How Sweden Became The Silicon Valley Of Europe
<p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">Sweden’s home computer drive, and concurrent early investment in internet connectivity, help explain why its capital Stockholm has become such rich soil for startups, birthing and incubating the likes of Spotify, Skype, and Klarna.</p>
A $90B Swedish Investor Says He Won't Touch Hedge Funds
One of Sweden’s biggest pension funds says there’s no case for using hedge funds given the cost they represent in the current environment.
How This Swedish VC Became Spotify's Lead Investor
In early 2007, Daniel Ek and Lorentzon, the co-founders of Spotify, approached Pär-Jörgen Pärson about putting together a consortium of venture capital investors to invest in Spotify. Although Pärson, a general partner of private equity fund Northzone, had worked with both, the financing was by means a foregone conclusion.
Schroders Agrees to Buy $7B Swiss Private Equity Firm
Schroders, the UK's biggest listed fund manager, has agreed to buy a $7 billion Swiss private equity firm, Adveq, plugging a gap in its alternatives and private markets offering.
Private Equity Firms Bid $22B For SCA's Hygiene Business
A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.3 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA. Sweden's SCA last week formally approved a proposal to split.
Intel, Others Lead $63M Funding In European Mobile Payments Company
European mobile payments processor iZettle has raised €60 million ($63.3 million) comprising equity funding from existing investors, which include Intel Capital and Zouk Capital, as well as debt-funding from Victory Park Capital. Founded out of Sweden in 2010, iZettle serves as a similar proposition to Jack Dorsey’s Square, vis-à-vis it targets small to medium-sized businesses […]
Skype Founder: Euro Pension Funds Can Increase Size Of VC Exits
A funding gap would disappear if European pension funds would allocate just .6% more of their capital under management to venture investments, Zennström said.
French Pensions Call For Moratorium On Arctic Oil & Gas
Switzerland is engaged in a debate not just about its pension reforms, but also wider issues of intergenerational fairness and the stability of the second-pillar pension system...
European VC Firm Northzone Closes Fresh $335M Fund
Northzone, a Swedish-founded venture capital (VC) firm with hubs in London, Oslo, Stockholm, and New York, has announced the closure of its biggest fund to date. The firm says that the NZVIII fund was oversubscribed, with a target of €300 million ($335 million), and that it was its fastest fundraise ever.
This Swedish Fintech VC Fund Is Looking For Brexit Bargains In London And Just Made Its First Investment
Swedish fintech-focused venture capital firm NFT Ventures has made its first investment in London and is looking for more deals in the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote.