Analysis

January 23, 2019

Want to invest in startups? Your pensions may already be doing it

Sweden has recently opened the floodgate for pension funds to invest in VC. In Germany, investment managers are looking elsewhere.


Mimi Billing

6 min read

Demands are growing for pension funds to ramp up investments in the tech sector.

Swedish state-owned pension funds are putting aside billions to invest in the growing startup sector through VC funds. According to the recent State of European Tech report by London-based VC firm Atomico, Nordic pension funds account for 16% of total VC funds raised in the region since 2013; in Sweden, the share is even higher.

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Pär-Jörgen Pärson, a partner at Northzone, is nowadays based in Stockholm.
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State of European Tech 2018: VC funds raised by pension funds (2013-2017)
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Dr Holger Seidel is the managing partner at Adina Capital in Hamburg.
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Mimi Billing

Mimi Billing is Sifted's Europe editor, based in Stockholm. She covers the Nordics and can be found on X and LinkedIn

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