Welcome to the Stockholm region

As co-founder of Sthlm Fintech Week and program manager for the Mastercard Lighthouse Program, Lana Brandorne has her finger firmly on the pulse of Stockholm’s burgeoning fintech scene. So, what does the future hold in store for the sector? And what opportunities are likely to arise for anyone keen to get a foot in the door?

Lena Hackelöer sometimes jokes that Stockholm selected her: in 2010, the then fledgling Klarna asked the German marketing expert to move from Paris to help coordinate their outreach efforts. Multiple executive positions and one IPO later, she has combined her passion for marketing with extensive product skills to lead a fintech company tackling difficult but crucially important international payment challenges.

When Swedish startup Klarna raised $1 billion in March, it put $10 million aside for a yet-to-be-launched new initiative that focuses on the key sustainability challenges worldwide.