00:00From Skype to Spotify, Sweden is now legitimately a tech startup powerhouse.
00:06With just 10 million people, Sweden has produced no fewer than 46 unicorns.
00:11Startups, of course, worth more than a billion dollars.
00:13And with venture capital investment per head of population higher than anywhere else in Europe,
00:19there's a strong pipeline of startups.
00:21More than 2,200, according to a recent report.
00:25And when it comes to the founder factory effect,
00:27former employees going on to start their own new companies,
00:30two Swedish names are top of the table.
00:32According to data from Axel and Dealroom,
00:35Klarna staff have founded no fewer than 74 tech businesses
00:39and former employees from Spotify, a total of 66.
00:44But the path to startup success is rarely a straight one, of course.
00:48Buy now, pay later company Klarna's $15 billion IPO in New York
00:52was seen as a major coup for Sweden.
00:54But in less than six months, the company's share price has fallen by more than 60%
00:58on concerns about profitability.
01:01And much-hyped startup Northvolt, once Europe's biggest hope for EV battery production,
01:06ended up filing for bankruptcy.
01:08A reminder then that unicorns can be a wild ride, even in Sweden.
01:12But the numbers suggest it is at least a promising place to hunt for them.
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