About Phyron

• Founded in 2019, Swedish video tech pioneer Phyron is developing the world’s first fully automated AI-enhanced video solution. Using Artificial Intelligence, the software identifies the best and most relevant selling points of each individual car and combines still images from a data feed, facts and figures about the car, brand imagery and retailer services into relevant, highly effective videos.

• Phyron currently counts over 3,000 car dealers as customers across 30 countries. Just last month the company set up new offices in Brighton, UK, in addition to its existing HQ in Stockholm, Sweden.

Investment details

Round2 Capital provided both an additional revenue-based financing investment as well as an equity investment as part of the company’s Series B. The automotive retail giant Peter Vardy and existing shareholders also joined the funding round.

“Since we met the Phyron team and decided to make our first investment, the company’s development has been very positive. We value the relationship we have built and look forward to supporting the next phase of the company’s growth. We believe that Phyron is planning the right next steps to take advantage of opportunities in a dynamic market environment,”

Jan Hillered, co-founder and managing partner of Round2 Capital, commented on the investment.

This is not the first time the fund invested in the company. In June 2023, Round2 made an undisclosed seven-figure investment in the Stockholm-based AI-powered video content creation platform. At the time, the investment was directed towards technology development and team growth.

The Series B funding will enable Phyron to accelerate development of its AI and automation technology, grow the team with top industry talent, and expand its operations in new markets – namely the United States.

• Swedfund is a financial institution established by the Kingdom of Sweden. Their mission is to fight poverty by investing in developing countries. Investments are made in energy and climate, healthcare and to reach small and medium-sized companies.
• As a public company, Swedfund is managed by the Swedish Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The operations are financed in part by an injection of capital, which is the responsibility of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by the return of funds from the own portfolio.
• Swedfund was founded in 1979 and has made more than 240 investments in more than 60 countries since its inception. In addition, it plays a key role in Ukraine’s reconstruction and resilience by providing long-term support, taking risks, and mobilising private capital.

Work assignments of the head of the investment office:

• Head of office and country representative;
• Generating local pipeline;
• Focus on networking, deal sourcing and deal preparation;
• Supporting transactions in due diligence processes and commercial discussions in cooperation with the sector teams in Stockholm;
• Follow up and evaluate existing portfolio companies in the country;
• Market Swedfund and participate in high-level meetings and interactions;
• Ambassador for Swedfund values and culture;
• Establishing relationships with other DFIs, MDBs and other relevant stakeholders;
• Monitor development and report to headquarters.

Requirements include:

• Relevant academic background, MBA, MSc or the equivalent advanced degree;
• Full proficiency in Ukrainian and English;
• Investment background, including with an international company/organisation with a least 10-15 years of relevant experience;
• Deep understanding of the local business environment and a broad local network;
• Experience in sourcing direct investment opportunities (equity and loans).

Applications are accepted until August 5, 2024. Applicants must be eligible to live and work in Kyiv. More details via the link.

• AMLYZE is a Vilnius-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) regtech offering a suite of anti-financial crime solutions for all types of financial services providers, including fintechs, banks, and crypto businesses. The company’s offering consists of comprehensive modules like real-time and retrospective transaction monitoring, customer risk assessment, AML/CFT investigations, PEP, sanctions, and adverse media screening.
• In May 2023, the company closed a €1 million pre-seed investment round led by Practica Capital, one of the leading venture capital firms in the Baltics, and FIRSTPICK, an accelerator and venture capital fund investing in technology companies across the Baltics.

We are thrilled to partner with Aura Cloud. Their commitment to agility and innovation aligns perfectly with our mission to provide AML/CFT solutions, built by regulatory insiders, who understand customer pain points from the inside out. Together, we will empower financial institutions to stay ahead of the curve in the fight against financial crime,

Jekaterina Govina, Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships, at AMLYZE, said.

• Aura Cloud is a a Stockholm-based nextgen AI digital banking platform, Aura. The cloud native platform is API-first and has the broadest functionality available to power innovative financial services. It has a range of different modules for Loans/Credits, Accounts/Deposits, Cards, Payments, Factoring, P2P, Loyalty, and Rewards.

