Sweden

Swedish parcel delivery services Instabox and Budbee are announcing a merger. Together, they will continue under a new holding: Instabee. The new company is valued at 1.7 billion euros.

Apotekamo, the online pharmacy from Sweden, has raised 2.5 million euros in funding. The company will use the money for geographical expansion, marketing activities and the platform's logistics solution. The startup wants to become the leading pharmacy in Southeast Europe.

Payment service Klarna has closed 800 million dollars in funding. During the investment round, the company’s valuation dropped even lower with 85 percent. CEO Sebastian Siemiatowski berates ‘the steepest drop in global stock markets in over fifty years’.

Swedish fintech Klarna wants to raise 1 billion dollars (over 900 million euros) from investors. The company is the European market leader for ‘buy now, pay later’ services. However, it has been valued 30 percent lower and has since announced layoffs.

Last-mile delivery scale-up Budbee has raised 40 million euros in an investment round. The company is now valued at 700 million euros. The capital injection will mainly be used to expand its network of parcel lockers.

Ecommerce aggregator eBrands has raised 30 million dollars (29 million euros) in a new funding round. The Finnish company will use the funds for increased acquisition and international expansion. To date, eBrands has raised close to 50 million euros.

Royal Design Group, the Swedish interior design company, has acquired Danish design retailer AndLight. With the takeover, Royal Design enters the lighting segment. AndLight currently operates in no less than 17 markets across Europe.

Swedish parcel delivery service Instabox has raised 174 million euros in a financing round. Its value is now estimated at 1 billion euros. This makes it the newest unicorn in Sweden.

Finnish consumers rate ecommerce the least eco-friendly industry compared to the rest of Northern Europe, while Danish customers are the most critical about sustainability. Moreover, Finn.no, Matsmart, Aarstiderne, Tori.fi and Bol.com are voted most sustainable online retailers.

Dutch online auction company TBAuctions is acquiring the Bjarøy Group and Swedish auction platform PS Auction. The acquisitions accelerate the company's plan to build a pan-European platform for second hand goods.

H&M has started trials of its new marketplace model in Germany and Sweden. Online shoppers can now find items from third-party brands in the section of the website called 'H&M with Friends'. If successful, the model will be extended to other markets.

Swedish comparison shopping service PriceRunner is suing Google for promoting its own shopping comparisons in search results. The company is demanding a compensation of 2.1 billion euros. Google Shopping has already been fined for its actions in Europe in 2017.

Last-mile delivery scale-up Budbee has doubled its revenue in 2021 compared to the year before. The past year the company made 80 million euros in turnover. In home country Sweden, Budbee’s market share even grew to 1 to 5 percent.

The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden were very early adopters of the internet and have a highly developed digital infrastructure. Online shopping is very common in the Nordics, yet research reveals that there is still growth potential in this region.

Centra, a direct-to-consumer and wholesale platform for global brands, has secured an investment of 10 million. It will use the new funding to power up product development and accelerate its international expansion. The platform specifically wants to challenge ShopifyPlus and enterprise-level platforms.