Stockholm’s thriving technology ecosystem, anchored by giants like Ericsson but also a huge draw for startups, is beginning to draw comparisons to the U.S. hub of innovation in Silicon Valley.
RCR Wireless News recently sat down with three tech leaders to compare and contrast the opportunities afforded tech companies in the Swedish capital.
Bengt Eliasson, chairman of SIG-Mobile’s Silicon Vikings group, recently returned to Stockholm after two years in Silicon Valley; the goal of the Silicon Vikings is to create a robust exchange between Silicon Valley and counterparts in Northern Europe.
“I think the life of an entrepreneur is easier here,” he said. “You have access to more data and it’s cheaper. You get more value for your money.”
Eliasson said, while in Silicon Valley, he learned the euphemism “bootstrapping. I really saw that in the daily life. It’s not sound to actually put everything you have at risk. It’s actually easier to hire people with confidence here. If you know what you’re doing and have a vision, life is easier over here.”
From the municipal perspective, Stockholm’s Business Development Manager Torbjorn Bengtsson said the broad goal, now being realized, was to unify previously independent companies into a “real ecosystem.”
“People were doing some great stuff in their office but not really connecting.” The startup world was “hidden and in small offices, no specific area.”
Part of the fix, Bengtsson said, came when his office provided real estate contacts and some funding to get one-year-old incubator SUP46 off the ground. Now SUP46, the startup people of Sweden, host some 38 companies and more than a dozen investor partners in their central-Stockholm offices.
He said SUP46 fulfills a “clear wish from the community. We engaged in a way that we wanted this to be a grassroots movement.”
Nicklas Johansson, business unit head for ICT-Business Sweden said it was difficult to compare Stockholm with Silicon Valley because the Northern California region is so “extreme” in its concentration of industry.
“If we look at what some of the Silicon Valley companies tell us when they come here,” he said, “it’s one of the few places outside Silicon Valley where you will find the full ecosystem and you find serial entrepreneurs.”
Eliasson compared Sweden to a “frozen steak.” Once it’s thawed out, “We have everything you need to make a nice dinner.”
Featured Image Copyright: ivelinradkov / 123RF Stock Photo