We are glad to start the co-operation with AMLYZE. Their automated transaction monitoring and customer risk assessment solution provides additional possibilities for our digital banking platform customers to have state of the art solution to minimize financial crime and enhance compliance. We see this partnership as an excellent addition to our current partnership ecosystem in Northern Europe and beyond,

Prem Bhagwat, Aura Cloud CEO, shared his excitement about the partnership.

This partnership brings together the strengths of both companies, combining AMLYZE’s expertise in financial crime prevention with Aura Cloud’s innovative digital banking solutions.

• Founded in 2020 Dr. Nélida Leiva Eriksson, Ironic Biotech develops new generation of plant-derived proteins that contain iron, which are highly bioavailable with no side effects. These proteins are produced through precision fermentation and may be used as ingredients in food or food supplements.
• The startup addresses the problem of iron deficiency, which may affect up to 25% of the world’s population. Lack of iron leads to several symptoms like severe exhaustion, fatigue, heart palpitations, learning disabilities, and anemia. Thus, iron supplements may help prevent the diseases associated with the deficiency, however they can also cause extensive side effects. Ironic Biotech claims its solution doesn’t have any.

New ingredients like this enable the food industry to tackle a global health problem with new products. Worries about iron uptake are also a significant barrier to reducing the use of red meat in the Western diet. Putting a fundamental innovation like this to work takes effort, talent, and a bit of time. As an early investor, we work tightly with the team to build a solid foundation for success,

Louise Heiberg, Investment Director at Nordic Foodtech VC, says.

• Nordic Foodtech VC is the lead investor in the round. It is a Helsinki-based venture capital fund investing in early-stage companies aiming to radically renew the food system. The fund was launched in 2020 and has €42 million to invest in approximately 20 companies in the Nordics and Baltics.

The startup will use the funds to further ramp up work, expanding its patent portfolio, and optimizing the production process. The team is now looking for partners in the food and food supplement industry to work with.

• Founded in 2022 by Johan Selin and Lasse Järvinen, DealGuru develops a community-powered e-commerce platform where online shoppers can find and share the best deals in the market. Apart from saving money, the startup strives to make a positive difference in the lives of its users by offering them the knowledge and tools to make smarter decisions.

The feedback from our community, which is the core of our business, is incredibly important. There is a desire among our members for an app that makes it easier to navigate among our 8,000 offers, so we will deliver that as soon as possible,

Johan Selin, co-founder at DealGuru, comments.

The investment comes from Finnish VC firms Gorilla Capital and Innovestor along with some experienced entrepreneurs, business angels, and family offices.

• Gorilla Capital positions itself as a Nordic industrial Super angel. The firm invests in early-stage technology companies from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Baltics.
• Innovestor is an investment company focusing on venture capital, commercial real estate, and corporate venturing. The firm manages four VC funds with over €220 million in total capital, and also runs the accelerator program PALO.

The fresh capital will enable the startup to reach its goal of helping Swedes make better purchase decisions and save them time and money by using DealGuru.

• Agena Tech is a leading Sweden-based technology development company developing digital solutions, mobile applications, and tech talent sourcing. Agena Tech has a strong reputation in the Nordic region with industry-leading clients like Roche, Åhlens, Samhall, PwC, Carlsberg, OKQ8, CDLP, and EYTYS. 

“Adding Agena Tech to the beleven family amplifies our capabilities and enables us to offer an even broader range of services and solutions to our clients. We’re not just growing in size; we’re growing in our potential to lead and innovate,”

Roman Nazarkevych CEO of beleven, comments.

• This acquisition has manifold implications for both companies:
  • Expanded Portfolio: beleven gains a powerful extension to its existing offerings by incorporating Agena Tech’s technology, business expertise, and talent pool.
  • Robust Client Base: The acquisition will benefit clients from both companies, offering a more comprehensive suite of solutions that meet diverse technical and digital needs.
  • Strengthened Position in the Nordic Region: Agena Tech’s well-established market presence and reputation in this region will serve as invaluable assets for Beleven’s growth strategy.

