STARTUP RATE VS SILICON VALLEYAlthough overall investments are larger in the bigger European economies of Britain and France and their longstanding finance hubs, Sweden punches above its weight in some regards. Stockholm is second only to Silicon Valley in terms of unicorns - startups valued at above $1 billion - per capita, at around 0.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to Sarah Guemouriat venture capital firm Atomico. Silicon Valley - San Francisco and the Bay Area - boasts 1.4unicorns per 100,000, said Guemouri, co-author of a 2020 report on European tech companies. Yusuf Ozdalga, partner at venture capital firm QED Investors, said access to funding and administrative or legal tasks connected with founding a company could also prove tough to navigate for non-Swedish speakers. 'INTERESTING DILEMMA' FOR VCJeppe Zink, partner at London-based venture capital firm Northzone, said a third of all the exit value from fintech companies in Europe - the amount received by investors when they cash out - came from Sweden alone.

Source: The Hindu August 11, 2021 10:56 UTC