Stockholm vs London: The Fight to be Europe's Tech Startup Capital

If you're in the Stockholm tech startup ecosystem, as many Stockholm Valley readers are, it feels like a new tech startup is founded everyday. And to be fair, that's probably the case. In London, it's the exact same situation.

For a founder or VC deciding where to settle, it's hard to conclude where to be right now. Over the last 5 years, Stockholm has seen a long list of headlines from Lovable, Sana and Legora to name a few. Whereas London is experiencing the 'Revolut-boom' alongside Synthesia and Isomorphic Labs. Who is superior?

The unfortunate, or maybe fortunate, truth is that there's no clear cut. It all boils down to who you are. There's a constant buzz in Stockholm with rooftop parties, coffee chats and the occasional Systembolaget stop for Friday's at-home dinners. London's filled with tech events, discussing revolutionary startups over a £10 beer and Clapham run clubs which end with M&S picky bits on the common. Similar, but not the same.

What makes Stockholm different to London is that your background does not define you. You could hold a prestigious degree from SSE or KTH, have ex-FAANG in your LinkedIn headline or be someone who's just taken the initiative to build the idea you've had for 10 years. The mindset is that anyone can build.

One perfect example of a Stockholm founder is Stefan Almqvist. He studied a Bachelor's degree in English and built a career around sound design. During all this, he had a long-term tech startup idea which never left him: an app called Subwhere which uses data from Trafiklab and SL to track and show statistics of the Tunnelbana, similar to Flight Radar. I'd keep an eye on Almqvist.

Across the North Sea, we have London where the atmosphere feels different. The startup ecosystem was previously a mixture of those in the corporate space, students from elite private schools and top universities and highly networked individuals. Now, it's becoming much more diverse.

There's an initiative called Zeero Degrees which was founded by Max Jones that seeks to reverse the idea instilled by UK schools where students 'need' a university degree to become successful. As evidenced by countless so-called 'drop-outs' who are killing it in the startup space, it's clear that you don't need university to achieve greatness.

If it hasn't made itself apparent, the contrasting education systems in London and Stockholm seem to be the key causer of these cultural clashes. Schools in the English south, particularly state-funded, repeatedly enforce the timeline of heading straight to university once you're 18 in hopes to become a doctor, lawyer achieve the 'white-collar' dream.

In Stockholm, it's become apparent that people feel a lot less pressured by society to go to university at 18 despite its world-class student loans via CSN and zero tuition fees. Jantelagen means that your identity exists within yourself rather than your professional title; there's comfortability without constant pressure for being who you truly want to be.

London feels like there's a particular method to doing everything. I once pitched to a large investment firm there which kept me in their building for several meetings across almost 6 hours. Sitting with other founders, it felt as though I needed to prove myself to join the conversation as an 18-year-old. Although the London ecosystem isn't usually this cut-throat, it's certainly competitive.

The reason why I prefer Stockholm is because the environment is relaxed and everyone shows interest in each other. It feels much less competitive as those in the ecosystem really want others to succeed and are happy to make introductions. What makes Stockholm feel more open than London is the size of the city, it's hard to roam around Stockholm without bumping into someone you either know, recognise or both!

What gives London the upper-hand in my opinion is a slight touch of egoism, the good kind. One of Stockholm Valley's most viewed article is San Fransisco is Silently Killing Silicon Valhalla where I shared why Silicon Valhalla should embrace itself rather than take inspiration from Silicon Valley. Typically Swedes do not like sharing their achievements publicly, nor is it often respected here in Stockholm.

London and San Fransisco are similar where sharing achievements are looked highly upon. Nearly every post you see on LinkedIn by a Londoner or San Franciscan boasts about their latest achievements, all well-received by the audience. The reason this culture exists is simply for survival and to get their voices heard in a sea of competition.

Then again, London’s ecosystem is structurally different to Stockholm. There's deeper late‑stage capital, more exits, more surface area for competition and signalling. London has greater structural opportunity and global reach. It's impossible to say whether London or Stockholm is better; given the nature of Europe, there will likely never be a single startup capital.

Ending this article, what I do believe is that London is the Silicon Valley of Europe whereas the Nordics make up the world's first Silicon Valhalla.