From the Spotify Mafia to the Lovable Mafia: inside Stockholm's founder network
About this episode
The episode explores the dynamics of Stockholm's startup ecosystem and the influence of founder networks like the 'Spotify Mafia' and 'Lovable Mafia'.
Vibe-coding darling Lovable just raised $400 million at a $13.3 billion valuation, roughly doubling its worth in eight months. But Lovable isn’t the only Stockholm startup putting up huge numbers lately — legal AI company Legora and health tech startup Neko Health are right there with it. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis is joined by Sophia Bendz, a partner at Cherry Ventures and longtime fixture of Europe’s startup scene, to unpack what’s driving startup growth in the Nordic ecosystem, from Sweden’s social safety net to the wave of U.S. capital flowing in. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: How the “Spotify Mafia” set the template for founders funneling their time, capital, and hard-won lessons back into Stockholm ecosystem, and how the same cycle may be starting again with the “Lovable Mafia” Why Sweden’s social safety net might be fueling founders’ willingness to take bigger swings Why Bendz is seeing American investors flying into Stockholm and handing…
More episodes of Equity
- Apple's Ternus era begins as Nvidia bets on the whole AI stack
- We're ‘dangerously close’ to dead internet theory according to Pangram's CEO
- Will TikTok and YouTube follow Meta’s new rules for teens?
- The DOJ is investigating a16z. What does this mean for venture capital?
- AI has a GPU pricing problem. Silicon Data wants to fix it.
- Meta's 'open' AI, data centers' hidden costs, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Equity podcast page.