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STARTUPS

STARTUPS

‘She’s a forerunner and inspiration for startups’

A US-born entrepreneur who has helped pave the way for women in tech has joined the ranks of some of Sweden's top innovators and businesspeople in a Swedish startup hall of fame.

'She's a forerunner and inspiration for startups'
Niklas Zennström, Jane Walerud and Jessica Stark. Photo: SUP46

One of Sweden's most well-known angel investors, Jane Walerud, has been involved in helping Swedish startup success stories such as Klarna, Lensway, Bluetail and Tobii get off the ground.

She was honoured for her work by key Stockholm startup hub SUP46 when she was inducted into their Startup Hall of Fame at a big ceremony in the Swedish capital on Thursday.

“Jane Walerud has been a forerunner and inspiration for the startup ecosystem and we are grateful for everything she has done to help early-stage startups in the community,” said SUP46 chief executive and co-founder Jessica Stark.

“She is also a great role-model in the continuous work to get more women both funding and founding new exciting startups,” she added.

Now in its third year, the Startup Hall of Fame have previously honoured Spotify founder Daniel Ek and the Swede behind Skype and Atomico, Niklas Zennström, who was there to hand over the prestigious trophy.

“Great cities are built on communities and not individuals. Stockholm has become an important tech hub in Europe due to the passion, drive and re-investment of entrepreneurs like Jane, supporting and mentoring others. Success breeds success,” said Zennström in a statement.

Also boasting titles such as chief executive of Zürich-based data optimization firm Teclo and member of Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's Innovation Council, Walerud said she hoped her award could inspire other foreigners living in Sweden to start their own business.

“I really look forward to seeing a t-shirt signed Jane Walerud on the wall in SUP46’s entrance – it is a great honour! I hope I can inspire other women from around the world to go for a career within entrepreneurship; it is exciting, profitable and educational,” she said.

BUSINESS

Why you’ll soon be able to set up a company in Spain with just €1 rather than €3,000

The Spanish government has approved a new draft law that will allow companies to start up with just €1 and for the process to be carried out quickly and entirely online.

Why you'll soon be able to set up a company in Spain with just €1 rather than €3,000
How you can start a business in Spain for just €1. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

Currently, you must have to have a minimum of €3,000 to form a Limited Company in Spain, but if passed, the new bill will require you to only have €1, allowing the process to be completed electronically in just 10 days.

By doing this, the law includes measures to diversify sources of financing and promote non-bank financing, on which the majority of companies depend.

The bill’s main objective is to remove obstacles in the creation of companies in Spain.

The draft bill also looks at expanding activities for which you won’t need to obtain a license and promotes the use of electronic invoicing between companies and the self-employed, which will contribute to the digitisation of business activities.

Another aspect that the bill covers are ways to support financing for business growth, such as venture capital and crowdfunding platforms.

The Vice President and Minister of Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, has indicated that this is one of the “most important” structural reforms of the Recovery and Resilience Plan which Spain submitted to the EU, and is aimed at “improving the performance and productivity of companies, as well as job creation “.

Defaults are one of the main problems that threaten business solvency for many Spanish companies because invoices are often not paid by the maximum legal term of 60 days. This problem particularly affects the self-employed, who allow large companies to take much longer to pay invoices for fear of losing more work or damaging relationships in the future.

For this reason, they do not usually demand legal compensations such as recovery costs or indemnities, even though it puts pressure on their margins.

To combat the wide non-compliance with this maximum period between companies, the new bill also suggests an incentive system for meeting payment deadlines and implementing electronic invoicing.

Together with the Startups Law and digital nomad visa, which the government also recently proposed, it aims to promote entrepreneurship and tackle the problems faced by Spanish companies, which makes it difficult for them to grow, go international or restructure debt.

READ ALSO: Tax cuts and special visas: Spain’s new law to attract foreign startups and digital nomads

Spain ranks only number 30 out of 190 in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report in terms of business climate, behind many other EU countries.  

The bill is expected to reach the Congress of Deputies at the end of this year and if passed, will come into force in 2022.

COMPARE: Could Spain become the best country in the EU for digital nomads?

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