The Swedish Internet Foundation is investing 1 Million SEK in the Foo Café meeting place

2 min läsning

Foo Café’s business model is built on collaborating with companies that can either have their own event with Foo Café or be sponsors for meet-ups in different areas. The purpose of the meeting place is to develop competence and share knowledge, primarily for developers.

– For a small company like the Foo Café, it is incredibly valuable to have The Swedish Internet Foundation behind us. Our goal is to be independent and make the internet and the entire IT industry better. That fact that The Swedish Internet Foundation is investing in us is a sign that we are doing good things. They are independent with the task of making the internet better. This gives us the opportunity to grow under safe conditions and still maintain our independence, says Michael Tiberg, CEO of Foo Café.

– This fits well with our ambition to widen our offer as an educator for digital skills and our own recently established meeting place Goto 10. The investment in the Foo Café gives us the opportunity to reach out to other cities in Sweden in the long term – which gives us a wider reach. So that more people can continuously train in their professional roles and drive internet development in Sweden forward, says Danny Aerts, CEO of The Swedish Internet Foundation.

Upcoming events that are planned at the Foo Café include a seminar about building communities in Stockholm on October 23 and another about introvert leadership in Malmö on October 24. A total of around 400 events will be held at Foo Café 2017.

The Swedish Internet Foundation as investors

The Swedish Internet Foundation has been investing since 2016 in newly formed Swedish companies. The main purpose is not to control or steer the company’s development, but instead to help companies in an early stage where it is difficult to attract investors. In these companies, The Swedish Internet Foundation shall be minority owners and the company should be able to buy back the shares in future investment rounds. Last year, The Swedish Internet Foundation invested in the companies Weld and Meta Solutions.

The goal is to support three start-ups per year. For a company to be considered, they need to include:

  • Focus on the Swedish market.
  • The company’s services or products should be in line with the Foundations purpose and values.
  • Companies can get advice from The Swedish Internet Foundation’s organization.
  • The Swedish Internet Foundation should not work in the companies’ boards.