with high growth potential. Propel Capital allows business angels to become indirect shareholders in a large number of promising startups with a relatively small capital investment. The angels also have the opportunity to make direct investments in their favorite Propel Capital companies.

“Since the start in 2002, Sting has contributed to the development of a large number of interesting companies and built a network of experienced business angels. It was therefore natural for Saminvest to have Sting and Propel Capital as part of this first investment round in incubator-based business angel companies. We are now building on this structure and we look forward to taking the concept to other parts of the country,” comments Peter Hasslev, CEO of Saminvest.

Including the investment from Saminvest, Propel Capital IV, has raised more than 20 MSEK to invest in up to 40 companies. As a complement to the investment in Propel Capital, Saminvest will also match selected business angels’ continued investments in Propel Capitals portfolio companies.

“Propel Capital has so far funded over 70 startups in Stockholm. It has made us one of Sweden’s most active private investors with great reach among entrepreneurs and investors in early stages. Through the investment from Saminvest, we now have additional resources to help entrepreneurs to realize business ideas and build more growth companies in Sweden,” says Niclas Lilja, Chairman of Propel Capital.

Saminvest’s investment initiative initially involves investments in business angel companies linked to three incubators from north to south – Sting, Minc (Malmö) and the Arctic Business Incubator (Luleå), all participants in Vinnova‘s excellence program. The aim is that these investments will soon be followed by similar investments in business angel companies linked to incubators in other parts of the country. The management of both Propel Capital and Saminvest’s additional investments in Propel Capital companies are handled by Sting.

“Business angels play a key role in funding young growth companies. In this context, today’s launch of the matching initiative, where Saminvest will match selected business angels’ follow-on investments, is extra pleasing. Sweden now get a business angel investment booster corresponding to similar initiatives in many other parts of the world,” says Erik Wijnbladh, Head of Fund Investments in Saminvest.

For more information contact:
Peder Hasslev, CEO Saminvest, 076-117 31 70
Pär Hedberg, CEO Sting, 070-855 03 18

About Saminvest
Saminvest is a venture capital company, formed by the state in 2016. Saminvest is actively working on the creation of new venture capital funds (“VC”) with sufficient qualities and long-term ability to develop the Swedish venture capital market. This is done by identifying new teams with experience in developing successful companies that manage funds that have the potential to attract private capital. Together with other investors, Saminvest will invest in these new venture capital funds, which in turn become active owners of portfolio companies in future industries.

About Sting and Propel Capital
Since 2002, Sting has helped entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas into successful growth companies. We offer startups financing, business development support and world-class networks. Sting has supported over 240 startups, of which 70 percent continue to grow and grow today. Together, all Sting companies have a turnover of over SEK 2.1 billion. In addition, they have created over 1800 jobs. Linked to Sting is Propel Capital, which since its inception in 2014 through Propel Capital I, II III and IV has invested nearly SEK 25 million in over 70 STING companies. The portfolio includes companies such as Sellpy, Signal Signal, DP Organizer, Elly Pistol, Sniph, Airinum and Sudio.

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 June 19, 2018

Magnus Hedberg, known from the TV success Lyxfällan, invests in the app YourPDi

From left: Patricia Ingemarsson, Magnus Hedberg, Jenny Wuori, YourPDi

YourPDi, Your Personal Digitalisation, is a new app that provides an easy, smart and safe way to get in control of, and store your valuable information and documents. Magnus Hedberg, known from TV3´s Lyxfällan, now joins YourPDi in order to expand the app to a broader audience.

The app Your PDi has been founded by Patricia Ingemarsson och Jenny Wuori with the vision to provide a way to easily handle personal documents and other important information. YourPDi offers its users a place for everything and everything in one place – including the receipt for the stolen bike, documents from the renovation, warranties, log-in codes for Netflix, family vaccinations and your homes color scheme.

The information is stored in the cloud and is protected by, among others, Swedish Baffin Bay Networks to prevent eventual cyber attacks.

Magnus Hedberg now joins YourPDi as the company´s ambassador.

– When I heard about YourPDi, I immediately felt that this is something I want to be part of, says Magnus Hedberg. The app provides easy access to what I need, it doesn’t matter if it is tomorrow or in five years. I see daily in my work how beneficial it is for people to get in control of their documents.

Magnus Hedberg has own experienced of how convenient it is to store information digitally.

– I have super control of my documents, says Magnus Hedberg. Everything is sorted into the right binder and behind the right divider. However, as I don´t carry the binders with me all the time, sometimes I lack access to the information I need at the moment I need it. Yesterday for example, when my daughter was due for a vaccination, I realized her vaccination card was at home and I didn’t know what booster it was time for. A positive side effect of having your documents in order is that you save money. For example we got a new TV, when our old TV´s display gave up, two weeks before the warranty expired.

All information that you store on YourPDi is protected and encrypted in the cloud. No one but you can see what you store.

– So much has happened when it comes to digital safety, stresses Magnus Hedberg. My biggest problem now is what to do with all my empty binders. Not to mention the time I save when I store everything through my mobile, easily available everywhere via the cloud.

– We are very happy to have Magnus joining YourPDi, says Patricia Ingemarsson, co-founder. He is an advocate for order and control, exactly what YourPDi provides and he will be an important ambassador for our service.

