News & Analysis

driven by the PitchBook Platform
Top Investor

The top 13 most active Swedish VC investors

While Swedish startups are seeing a fall in deal count and capital, VCs from the country are ramping up their spending. Here’s a look at Sweden’s top investors.

(scanrail/iStock/Getty Images Plus)


Sweden’s reputation as a breeding ground for unicorns is well-known, with the relatively small country being one of the world’s most prolific producers of billion-dollar VC-backed businesses.

But behind the country’s big names— Spotify, iZettle and Klarna to name a few—lies a somewhat bleaker picture suggesting that the Swedish venture capital ecosystem may be past its heyday … at least when it comes to startups. Since 2016, VC deals in Sweden have consistently fallen both in number and capital invested, per the PitchBook Platform. Last year saw 165 transactions worth nearly €645.5 million, compared with more than €1 billion the year before for 287 deals. Both years were eclipsed by 2016’s heights of €1.5 billion spent across 378 transactions.

That being said, while startups from the Nordic state may be receiving less funding, VC investors hailing from the country appear to be on a high. According to data from PitchBook, Swedish venture capital firms are investing more and more into companies. In 2018, these players poured just shy of €1.6 billion into businesses, up from €1.2 billion two years before, perhaps indicating that Swedish VCs are increasingly turning their sights towards companies outside their home country.

With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of the 13 most active Swedish VC investors since the beginning of 2015, excluding accelerator and incubator rounds. Deal counts are in parentheses:

1. Almi Invest (188)
2. Creandum (68)
3. EQT Ventures (49)
4. Industrifonden (44)
5. NFT Ventures (37)
6. Kinnevik (34)
7. Aggregate (31)
8. Inbox Capital (28)
9. Wellstreet Partners (23)
10. Partnerinvest Norr (22)
T-11. Nordic Makers (20)
T-11. Spintop Ventures (20)
13. LU Innovation (18)

For more of our Top Investor content, click here

Learn more about our editorial standards.

  • leah-hodgson-photo.jpg
    About Leah Hodgson
    Leah Hodgson is a London-based senior reporter for PitchBook, covering the venture capital ecosystem across Europe and the Middle East. Leah, who joined PitchBook in 2018, graduated from the University of Surrey with a BA in international politics with French. She has previously been a radio reporter in France. She later turned to financial journalism, covering the wealth management industry.
Join the more than 2 million industry professionals who get our daily newsletter!

    I agree to PitchBook’s privacy policy