Founder of Encore here (on the list). Great to see so many wonderful companies represented. Sweden is a great place to start a startup these days.
Can you explain why?
Swedish tech startups and scaleups
11–20 of 116 posts
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#12Founder of Encore here (on the list). Great to see so many wonderful companies represented. Sweden is a great place to start a startup these days.
I'm starting a subsidiary of a start-up in Germany in Sweden. It's not my experience that Sweden is a great place for startups, the bureaucracy is extremely hit/miss. Setting up tax information for example is really difficult as a non-Swedish speaker and even tripped up my Swedish speaking friend (who is a project coordinator on the new Skane hospital: so she's somewhat aware of the tax system). How much of your dail…
What makes you think that setting up a subsidiary is a "DIY" thing anywhere, especially if you don't speak the language?
(Sweden is still probably easier than Germany, though that's a low barrier tbh)
Edit: good to know about the UK
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm starting a subsidiary of a start-up in Germany in Sweden. It's not my experience that Sweden is a great place for startups, the bureaucracy is extremely hit/miss. Setting up tax information for example is really difficult as a non-Swedish speaker and even tripped up my Swedish speaking friend (who is a project coordinator on the new Skane hospital: so she's somewhat aware of the tax system). How much of your dail…
What makes you think that setting up a subsidiary is a "DIY" thing anywhere, especially if you don't speak the language? (Sweden is still probably easier than Germany, though that's a low barrier tbh) Edit: good to know about the UK
Because I did it in the UK and it was very much a DIY thing.
14GBP to Companies House, extra 10GBP to reserve the right to your name.
File your books every year, expect to be audited randomly for a few years.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not exactly a scaleup either...
Creator of the list here. For some of the companies on the list the label "startup or scaleup" is debatable ofc. But I often find it not to be a clear-cut thing in those cases. I tried to use a mix of "criteria" such as company age, whether it acts like a startup/scaleup (rapid innovation, invests heavily in growth, needs external funding to get going), whether it's covered intensely by the startup-focused tech media…
I agree, was just being witty. Impressive list -- cheers!
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#15Founder of Encore here (on the list). Great to see so many wonderful companies represented. Sweden is a great place to start a startup these days.
I'm starting a subsidiary of a start-up in Germany in Sweden. It's not my experience that Sweden is a great place for startups, the bureaucracy is extremely hit/miss. Setting up tax information for example is really difficult as a non-Swedish speaker and even tripped up my Swedish speaking friend (who is a project coordinator on the new Skane hospital: so she's somewhat aware of the tax system). How much of your dail…
We've set up a UK subsidiary so I can relate, but the process in Sweden was approximately 10x simpler: more automated, less bureaucracy, less ongoing admin work when the company is up and running.
As with all countries there are definitely things you need to learn. We relied on our lawyers to draft employment agreements because we were already using them as part of our seed fundraise. There are companies like Pocketlaw (https://pocketlaw.com) that provide solid, standard agreements that you could use.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Creator of the list here. For some of the companies on the list the label "startup or scaleup" is debatable ofc. But I often find it not to be a clear-cut thing in those cases. I tried to use a mix of "criteria" such as company age, whether it acts like a startup/scaleup (rapid innovation, invests heavily in growth, needs external funding to get going), whether it's covered intensely by the startup-focused tech media…
I agree, was just being witty. Impressive list -- cheers!
Thanks! Fortunately, I have been using the same structure in all my 171 previous weekly newsletter issues. So while it was a huge amount of copy & paste, the mental work was fortunately limited. Still I do feel exhausted now.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#17Founder of Encore here (on the list). Great to see so many wonderful companies represented. Sweden is a great place to start a startup these days.
Unfortunately taxes are high. 20.6% corporation tax and 30% capital gains tax.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
What makes you think that setting up a subsidiary is a "DIY" thing anywhere, especially if you don't speak the language? (Sweden is still probably easier than Germany, though that's a low barrier tbh) Edit: good to know about the UK
Because I did it in the UK and it was very much a DIY thing. 14GBP to Companies House, extra 10GBP to reserve the right to your name. File your books every year, expect to be audited randomly for a few years.
But you need a UK bank account, which requires a officer with a registered address in the UK. We were lucky our investors were UK-based otherwise it would have been a nightmare. Then you need to argue HMRC valuation discounts if you want to issue EMI options, which are only valid for 3 months, so you need to do it repeatedly. And then EMI option schemes are 15+ pages long contracts. Sweden has an equivalent stock option scheme that's ~2 pages, in comparison.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because I did it in the UK and it was very much a DIY thing. 14GBP to Companies House, extra 10GBP to reserve the right to your name. File your books every year, expect to be audited randomly for a few years.
But you need a UK bank account, which requires a officer with a registered address in the UK. We were lucky our investors were UK-based otherwise it would have been a nightmare. Then you need to argue HMRC valuation discounts if you want to issue EMI options, which are only valid for 3 months, so you need to do it repeatedly. And then EMI option schemes are 15+ pages long contracts. Sweden has an equivalent stock opt…
> But you need a UK bank account,
Sure, I assumed this because you need that in any country you operate a legal entity.
> which requires a officer with a registered address in the UK.
This is the same in Sweden too
> Then you need to argue HMRC valuation discounts if you want to issue EMI options, which are only valid for 3 months, so you need to do it repeatedly. And then EMI option schemes are 15+ pages long contracts. Sweden has an equivalent stock option scheme that's ~2 pages, in comparison.
You have more experience than me there, I never had this as a problem to solve so you could be right.
Re: Swedish tech startups and scaleups
#20Founder of Encore here (on the list). Great to see so many wonderful companies represented. Sweden is a great place to start a startup these days.
Unfortunately taxes are high. 20.6% corporation tax and 30% capital gains tax.
20.6% is lower than Denmark, Austria, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, etc. It's on the lower end, while not being lower than the UK and of course not Ireland (considered a semi tax haven).