The Swedish deep tech scene: a comment from Director of R&D

Sweden has a long tradition of global industrialism and innovation exemplified by companies like Volvo, Ericsson and IKEA. In line with this tradition Sweden has recently produced unicorns such as Skype, Spotify and Klarna. Sweden is the second most innovative country in the world according to 2016 Global Innovation Index (with Switzerland as number one but who knows the difference anyway?).

According to a new report from the international investment firm Atomico, Sweden is well-positioned to stay on top. Entrepreneurs value access to talent as the most important success factor says the report. Stockholm ranks among the top European cities when it comes to skills in “deep tech” such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria also have the most experienced developer pool in Europe according to the report.

Success breeds success and talent attracts talent. Add to these simple truths the fact that Sweden frequently comes up on top or near the top in various quality of life surveys and it becomes clear why Sweden also attracts more and more international deep tech talent. In Silicon Valley you can work on the bleeding edge of technology; in Sweden you can work on the bleeding edge and have a life too!

ContextVision is a good example of a company that thrives in this environment. Our strategy is global; all ContextVision’s customers are outside of Sweden. We also hire globally; we have recently hired research engineers from countries like France, Portugal and Russia. We are continuously looking for more world class talent. Technology knows no borders and so shouldn’t people.

Read more about the Swedish high-tech scene at TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/26/sweden-is-a-tech-superstar-from-the-north/

The Atomico report can be downloaded here: http://www.atomico.com/state-of-european-tech/2016

//Arto Järvinen, Director of R&D