​Stockholm set out to be a leading foodtech hub

Stockholm entrepreneurs, known for producing billion-dollar companies within music tech, fintech and gaming, have taken on a new challenge; to disrupt the world’s largest economic system, the food sector. Food loss and waste alone account for eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The next generation food system, one that is driven by tech and data, and geared towards sustainable solutions, is now being born in Stockholm.

The food sector is set to experience a large-scale, rapid transformation coupled with massive deployment of technology and innovation. As a place with a high degree of health-consciousness, sustainability, change-mindedness and technological maturity, Stockholm is a fantastic home to the burgeoning Foodtech sector.

– When you have an ecosystem of world-class innovators and entrepreneurs pushing towards solving problems in one of the world's most important and largest markets, interesting things start to happen. I cannot wait to see how Stockholm will impact the world through Foodtech, says Carl Fritjofsson, partner at venture capital firm Creandum.

In Sweden, the food retail sector was worth SEK 261 billion in 2016 and 272 billion in 2017, of which restaurants stood for SEK 99 billion in 2016 and 132,9 billion in 2017. The Boston Consulting Group estimates that the Swedish Foodtech sector, (including ripple effects), will reach a turnover of SEK 45 billion by 2025.

In addition to change makers, like Karma and Matsmart, using data and technology to minimize food waste, Stockholm entrepreneurs are looking at new ways of growing and distributing food.

– As the fastest-growing city in Europe, with a population expected to grow by 60 percent between 2015 and 2050, Stockholm is a unique testbed for new systems aimed at growing food in cities and integrating these new food distribution systems in urban development, says Irena Lundberg, Business Development Manager at Invest Stockholm.

Högdalen, Liljeholmen and Larsboda are some of the areas where the City of Stockholm is focusing on urban farming and food production in a sustainable way.   

The report Stockholm, A Leading Foodtech Hub takes a closer look at the reasons why Stockholm is set to bring about the disruption of the food ecosystem via technology, and introduces some of the change makers on the foodtech scene. The report was produced by Johan Jörgensen, partner of Sweden Foodtech, on behalf of Invest Stockholm.

Download the report here.

For more information, please contact:
Irena Lundberg, Business Development Manager, Invest Stockholm
irena.lundberg@stockholm.se, +46 (0) 70 472 80 11