Sweden is No. 1 in risk capital in

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Sweden had the highest number of risk capital investments in Europe in 2004, in relation to the GNP. According to the Swedish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (SVCA), investments in Sweden represented 0.79% of the GNP, while the European average was 0.33%. Other top achievers were the Netherlands with 0.74%, and the UK with 0.56%.In general, 2004 was a record year for European investments, which had a total value of E36.9bn. The highest number of exits ever was also recorded, and there has been a trend towards increased equity to venture capital funds.The Swedish market continued to bloom in the first quarter of 2005, according to the SVCA. The record value of buyouts, SEK 11.4bn in Q1, represented an immense growth from 2004, when the total value of buyout investments was SEK 12.2bn. There has also been a 10% increase of investments made outside Stockholm, which in Q1 amounted for 70% of all 115 investments. Only 6% of exits were secondary buyouts, while 41% of portfolio companies were sold to trade buyers.