The 5 Hidden Fintech Hubs: Stockholm
Stockholm
The capital of Sweden is the most populous city in the Nordic countries. Spread across 14 islands, its infrastructure is famous for its many bridges. A lesser known fact is that Stockholm alone accounts for over a third of Sweden’s GDP, making it not only an economic, but also a political and cultural center. In the past few years, Stockholm has turned into a Fintech hub, attracting 18% of all private placements in Europe’s Fintech scenes. In addition to Fintechs, accelerators and incubators have also found a place in Sweden’s capital.
Stockholm’s Fintech sector has attracted some of the hottest startups. With 106 million Euros in investment and 68 closed funding rounds in 2016, the city has shown its strength in the Fintech industry. The most famous example of it, of course, is Klarna – a payments firm which is now valued at $2.25 billion. Another great success in Sweden’s Fintech sector is iZettle which raised 60 million Euros in their series D funding round in 2015. The list continues on with companies such as Lendify (a peer-to-peer lending platform), FundedByMe (a crowdfunding platform), Safello (a bitcoin marketplace), Trustly (an online payment method) and Tink (a personal finance app).
But why has Stockholm given life to so many successful Fintechs? The city realizes its challenges and works towards overcoming them. Recently, the Stockholm Fintech Hub was developed as an idea to support Fintechs with a world class platform. Other events such as Fintech Stockholm and the Stockholm FinTech Meetup attracted industry expertise to the local community. With a combination of high GDP and great talent, Stockholm is sure to be one of the Fintech hubs in Europe to watch out in 2017.
Sources:
Stockholm as Second largest Fintech hub