Exclusive: Swedish founders launch accelerator to prep scale-ups for institutional capital
Less than one in five European startups survive the journey from the seed stage to Series A. <br><br>Team Scaleup, a new Swedish accelerator, has launched to bridge the gap – and prepare companies to attract institutional capital. <br><br>"Europe simply cannot afford to lose promising impact companies," CEO Siavash Habibi tells Impact Loop.
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Prominent Swedish founders have launched Team Scaleup, a new accelerator programme specifically targeting Europe's scale-up capital gap.
Behind the platform are Ulrika Tornerefelt and Jonas Jonsson – who previously built and sold Stella Futura to battery unicorn Polarium – alongside CEO Siavash Habibi, formerly of McKinsey and TechBuddy.
Team Scaleup works with post-seed companies to make them ready for institutional capital. It combines an AI-driven analysis engine with a network of operational experts to assess each company's governance, financial structuring, and commercial strategy, then builds a tailored programme around the gaps.
"Europe simply cannot afford to lose promising impact companies because they stumbled on technical fundraising criteria that have nothing to do with the quality of their innovation," CEO Siavash Habibi tells Impact Loop.
Only 15.4% of startups that raised a seed round in early 2022 raised a Series A within two years, according to a Scaleup.finance analysis.
"These are companies solving critical problems – climate, energy, circular economy – and many of them fall through the cracks not because they lack potential, but because they aren't yet prepared to navigate the demands of institutional capital," Habibi says.
Fee model tied directly to fundraising outcomes
The business model is built around shared upside. Companies pay a fixed programme fee, with an additional success fee tied to the size of any raise.
"We only do well when our scale-ups do well," Habibi says.
Impact Loop's sister publication in Sweden first spoke to the founders in February, when the venture was still in stealth.
"When it is time to raise more capital and take the step up to a Series A, the support decreases drastically," Tornerefelt said at the time.
"At the same time, investors start to set significantly tougher and more complex requirements. This is where many companies lose momentum, move abroad or die."
Brings in new co-owner
Dahlgren Capital takes a strategic co-ownership stake, with founder Peter Dahlgren joining the board. Law firm CMS Wistrand joins as the platform's first partner.
The first cohort launches in Sweden, with plans to scale the programme to the rest of Europe over time.
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