Sweden’s incubators key catalysts for angel capital

Important infrastructure with established business angel networks and extensive support for companies and entrepreneurs.

02 April, 2024 Incubator

With the publication of Saminvest’s Annual and Sustainability Report for 2023 last week, we see that the state investment fund has achieved another year of growth and successful investments. During the year, Saminvest also expanded its indirect angel funding programmes through incubators and several SISP members started the seventh programme through Kick Capital with Blekinge Business Incubator, Kalmar Science Park and Företagsfabriken in Växjö in collaboration.

Saminvest is a Swedish state investment fund focused on investing in innovative and high-tech companies to stimulate the growth of the Swedish economy and create jobs. Saminvest acts as a unifying force for various investors, including private investors, venture capital funds and public institutions, and strives to increase the availability of capital for Swedish startups and growth companies. The fund invests on a commercial basis alongside private capital in early-stage venture capital funds. An important infrastructure for Saminvest is the country’s incubators, which already have established business angel networks and offer extensive support for companies and entrepreneurs.

Incubators with established business angel networks

To channel the market complementary role of Saminvest, several business angel programmes have been created where the incubators have a coordinating role to release angel capital in the country and scale it up nationally through co-investments with Saminvest. There are currently 17 business angel programmes managed by incubators across Sweden: Arctic Business Incubator (Luleå, Piteå and Skellefteå), Blekinge Business Incubator (Karlskrona), GU Ventures (Gothenburg), Minc (Malmö), SmiLe (Lund), Sting (Stockholm) and UIC (Uppsala), together with other incubators. The latest addition is Kick Capital, managed by Blekinge Business Incubator in collaboration with Kalmar Science Park and Företagsfabriken in Växjö.

“Swedish incubators are now used as quality assurance for private investments”

Anders Cronholm, CEO Blekinge Business Incubator and Chairman of the Board SISP

“An important detail of SamInvest’s approach is that Swedish incubators are now used as quality assurance for private investments. This is an important acknowledgement that incubators have positioned themselves on the Swedish startup scene and play a crucial role in early growth phases,” says Anders Cronholm, CEO of Blekinge Business Incubator and Chairman of the Board of SISP.

Many positive synergies – a huge force

Linked to the incubators are often networks of business angels, which today constitute important financiers and support for the companies’ development in the early stages. By strengthening the business angels’ financing, Saminvest helps to improve the growth opportunities for promising companies until they become interesting to larger investors. In addition, the incubators themselves see more positive synergies emerging from this way of structuring angel investments and organising the angel community across the country.

“An additional bonus effect is that through Kick Capital we actually enable follow-on investments in the companies that probably would not have happened otherwise”

Louise Östlund, CEO Kalmar Science Park and board member SISP

“Having recently launched our programme in the south-east of Sweden, we have already started to see the knock-on effects. We’ve had organised business angel networks for a while, but we’re now seeing the power of the national network. Our companies in this part of Sweden have completely new opportunities to be presented to national investors. In addition, we have created an arena for the business angels in our networks to learn from others, in other parts of Sweden, and even invest together, across regional borders. The fact that Saminvest co-invests gives an extra, and sometimes crucial, boost to start-up companies. An additional bonus effect is that through Kick Capital we actually enable follow-on investments in the companies that probably would not have happened otherwise. On top of this, we actually see that it can act as an attraction, both regionally, nationally and internationally. It’s a win-win from many perspectives,” says Louise Östlund, CEO of Kalmar Science Park and board member of SISP.

Saminvest’s business angel programme managed by several of the country’s incubators. Together they facilitate 17 business angel networks, from north to south.

Read Saminvest’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2023 >>