Resources related to startups and social enterprises in Sweden and the Nordic countries, curated by Gregg Vanourek (Twitter: @GVanourek)
General Resources:
- ALMI (advisory and financial support)
-
Avodocs (free legal documents for startups)
- Breaking Into the U.S.: An Easy Guide For European Founders
- Brilliant Minds podcast (on creativity and entrepreneurship)
- Connect Sverige (nonprofit supporting innovative companies)
- Coompanion (advice and support for founders all over Sweden)
- Create Squared (Sweden’s largest entrepreneurship marathon for students)
- Drivhuset (guidance and training for entrepreneurs)
- Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business in Stockholm (Invest Stockholm)
- Entreprenör magazine (Sweden’s magazine for entrepreneurs)
- ESBRI (Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute)
- Founder Institute (Stockholm chapter) (business incubator)
- Företagarna (Swedish Federation of Business Owners)
- Ideaction (innovation program)
- Ideation360 (ideation and selection part of the innovation process)
- Nyföretagar Centrum (business planning and other startup support)
- Startup Docs (free legal templates for Swedish startups)
- Startup Docs: Ultimate Guide to Stock Options in Swedish Startups
- *Startup Guide Stockholm
- Startup Stockholm (advice and consulting for entrepreneurs)
- Stockholm Tech Scene Guide
- *SUP46 (events, networking, co-working space)
- Swedish Central Bureau of Statistics (data for business planning, etc.)
- Swedish Patent and Registration Office
- TIE Nordic chapter (world’s largest networking organization for entrepreneurs)
- Vinnova (research, networking, funding, etc.)
- Young Entrepreneurs of Sweden (network for young founders)
Competitions and Challenges:
- Student Competitions (platform for student competitions)
- Venture Cup (Sweden’s largest venture idea competition)
Co-Working / Co-Living Spaces:
- Epicenter (Stockholm house of innovation for corporations and starts)
- Guerilla Office (co-working group for entrepreneurs & creatives, around Sweden)
- K9/Techfarm (tech collective)
- Knackeriet (co-working space for Stockholm entrepreneurs)
- *Norrsken House (co-working space and investor in impact)
- OpenLab (co-working space for Stockholm social enterprise)
- Slottet (“The Castle”: co-working space in Stockholm)
- *SUP46 (events, networking, co-working space)
- TechFarm (co-living space for Stockhom entrepreneurs)
- The Park (co-working and event location space in Stockholm)
- THINGS Stockholm (co-location space for Stockholm hardware startups)
Education & Universities:
- AIESEC-Sweden (Sweden chapter of world’s largest non-profit youth-run organization)
- Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship
- Drivhuset (guidance and training for entrepreneurs)
- Hyper Island: Stockholm (global tech innovation school with Stockholm HQ)
- KaosPilots (innovative business education based in Denmark)
- KTH /Royal Institute of Technology:
- *Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (TEILM) program (one year master’s / magister program)
- Entrepreneurial Days (THS Future)
- Excitera
- *KTH Innovation (supporting commercialization of research)
- OpenLab (co-working space for Stockholm social enterprise)
- *Student Inc. (KTH Student Incubator)
- THINGS Stockholm (co-location space for Stockholm hardware startups)
- Stockholm School of Economics: SSE Business Lab
- *Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES) (consortium of six of Stockholm’s top universities)
- Stockholm University:
- Unipreneurs Network (student collaboration from several universities)
- Uppsala University: Uppsala University Entrepreneurship unit
Events and Meetups:
- Billiant Minds
- Entrepreneurial Days (THS Future at KTH)
- F***up Nights (FUN), Stockholm
- Startup Grind Stockholm (monthly events from startup community)
- Startup Weekend (Stockholm chapter)
- Stockholm Startup Events List
- Stockholm Startups Meetup
- Stockholm Tech Meetup
Finance and Venture Capital:
- 100 Tech Investors Active in the Nordics
- 500 Nordics (micro fund focused on help startups expand globally)
- ALMI Invest (VC)
- A-Z of Swedish VCs (in Swedish)
- Before the Angel
- Creandum (top Nordic VC based in Stockholm)
- Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business in Stockholm (Invest Stockholm)
- Industrifonden (VC investor in early-stage growth companies)
- Invest Stockholm (Stockholm business development & promotion arm)
- Luminar Ventures (VC)
- Nordic Makers (angel investor network)
- *Norrsken Foundation (co-working space and impact investor)
- Northzone (tech VC with offices in Stockholm, Oslo, London, NYC)
- Schibsted Growth (Stockholm VC for fast-growing digital ventures)
- STING (incubator, coaching, network, funding)
- Stockholms Affärsänglar (STOAF, Stockholm Business Angels network)
- Ultimate Guide to Stock Options in Swedish Startups (Startup Docs)
- Vinnova (research, networking, funding, etc.)
