Swedish minister called to parliament over VC fund allocations

Karin Wasteson
04 February 2014

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Swedish minister for enterprise Annie Lööf has been called in front of Riksdagen, the Swedish parliament, to clarify allocations made by state-backed venture fund Inlandsinnovation.

Local financial daily Di.se uncovered last week that Centre Party economic policy spokesperson Per Åsling had allocated state-backed funding from Inlandsinnovation to several companies founded and managed by himself and his friends. The fund is led by Centre Party member Leif Zetterberg, a personal friend of Åsling.

Following the revelations, Mikael Damberg, the Social Democrats Riksdag group leader, called Lööf to parliament in order to clarify whether she was aware of Inlandsinnovation's capital allocations and what measures she will implement to rectify the situation.

Östersund-based Inlandsinnovation is a venture fund targeting companies in the interior parts of northern Sweden, a region with a lower GDP than the rest of the country.

Maud Olofsson – who was leader of the Centre Party as well as industry and trade minister at the time – and Per Åsling launched the SEK 2bn fund in 2010 in connection with that year's election.

Annie Lööf could not be reached for comment.