Dear friends,
Welcome to the Wellstreet Journal of February 2022! 📰 If you are new to the Wellstreet newsletter, this is our monthly update from the team and our portfolios, where we also share some external news that caught our eye in the last month.
Taking a look back at 2021, there were a total of 117 mentions in media outlets referring to Wellstreet or one of our portfolio companies! 😎
This year we started with a bang 💥 and we are excited to continue with so many initiatives and projects the Wellstreet team has in store. Our portfolio started the year with some exciting product updates and our companies are on a hiring spree, so check out the job openings section! Enjoy the read.
🔔 We are thrilled to welcome to our family the distinguished finance executive Caroline Farberger 👋🤩 She is joining Wellstreet as partner and working chair, starting this spring. Caroline will be an active asset in broadening our business network, particularly with companies founded and led by professionals from populations often overlooked by early-stage investors. Her background with over 30 years of experience in banking and financial services from McKinsey & Company to CEO of ICA Insurance makes for an excellent blend of knowledge, structure and interconnections in the investment industry. On the other hand, Wellstreet will offer her a new perspective to apply all this know-how that she built with so much perseverance. If you’d like to know more about her, read this CNBC Make it piece on her story.
🔔Shift, the initiative from Breakit and Bling, is back and this time Wellstreet is an official partner. Last year our CEO Mikael Wintzell participated in the jury for this competition that aims to open up a platform for entrepreneurs with roots in the suburbs. This year, he’ll be joined by several other fantastic investors, including our soon-to-be chairwoman Caroline Farberger.
The 2022 edition will extend the focus to also support female entrepreneurs. And this time 40 teams will be selected to go on and receive individual coaching from partners like ourselves and other industry specialists. Applications are open and you can read more about the initiative on Breakit 🙋♀️
🔔 Wellstreet & Friends - a quick update about our new Gothenburg office preparations! The renovations are speeding ahead, transforming the space into a charming and elegant working environment, and we’ll open our doors soon! While you wait for it, read more about our purpose with this expansion on Realtid. And here’s a sneak peek of what the teams moving in can expect! 🤫🤭
🔔 We are proud parents! Honestly, it’s no surprise for us to see familiar names on this upcoming Swedish unicorns list by Tracxn because we know the true potential of these companies. However, it still warms our hearts to see them thriving in the scale-up club! Our alumnus Tibber is considered a soonicorn, whereas they regard as minicorns our current portfolio companies DanAds and X Shore. Congratulations to them and all the other startups forging such a successful path! 👏🎊
Portfolio News
🛥️ X Shore started the year with great news - Susanna Campbell will be joining them as the board's new chairwoman! Also, check out the post that the Swedish Embassy in the USA wrote on LinkedIn about the company! 🇺🇸
🤯 Can you believe it? We can! 😉 Dan Ads has doubled its valuation in just eight months! To find out how they are planning their next steps read what the chairman and founders told Di Digital.
🔥 New year, lots of news! Brink Commerce revealed their new website and a new face to take their product to a new level, CPO John Osvald.
Portfolio News
🎯 Congratulations to Aura Banking Cloud on their new agreement with real-time credit information provider CredPoint.
🆕 Fresh out of the oven! Esgaia announced new features for the active ownership platform. They also just released their annual insights report about the industry, which you can check out here.
📑 Maintract has a whole new visual identity and website. Looking good!
💯 Future of Retail has a brand-new website as well! Check it out!
⬥ Money is increasingly flowing towards sustainable entrepreneurship in Sweden. So much so that the country made the news in Bloomberg as the new impact hub in Europe.🌠
⬥ Green Biz Group released its annual State of Green Business. It’s visible how much impact climate change is already making in our daily lives. Green investments have had significant growth, but they aren’t going at the necessary speed to reach the UN’s stated goals. ⏩♻️
⬥ What’s hotter than 🌶️? Fintech startups keep on getting most of the funds invested in seed stage as Sifted analyzed in this article about the January trends. 📈
Help our companies grow their fantastic teams and get in touch if you know anyone who could be a great fit for any of these roles. 💻
⬥ Aura Banking Cloud is looking for a Platform Functional Consultant.
⬥ Brink Commerce has several positions opened: Inspiring Tech Evangelist/Writer, VP Comercial, Senior Software Engineer and Commercial Manager (DACH).
⬥ How about becoming the Customer Success Manager of Future of Retail?
⬥ Gamifiera is on the lookout for Designers and Developers.
⬥ ICIW also has many open positions, check them out.
That's all from us! We wish you a great year ahead, full of exciting challenges! 🛫
Please reach out to us at contact@wellstreet.vc with your thoughts and comments, we’d love to hear from you and answer your questions about this or previous issues!