“This goes beyond a mere acquisition; it’s a collaborative venture that offers businesses in the Nordic  region a reliable tech ally. With our combined strengths, we aim to deliver digital products and solutions  on schedule, within budget, and with the level of quality and innovation essential for success,”

Mikael Bäckström, Partner and Founder of AgenaTech, says.

About beleven

beleven is a Lviv-based technical and mobile developer known for its innovative solutions and market presence. It was founded in 2013 by Roman Nazarkevych and Rostyslav Zvarych, who developed the company with their own resources. Currently, beleven has a 20+ core team working from Lviv.

According to Roman Nazarkevych, the company has around 10 clients, apart from which the team is developing its own application — Chytanka, which has over 6,000 users. At the moment, beleven is actively adding a new publishing house to the app. The company aims to continually evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.

• Retein, recently named Aquammodate, was founded in 2019 at Chalmers University of Technology, and offers a technology for energy-efficient and high purity water separation. It is based on the silica stabilization process that allows the aquaporins to be used as an additive to various kinds of filters on a wide range of scales.
• The round was backed by the following investors: 
  • The Helsinki-based Butterfly Ventures, a seed stage VC, that focuses on the Nordics and invests in deep tech, hardware, and hardware interfacing software. Recently, it co-led $2 million funding round for the Stockholm-based Reactional Music.
  • Swedish VC funds Industrifonden that focuses on early stage technology and life science companies with international potential, and Navigare Ventures that specializes on science-driven companies.

“We are excited to welcome Industrifonden, Butterfly Ventures, and Navigare Ventures on board our journey towards enabling sustainable reuse of resources such as clean water. Their extensive experience in scaling and advancing deep tech solutions adds additional strength on our path to realize the transformational potential of our solution,”

Simon Isaksson, co-founder and CEO of Retein, said.

• The new investment will be used by Retein to increase the production of stabilized aquaporins and finalize the development of a filtration module with embedded aquaporins.

• Founded in 2022 by gaming industry veterans, MYSTiC GAMES is a game development studio based in Stockholm. The startup offers a unique gaming experience by creating multiplayer games based on blockchain technology.
• The studio will use part of the funding to grow its team, and the remaining funds will be used to continue the development of its upcoming mobile title, Call of the VoYd. It is a fast-paced roguelike royale game where players can play with friends, own collectibles, and win prizes.

“We’ve been extremely impressed with MYSTiC GAMES from day one. They have fantastic experience, understanding how to build games that people want to play, and where they want to play them,”

Jason Perkins, General Partner of 32-Bit Ventures, comments.

• Californian fund Shima Capital is the lead investor in this round. 32-Bit Ventures, SevenX Ventures, MEXC, Mainstreet DAO, angel investor Joe Mahon, and, among others, the Ukrainian fund TA Ventures, participated in the round.

About TA Ventures

TA Ventures is an early-stage venture fund, backing companies in Europe and North America at Seed and Series A, alongside high-profile co-investors, across a wide range of tech sectors. Its typical ticket range is between $250,000 and $1 million. It also provides follow-on investments.

Earlier, Viktoriya Tigipko, Founder and Managing Partner at TA Ventures, explained why it is still worth investing in Europe despite the high risks. Read the article, here.

• Founded in 2019 by David Bryngelsson, CarbonCloud is a research-based foodtech startup with a web-based SaaS solution. The platform enables the entire food industry to quickly calculate and understand their carbon emissions in real time. It can help increase transparency throughout the supply chains and at every operational level.

“CarbonCloud provides this with unrivalled consistency and detail. It takes mere seconds to establish the climate footprint of a food product while everyone else needs months to get a fraction of the results. The platform delivers value quicker and on a more granular level than any competitor,”

Stefan Bary, Managing Partner at Peak, says about the company.

• Cusp Capital, a German venture capital firm focused on European software and technology, and Peak, an Amsterdam-based early-stage VC fully backed by entrepreneurs, both led the Series A investment. Rivus Ventures and TS Ventures also participated in the round together with Maki.vc.
• Maki.vc is a Helsinki-based early-stage VC firm that was established in 2018. The fund usually invests from €200,000 to €2 million in deeptech, foodtech, healthcare, AI, ML, and other technology sectors. Earlier in 2023, the fund co-led a €3.4M seed round for Ever Dye, a French deeptech.
• CarbonCloud plans to use the fresh funds to expand its market position as the leading climate intelligence platform.