For more information:
Jenny Wuori: jenny@yourpdi.se, 070-538 48 09
Patricia Ingemarsson: patricia@yourpdi.se, 073-525 52 05
www.yourpdi.com

YPDi AB has developed the app YourPDi for you who easily want to get in control of your valuable documents and other important information. The app was launched on App Store in May, 2018. An Android version will be available in July. You just scan your documents and simply place them in any of the many pre-defined categories. Everything organized and in one place – safely stored in the cloud. Easy to find – when you need it the most.

NEWS May 21, 2018

BlueCall secures millions in new funding – will help employers increase the wellbeing of employees

BlueCall, the app for anonymous therapeutic calls and chats, teams up with Soläng Invest, a former KING Studio Manager, and a stress researcher from Stockholm University in a new investment round. The money will be used to finance a new partnership strategy aimed at employers and health service providers.

–We are thrilled to bring even more skills into the company and now we can take the leap from being a start-up to becoming a more established company. Having research expertise in our core area, as well as experts in the field of digitization amongst the investors, we are convinced that we can strengthen our position as the service that prevents mental illness. With our anonymous solution, we lower the thresholds for individuals to dare to and want to address their situation, said Caroline Rödén, CEO of BlueCall.

The new funds will be used to finance a new strategy for partnerships with employers and health service providers. A new sales manager, head hunted by Wise Professionals and with a solid HR background, will lead the launch of the new strategy. The investment will also help BlueCall prepare to launch their service in new markets.

–As an investor, I am drawn to simple solutions to difficult societal problems and to driven founders who are determined to succeed. BlueCall has a business idea that addresses a huge and global societal problem, and a prominent issue for employers – mental health issues account for 46% of all sick leave. The company has launched an effective tool to prevent mental illness by getting the employee to act even before the situation has become serious. I am convinced that many employers will benefit greatly from this, says Anders Göransson from Soläng Invest, sometimes referred to as Sweden’s largest technology investor.

The new investors are

Soläng Invest, Anders Göransson
Fredrik Åhlberg, former studio manager at KING
Oddball Ventures, Ashkan Fardost
Helena Schiller, stress researcher at Stockholm University
Cecilia Storåkers Hjelmstedt

BlueCall was a part of Sting Accelerate in the fall of 2016.

About BlueCall

BlueCall was founded in 2016 by Caroline Rödén, Lisa Löfgren and Tamara Bernad. The service is an app for anonymous therapeutic conversations over phone and chat – a simple and scalable solution to the huge social problem of mental health. The vision is to help millions of people across the world to better wellbeing. BlueCall has 10,000 users and over 150 call therapists connected to the service. The company is based in Stockholm, and consists of a team of 8 people.

Press Contact

Lisa Löfgren
Lisa@bluecallapp.com
+4673 905 16 05
bluecallapp.com

NEWS May 16, 2018

Positive opening message at Sting Day: the Sting companies’ revenues increased 40 % 2017

The Sting companies’ aggregated revenues increased by more than 40% in 2017 and the aggregated company valuation was doubled to now exceed 10 billion SEK. These positive figures are presented today when the the leading startup ecosystem in the Nordics, Sting, publishes its annual figures at Sting Day.

Sting Day today gathers 400 personally invited guests at Sweden’s most exclusive matchmaking event for startups and investors. 170 investors from 15 countries will be present to meet with a large number of carefully selected startups. The theme for this year’s event is sales and growth.

As a part Pär Hedberg’s introduction speech, a summary of the Sting companies’ performance during 2017 is presented.

“The figures we present here today speak their clear language, the Sting companies contribute with jobs and export revenues to Sweden,” says Pär Hedberg. We are especially pleased that the companies’ sales growth is strong and we view the doubled company valuation as a receipt that external investors also appreciate the potential of these companies.”

Some key figures 2017 (2016 in parentheses) *:
Aggregated sales: 2.11 billion kronor (1.47 billion)
of which export revenues: 1.50 billion kronor (1.17 billion)
Number of employees: 1819 (1532)
Gender distribution in the companies: 26 % women / 74 % men
Private capital invested in the companies: 752 million kronor (649 million kronor)
Public financing attracted to the companies: 126 million kronor (209 million kronor)
Aggregated company valuation: 10.2 billion kronor (5.1 billion kronor)
* The figures are based on the 240 companies (of which 168 are active today) accepted to Sting from the start in 2002 until the end of 2017/2018.

“An area where we see improvement potential is the gender balance in our companies. The tech industry is still dominated by men, and we see that we have an important role to play in order for more women to choose work in startups. Our ambition is that at least 50% of the companies accepted to any of Sting’s programs should have at least one female founder. We also have good opportunities to contribute to the recruitment of more women through our own recruitment service,” says Pär Hedberg.

During Sting Day, the audience will listen to experienced entrepreneurs and investors who reflect on the subject of the day. About 55 of Sweden’s most promising startups present their solutions in an exhibition and entrepreneurs and investors can book “speed meetings” via a digital platform, with the aim of providing an opportunity to establish a first contact that can eventually lead to long-term relationships. Among the speakers are Niklas Adalberth, founder of Norrsken and co-founder of Klarna, Stina Ehrensvärd, founder of Yubico, Wendy Tan White, founder of Moonfruit and Hanna Meiton, Chief Growth Officer at Soundtrack your Brand.

For more information
Maria Ljungberg, Communications Manager at Sting, 0708-36 22 31, maria.ljungberg@sting.co