How Sweden became the Silicon Valley of Europe

STOCKHOLM : As Klarna's billionaire founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski prepares to stage one of the biggest-ever European fintech company listings, a feast of capitalism, he credits an unlikely backer for his runaway success: the Swedish welfare state.

Sweden's home computer drive, and concurrent early investment in internet connectivity, help explain why its capital Stockholm has become such rich soil for startups, birthing and incubating the likes of Spotify, Skype and Klarna, even though it has some of the highest tax rates in the world. Spotify allowed users to stream music when Apple's iTunes was still download-based, which gave the Swedish company the upper-hand when streaming became the norm around the world.

It has the third highest startup rate in the world, behind Turkey and Spain, with 20 startups per 1000 employees and the highest three year survival rate for startups anywhere, at 74per cent, according to a 2018 study by OECD economists.

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