• Founded in 2018 Enerpoly develops zinc-ion batteries for stationary storage applications. They are suitable for short- to medium-duration storage applications of two to 10 hours. The company claims that Zinc-ion batteries can enable 100% renewable energy on a global scale.
• EET was launched in 2017 and is developing solar plug-in storage technology. Its devices can be installed without the help of a technician. EET’s innovation core for the SolMate device, an integrated and patented measurement technology that can detect the energy demand of a household via a power outlet connection. Since launching, EET has sold over 10,000 units of its systems, with and without storage.
• Eurostars is a funding program, backed by the European Union through Horizon Europe. It is the largest international funding programme for SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes, or services for commercialization. Eurostars is operated by EUREKA, an intergovernmental network involving 37 countries.

“Rising electricity bills and energy security are increasingly concerning issues for Europe. Everyone, whether homeowners or tenants, should have the ability to generate, store and access renewable energy without breaking the bank. ZincMate offers an affordable, safe, and easy-to-use energy generation plus storage product. By working with EET, we’re taking a decisive step towards making clean energy accessible to all,”

states Eloisa de Castro, CEO of Enerpoly.

• The grant funding will be used for the development of the collaborative project ZincMate. The technical basis for ZincMate is EET’s on-grid technology in combination with Enerpoly’s cost-effective battery. The prototypes of a residential plug-in storage system will be tested in both laboratory and home environments. The project starts in 2023 and runs for 2 years.

• SunRoof builds 2-in-1 solar roofs and facades that generate electricity, replacing the need for a traditional roof. SunRoof’s mission is to speed up the global transition to renewables by developing roofs that, by generating electricity, will cover the energy demand of the entire building.
• The company’s team has increased 13-fold since January 2020, to more than 150 people Europe-wide. SunRoof now has customers in Sweden, Germany, and Poland, along with pilots in the US.

“In Europe, we’re facing two crises: the climate and the energy crises. SunRoof is enabling consumers, businesses and governments to access and benefit from independent, regenerative energy and end the overreliance on fossil fuels. I’m delighted to have this brilliant consortium of investors on board, who collectively are the best possible combination of funds for SunRoof at this growth stage,”

said Lech Kaniuk, сo-founder and CEO of SunRoof.

• After closing its first €15 million round in September 2022 led by Klima, the fresh €13.5 million was supported by three European climate tech investors, including World Fund, Nordic Alpha Partners, and L&G Capital. 
• World Fund backs climate tech startups that have the potential to save at least 100 megatons of CO2 every year. Its general partner Tim Schumacher will join SunRoof’s board, whilst investment associate Victoria McIvor will be an observer.  
• The investment will be used for SunRoof’s global expansion in Germany, the Nordics, Poland, and the US, allowing more homeowners and businesses to benefit from SunRoof’s solar technology, reducing their emissions and their energy bills.

• SunRoof was founded in 2013 by Karol Kaniuk and Lech Kaniuk. It builds powerful 2-in-1 solar roofs that generate electricity, replacing the need of traditional rooftiles. The startup claims that its powerful and resource efficient solar roofs revolutionize housing electrification and decentralized renewable energy generation.
• The funding round was led by Klima, the growth equity fund of Alantra focused on technology companies accelerating the energy transition. The Polish VC funds such as Inovo VC, SMOK Ventures, Alfabeat, and Level2 Ventures, as well as several business angels joined in the round.

“I’m delighted that Klima is joining us as an investor and as a partner. The Klima team has already supported us in establishing relationships with strategic partners, who will help us to further develop and deliver an end-to-end decentralized and smart energy system to our customers across Europe,”

Lech Kaniuk, CEO and Co-Founder of SunRoof, comments on the investment.

• The recent investment round increased the total funding of SunRoof to €21.5 million. The company grew from 10 people in January 2020 to over 130 employees in 2022. Over the last two years, the startup has also established and expanded operations in Sweden, Germany, and Poland.
• Using the fresh funding, SunRoof will continue to grow and to consolidate its leading position in existing markets.