Incubators and Accelerators (sample):
- ASAP Accelerator (sustainability accelerator for students)
- Bonnier Accelerator
- Born Global (accelerator program for ambitious Swedish startups)
- Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship (Chalmers Ventures)
- Ericsson Garage (innovation incubator)
- Fast Track Malmö
- Ideon Innovation (Lund)
- KTH Innovation (Stockholm)
- LEAD (Linköping & Norrköping)
- LEAP (Nordic Accelerator for impact-minded startups)
- SE Forum (Social Entrepreneurship Forum)
- SSE Business Lab (Stockholm School of Economics accelerator)
- Student Inc. (student-run incubator at KTH)
- *STING (Stockholm Innovation and Growth)
- Student Inc. (KTH Student Incubator)
- SU Inkubator (Stockholm University incubator for startups)
- SU Innovation
- The Springfield Project (early-stage investor and accelerator)
- Think (accelerator for early-stage tech startups in Helsingborg)
- Uppsala Innovation Center
Job Boards / Matchmaking:
- Care of Business (platform for founders new to Sweden from outside EU)
- Hyper Island Job Board (for Stockholm & the Nordics)
- Startup Jobs (Sweden)
- StartupMatcher (leading Nordic startup job portal)
- SUP46 Member Job Board
- TheHub.se (community platform and job board for growth startups)
Social Entrepreneurship:
- *Ashoka Scandinavia
-
Care of Business (accelerator for foreign-born entrepreneurs)
- Entrepreneurs Without Borders
- Forum for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Sweden (Mötesplats Social Innovation)
- Fryshuset
- *Hult Prize (accelerator and competition for budding social entrepreneurs)
- Hus24 (co-working space for Stockholm entrepreneurs)
- IKEA Social Entrepreneurs
- *Impact Hub Stockholm (co-working space & launch pad for social entrepreneurs & creatives)
- Impact Invest Scandinavia
-
Impact Pool (gathers top talent to solve global challenges)
-
IMPACT X (Nordic platform for enterprises with sustainable products)
- Inclusive Business Sweden
- Institutet för Social Effekter (Institute for Social Effects, Fryshuset)
- Leksell Social Ventures
- Mötesplats Social Innovation
- *Norrsken Foundation (invests in businesses nonprofits focused on positive social impact)
- Raoul Wallenberg Academy
- *Reach for Change (accelerator supporting children and youth working in Europe and Africa)
- *SE Forum (Social Entrepreneurship Forum) (accelerator)
- Sida (government agency helping to reduce global poverty)
- Social Initiative (helps companies develop meaningful community engagement via tailored CSR and sustainability projects)
- Social Innovation Summit (annual social innovation forum in Malmö)
- Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum (network organization for policy-relevant research on entrepreneurship)
- World Children’s Prize (initiative for equality, children’s rights, and democracy)
- *World Values Initiative (student-run network, events, workshops focused on values)
- Young Entrepreneurs of Sweden (network for young founders)
To get Gregg’s manifesto on Leadership Derailers (and how to avoid them) and free book chapters from Gregg’s books, including Triple Crown Leadership, check out his Free Guide. Twitter: @gvanourek
