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PRESENTED BY BUSINESS REGION ÖREBRO

Seven surprising things about Sweden’s secret startup hub

There’s no denying the importance of history to Örebro. After all, there’s a vast 13th century castle, surrounded by a moat dotted with water lilies, right in the middle of this self-confident, culturally fertile Swedish city.

Published: 21 January 2021 08:30 CET
Seven surprising things about Sweden’s secret startup hub
Photo: Creative House

But Örebro is neither preoccupied with the past, nor stuck in a fairytale world. Instead, the city is firmly focused on its future as it develops a growing reputation as a centre for innovation, education, and living well. Located in central Sweden, between Stockholm and Gothenburg, the city is attractive to new businesses and families alike.

Whether you’re already familiar with Örebro or you’ve never even heard of it, here are seven surprising things about this startup hub in the heart of Sweden.

Sweden’s secret startup hub: find out more about living and working in Örebro

1. How creativity powers business

A pioneering spirit permeates Örebro’s business life. The city was a textiles powerhouse in the 19th and 20th centuries and it’s still an economic force. Many local companies are focused on making an international impact, such as Moon Smart Focus, which uses AI to make life easier for professional film-makers.

The founding of Creative House, an innovation and business hub, placed Örebro firmly on the map as a startup city and creative meeting place. It’s a nursery for exciting new companies, such as Deligate (which helps food stores cut waste), Yobber (a video recruitment tool) and Transfer Galaxy (a money transfer service). Former H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson is among the investors. 

Niclas Molinder, CEO of Creative House, has spoken of how he was inspired during a trip to New York to visit a startup community “on the 11th floor of this very plain building”. “When the lift opened, there was this ocean of creativity – and I thought this is what I want in Örebro,” he said. Now he has it – from an initial 15 companies, Creative House now boasts more than 100.

2. How the city breathes culture and sport

This is a place that takes its culture seriously. So seriously that Örebro is currently spending half a billion Swedish kronor (roughly €50m) on building an entire cultural district for the city. Just don’t go thinking that means there isn’t already a buzzing cultural scene. 

Örebro is also home to the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, is a fulcrum of Sweden’s hugely successful pop music industry, and hosts Scandinavia’s largest biennial contemporary art event, OpenArt. This sees the city’s streets, squares, restaurants, and shops taken over for 12 summer weeks by artists from all over the world.

Want an active lifestyle? Örebro is a great city to take part in any number of sports and activities. It’s renowned for its vibrant skateboarding community and regularly holds summer roller derbies as part of its City Sport Festival, which also features beach volleyball. 

Örebro is also a significant player in Swedish national sport, if you’d rather just be a spectator. Both the men’s and women’s football teams are in the top division, as well as the men’s ice hockey team.

Photo: Business Region Örebro

3. The enviable connectivity 

Örebro’s claim to be the ‘Heart of Sweden’ is hard to argue against. The city lies about halfway between Stockholm and Gothenburg (with the capital a little quicker to reach by road) and about 70 percent of Sweden’s population is within a radius of 300 km. 

The E20 motorway connection between Gothenburg and Stockholm runs directly through Örebro, as do cross-country railway lines. And the city isn’t just convenient for Sweden. From the nearby airport you can escape mid-winter by flying down to Tenerife in less than six hours, or, in the summer, to Croatia or several other European destinations. 

Find out more about the advantages you get with a move to Örebro

4. Just how close you are to nature

Of course, you might not want to fly anywhere – after all, Örebro, Sweden’s sixth largest city, is a gem. It’s also only a few minutes from vast nature reserves, such as Oset and Rynningeviken, where you find rich bird- and plant-life with picnic and barbecue areas. 

Photo: Getty Images

If you want to get active, you can enjoy the cycling or walking paths. The giant Lake Vänern – the largest lake in the European Union – is also only a short drive away.

Örebro’s setting and its proximity to Stockholm and Gothenburg are among the many factors that give it a strong appeal for young families. Many are won over by the relaxed, almost vacation-like atmosphere: having a coffee in a terrace cafe — or eating at one of the city’s renowned restaurants — and then ambling between shops on the old cobbled streets are popular local pastimes.

5. The defiance of gender stereotypes

“We want more girls to try coding,” says Yasnia Deras Cruz, a systems science student and a co-founder of Koda-Yoga, one of Örebro’s most preogressive initiatives. As a newcomer to Örebro, Yasnia met yoga teacher Frida Wirsén, who studied sport management and media and communication at Örebro University, on a yoga course.

“Yasnia asked me what I thought about creating a meeting place where you combine yoga and coding. It felt like a great combination,” says Frida. “Yoga is a perfect way to have a work break, centre yourself and at the same time become more creative in your work.”

Last October Koda-Yoga had its first event – a day of yoga and coding for anyone over the age of 15 who identifies as female and wants to try programming and yoga. “The goal is to break the male dominance in the industry. We want girls to have a chance to learn something new, meet us as female role models, meet companies and create networks,” says Frida.

6. The young, forward-thinking university

The city may have a long history. But Örebro University reflects the freshness and zest that drives the city today – it was only formally established as Sweden’s 12th university in 1999. 

Örebro University now provides students with one of Sweden’s most forward-thinking medical educations – more than 50 researchers focus on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine. Indeed, Örebro is third only to the world-famous Karolinska Institute and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, when it comes to citations of its scientific publications. 

7. And not forgetting … the affordability!

So, surely this kind of idyllic, cultured, innovative and convenient city must be a little on the expensive side to live in, right? It’s not. To buy an apartment in Örebro city centre, or in the suburbs, costs a staggering 65 percent less than in Stockholm. Savings on rent can be nearly as large.

Eating out costs around 25 percent less than in the Swedish capital and the overall cost of living is more than 20 percent lower. Örebro is that rare combination of storied neighbourhoods and modern gusto – an up-and-coming city whose time has now come.

Want to know more about the life and career opportunities in Örebro? Find out more through Smart Move – a joint initiative between Business Region Örebro, Örebrokompaniet, the Chamber of Commerce Mälardalen and Örebro University.

 
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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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