Check out our Top 25 most active Polish VC funds 2022 ranking. The current investors Inovo VC, SMOK Ventures, and Alfabeat are included in the listing, here.

• Voima Ventures was founded in 2019 by Inka Mero, Marko Viinikka, and Mikko Kumpulainen. It is an early stage deep tech venture capital focusing on healthtech, life sciences, optics, IoT, robotics, and AI sectors. So far, the fund has invested in more than 30 startups, including companies like Solar Foods, Infinited Fiber Company, and Dispelix.
• The fund joined in the €1.3 million seed round for Cellfion, a cleantech startup from Sweden. The company develops bio-based membranes, that help with sustainable energy transition. These membranes are critical components in the making of Redox Flow Batteries, which can store and discharge energy upon demand.

“With an ambition to replace toxic and fossil based membranes, the potential for Cellfion is huge. Additionally, the accelerating energy crisis makes the demand for sustainable solutions greater than ever, and Cellfion has the potential of becoming the new market leader,”

Jenny Engerfelt, Investment Director at Voima Ventures, comments on the investment.

• The round also saw participation from Swedish investors Almi Invest Green Tech and Klimatet Invest, as well as LiU Invest, and KTH Holding.
• The fresh equity injection enables Cellfion to scale the manufacturing of sustainable membranes. The startup is also planning to expand its team, develop prototypes, and get its first product to market.

The beginning

Klarna, which was called Kreditor Europe AB, was founded in 2005 in Stockholm by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson. The name of the company illustrated an approach to the business of young entrepreneurs greatly: “It made us sound serious, trustworthy and larger than we were,” they remembered. 

Even though their first products, invoice and part payments, with an idea of “buy now, pay later” were not successful and accepted by business leaders of that times, they continued to be serious in their belief in this solution. It must have made online payments easier and safer, both for consumers and retailers. Jane Walerud, an angel investor and previous Erlang Systems sales manager, also liked the Kreditor idea and provided founders with €60,000 and contacts of the programmers to help them build the platform.

After that, at the end of 2007, Kreditor raised more capital – Swedish company AB Öresund invested $2.2 million in a Series A financing round that allowed the company to grow internationally. During the next two years, Kreditor launched its payments platform in Norway, Finland and Denmark. Slowly but surely, the business starts to take off as more and more people were shopping online. 

Klarna appeared and started to grow rapidly

In 2009, Kreditor was rebranded as Klarna and employed 120 people. Next year Klarna started its operations in Germany and the Netherlands, opening first offices in Nuremberg and Amsterdam. In May, San Francisco-based VC firm Sequoia Capital entered the Klarna board as an investor. Together with the funding from business angel Karl Danowsky Prytz, the company has received $9 million and closed Series B financing round.

The company’s yearly revenue increased by 80% to $54 million. After that, more investors became interested in the company’s products and joined the board including General Atlantic who led the $155 million round with participation from DST Global. 

In May 2011, the fintech acquired Israeli-based risk management company Analyzd that operated in the USA, some European countries and Israel, and opened its sixth office located in Tel Aviv. Consequently, the founder of Analyzd was taken on the role of Chief Risk Officer as part of Klarna’s management team.

In 2012, Klarna launched its Checkout product. It was based on the “buy now, pay however you like” model and allowed the company to manage the whole checkout experience instead of being “just” one of the payment options. Both consumers and retailers liked the idea and during one year the number of its users increased to 10 million. In 2013, the company became a unicorn, being valued at €1 billion, and its revenue amounted to $200 million.

When the company acquired the German payment provider SOFORT in 2014, the Klarna Group was formed. At that time, its services were used by over 25 million consumers and 45,000 online retailers across 14 European countries. The company expanded and moved it headquarter to a much bigger office in Stockholm. That year it also entered the UK market and opened a new office in central London.

2014 was for the company a tough year, because of a huge number of invoices not paid on time, as well as complaints. But despite these difficulties, Klarna started testing its solutions in the USA and opened offices in Columbus, Ohio and New York City. The company’s valuation amounted to more than $2 billion.

