According to Sifted, Sweden’s AI-native startups have absolutely exploded this year, raising over €454 million across 28 deals so far in 2024. That’s a massive jump from just €124 million across 16 deals in all of last year. The surge is being driven by multiple huge rounds from industry leaders like vibe coding platform Lovable, which raised $15 million early this year followed by a staggering $200 million in July. Legal tech startup Legora also pulled in two massive rounds – $80 million in May and another $150 million in October. The funding boom underscores Sweden’s position as Europe’s AI powerhouse, with Project Europe’s Jade Yarrow noting the country’s unique culture where young people are increasingly skipping traditional careers to build companies straight out of university.
Sponsored content — provided for informational and promotional purposes.
Sweden’s secret sauce
Here’s the thing – Sweden isn’t new to producing global tech giants. We’re talking about the country that gave us Spotify, Klarna, and Voi. But what’s happening now feels different. There’s this emerging hacker house culture where 19-year-olds can just show up and start building alongside engineers from companies like Lovable. It’s creating this incredible flywheel effect where success breeds more success. And Project Europe, which is basically a who’s who of European founders hunting for the next $100 billion companies, is already invested in Swedish startup Zellify and planning more trips to Stockholm. They’re clearly betting that Sweden’s ecosystem has reached critical mass.
Beyond the big names
While Lovable and Legora are grabbing the headlines with their monster rounds, there’s serious depth in Sweden’s AI ecosystem. Take Tzafon – an AI research lab staffed with ex-Google DeepMind and Palantir talent that raised $9.7 million in July. Or Strawberry, this “Chrome killer” browser that just pulled in $6 million from heavyweights like General Catalyst and EQT Ventures. What’s really telling is that Swedish companies took three of the top five spots on Sifted’s list of Europe’s fastest-growing agentic startups by headcount. Lovable, Legora, and knowledge platform Sana are all hiring like crazy as funding and revenue pour in. So the talent war is clearly heating up too.
What this means for Europe
Basically, Sweden is proving that Europe doesn’t need to play catch-up in AI. The ecosystem has matured dramatically in the last decade, as Normain CEO Sara Landfors noted when comparing today’s Stockholm to her Stanford days. We’re seeing a generation of founders who watched Spotify and Klarna go global and are now applying those lessons to AI-native companies. And they’re building with this unique Swedish approach – less about chasing Silicon Valley trends, more about solving real problems with deep technical expertise. The question isn’t whether Europe can compete in AI anymore – it’s whether the rest of Europe can keep up with Sweden’s pace.
