It continues to rain capital on West Swedish companies!
In 2021, startups here raised more than 135 million through Connect Sweden Region West.
This means that early-stage companies have raised close to a quarter of a billion over the past two years through Connect West – a considerable amount considering that the capital comes from private investors.
“We see that the rounds have become larger during the pandemic and that they are also closing faster. For example, we had a company raise capital in six weeks after it pitched to our angel investors,” says Johanna Holmström, head of Connect’s business angel network.
Capital – an enabler for growth
Bringing external equity into a company enables faster growth. For innovative early-stage scalable companies, development work is often required before they reach commercialisation, and private equity has an important role to play here.
Already in 2020, capital rained down on the startup scene in Gothenburg, and it continued with vigour in 2021. One of Connects’ clients, Dialogtrail, oversubscribed its round and has been able to focus on building its product for the past 12 months.
“The capital and the new owners enabled our product development in 2021 to keep pace with the rapidly evolving e-commerce market,” says Axel Hellström CEO and co-founder of Dialog Trail.
A region on the move
West Sweden is undeniably a place where things are happening right now. Northvolt and Volvo are investing heavily in Gothenburg, financial giant Klarna is opening offices, as is the venture company Wellstreet. Now we see that many startups have also received a substantial cash injection to build the strong companies of tomorrow.
“The startup scene in Gothenburg is thriving and it’s wonderful to see how both skills and capital are enabling more fast-growing companies in the region,” says Marcus Nordanstad, CEO of Connect West.
“We at Connect are proud that our platform enables companies to become capital ready and that investors in our network get a quality assured dealflow. The interest in supporting entrepreneurs, investing and contributing with their expertise is increasing – this creates good conditions for the future,” continues Marcus Nordanstad, CEO Connect West.