Smoooth shopping

In 2016 the company launched its successful “Smoooth” marketing campaign, which featured bold images of a slippery fish gliding down a slide and across the floor, endless slicing of a brick of Swiss cheese and a silky fur-covered creature swimming underwater in slow-motion. It was aimed to illustrate how smooth payments can be for consumers and online merchants using its platform.

The “Smoooth” concept includes the three ways consumers can shop with Klarna:

• “Pay now” – Pay directly at checkout;
• “Pay later” – Pay after a 14-day period;
• “Slice it” – Slice up the payments on the purchase over time.

Marketing efforts were accompanied by transforming Klarna into a bank. In 2017, the company has been granted a full Swedish banking license for a which it applied in 2015. The license gave Klarna the ability to launch Open Banking Platform that enables access to more than 5,000 European banks in 16 countries through single Access to Account API.

After that, in 2019, Klarna raised $460 million from Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Dragoneer, HMI Capital LLC, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited and others. This round pushed the company’s valuation to $5.5 billion and made Klarna the highest valued private fintech company in Europe and 6th globally. 

Klarna today

Klarna is active in 17 markets across 3 continents, has over 90 million consumers, more than 200,000 retail partners, and 3000 employees worldwide. On average, 1 million transactions per day are processed through the company’s systems.

On September 2020, Klarna has raised a $650 million round of funding at a post-money valuation of $10.65 billion. It was led by global technology investment firm Silver Lake. Klarna is still the biggest fintech in Europe, and the company is not planning to stop.

“The adventure is just beginning. Consumers and retailers will not settle for average. And at Klarna neither do we. There is so much more to be done in transforming how people shop, pay and bank into something smoother.”

1. Klarna

Founded: In 2005 by Niklas Adalberth, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, and Victor Jacobsson

Valuation: €9.6B

Led by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna is one of Europe’s biggest fintech firms that develops merchants and shoppers eCommerce payment solutions platform. It offers interest-free financing on retail purchases over a period of instalments on the base of its “buy now, pay later” model. 

2. Kry

Founded: In 2015 by Fredrik Jung Abbou, Joachim Hedenius, Johannes Schildt, and Josefin Landgård

Valuation: €560-840M

Kry allows patients to consult a qualified health professional within minutes, via their smartphones or tablets. The company operates in Sweden, Norway, Germany as Kry, as well as in the UK and France under the name LIVI. Since the company was founded it has completed more than 1.4 million patient meetings.

3. Voi Technology

Founded: In 2018 by Adam Jafer, Douglas Stark, Fredrik Hjelm, and Keith Richman

Valuation: €386M

Voi Technology is a micro-mobility company that owns, operates, and manages electric scooters for urban commuters in 12 countries and 47 cities across Europe. According to the company, over 4 million people has already joined the “Voi scooter troopers” community since 2018.

4. Northvolt

Founded: In 2016 by Paolo Cerruti and Peter Carlsson

Valuation: €1.6B

Northvolt develops sustainable lithium-ion batteries manufactured with minimal carbon footprint and with recycling technology without compromising with important eco-systems, enabling the auto industry to replace fossil fuels with electricity.

5. Tink

Founded: In 2012 by Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg

Valuation: €415M

Tink develops a cloud-based open banking platform that provides the infrastructure and value-adding data products, such as account aggregation, payment initiation, data enrichment and personal finance management that can be used to develop standalone services or be integrated into existing banking applications. 

6. Natural Cycles

Founded: In 2013 by Elina Berglund, Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, and Raoul Scherwitzl

Valuation: €109-164M

Natural Cycles offers the only certified contraceptive app in Europe. It relies on the basal body temperature and other individual relevant data like levels of luteinizing hormone to algorithmically calculate the probability of the women being fertile on each day in their cycle.

7. Mapillary

Founded: In 2013 by Jan Erik Solem, Johan Gyllenspetz, Peter Neubauer, and Yubin Kuang

Valuation: €55-€82M

Mapillary is the street-level imagery platform that scales and automates mapping using collaboration, cameras, and computer vision. Images from any camera are combined into a visualization of the world that generates map data for improving maps, developing cities, and progressing the automotive industry.