Press release -
Sustainable brands choose Stockholm
When sustainable eyewear brand Karün from Chilean Patagonia were looking for the best market in Europe to launch their new product; sunglasses made out of recycled fishing nets, they chose Stockholm. Why? You may ask. Stockholm has far from the amount of sunshine that many other European cities can boast with. The answer, however, is not to be found in the weather, but rather in the Swedish values.
This summer, eyewear company Karün is launching their second edition sustainable sunglasses in Stockholm. They want to invite people to look at the world from a different point of view and have a philosophy that we should live more in harmony with the planet. Here’s why they found Stockholm to be the best test market for their product.
- Sustainability and living more in harmony with yourself and with the planet is something that is embedded in the roots of society here. We needed to go to a market where people actually understand our philosophy and we see Sweden as being one step ahead of the rest. In Stockholm, there was a direct match in values, in market readiness, and how people think and consume, says Colja van Haaren, Karün Europe.
An increasing number of impact entrepreneurs choose Stockholm to set up their business or launch their product. For example, impact innovation hub Norrsken has grown rapidly since inauguration two years ago and today hosts 350 companies working to improve the world.
Stockholm is leading the way in sustainability, has high ambitions to be fossil fuel-free by 2040 and Swedes are according to a global study the best positioned in the world to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
- We need the impact entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs that strive to solve the greatest challenges, in order to continue to drive change from Stockholm. The problem with plastic in the oceans is alarming. Karün is doing an important job in raising the awareness of the situation while at the same time showing how we can give value to waste preventing it from becoming pollution and turn it into a source of revenue, says Anna Gissler, CEO Invest Stockholm.
Invest Stockholm helps companies in their mission to establish and grow a sustainable business in Stockholm by supporting with establishment services, as well as making sure that Stockholm provides an ecosystem for impact entrepreneurs.
- In a few years, we hope that Stockholm has developed from a unicorn factory to an impact unicorn factory, ends Anna Gissler, CEO Invest Stockholm.
For more information, please contact:
Marie Sundström, PR and Marketing Manager, Invest Stockholm
marie.e.sundstrom@stockholm.se, + 46 76 122 80 50
Colja van Haaren, Karün Europe
colja@karunworld.com, +46 72 388 09 64
Related links
Topics
- Business enterprise, General
Categories
- circular value chain
- circular economy
- sustainable fashion
- impact unicorn
- impact unicorn factory
- unicorn factory
- impact company
- impact entrepreneurs
- karün
- sustainable eyewear
- stockholm values
- sustainability
- foreign direct investments
- move to stockholm
About Invest Stockholm
Invest Stockholm is the official investment promotion agency of Stockholm. We work with the marketing and development of the Stockholm region as a business destination under the brand Stockholm – The Capital of Scandinavia. Invest Stockholm is a subsidiary of Stockholm Business Region, owned by the city of Stockholm.
www.investstockholm.com
Karün is an eyewear brand from Patagonia (Chile) who produces outdoor sports and outdoor lifestyle sunglasses from reclaimed and upcycled materials, where each frame has a positive impact on the environment as well as on rural communities of Patagonia. Karün is dedicated in proving that it is possible to create a global business founded on responsible values and a circular value chain. Through their sunglasses they want to invite people to start looking at the world from a different point of view.
Different types of waste that may affect natural ecosystems - like abandoned fishing nets - are collected by local and rural entrepreneurs in Patagonia, the south of Chile. These wastes are turned into raw materials, which Karün buys and transforms into high quality eyewear. By selling the raw materials the entrepreneurs are generating an additional source of income which they use to expand their own local businesses and part of Karün’s revenue from selling the eyewear goes back to support new entrepreneurships. Karün offers all customers to hand in damaged products to be recycled into a new frame, closing the loop.
www.karunworld.com
