Malmö - a Hub for Innovation
Ikea, Volvo, Ericsson – it is well known that Sweden stands for strong brands. But did you also know that the city of Malmö in southern Sweden, just a stone’s throw away from the famous Öresund Bridge, has a rapid success story to tell?
It is the story of a city hungry for innovation. A city, half of whose inhabitants are under 35 years old. A demographic that beats even the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, around 300 km away, which was the youngest German state in 2021 with an average age of 42.1 years.
.jpg)
Malmö: A paradise for founders
With a dynamic startup scene, established industries such as life sciences, cleantech, foodtech and gaming, and an innovative community to support them, Sweden's third largest city has made a name for itself in recent years, becoming a major hub for research, development and growth in the Nordic region and beyond.
"Our young, curious and creative city is full of innovation and drive. Malmö is a city in constant change. Not because it has to, but because we want it to."
Malmö is particularly proud of its close-knit business community, which creates an open start-up climate and makes cooperation easily accessible. Various types of business incubators for start-ups, including Minc, Level and Media Evolution City, are available for this purpose. Certainly, Malmö has no problems with attracting young talent: the region has easy access to 17 universities, including the province of Skåne and the west coast of Denmark.
Malmö's business scene is characterized by small and micro enterprises: Here nine companies are founded every day.
The southern Swedish city offers a range of networking opportunities for companies and investors - including events such as the two-day innovator event The Conference, the Nordic Game Conference, the climate tech festival The Drop, the B2B event SaaSiest and the Venture Cup startup competition. Several innovation centers and research facilities provide access to cutting-edge technology and expertise.
What is exciting is that Malmö has become a particular hotspot for game development in Europe in recent years. Companies of all sizes are based here, developing games for all gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles, cell phones, virtual reality and augmented reality environments.
The local industry is experiencing strong growth in terms of revenue and the number of employees and is profitable at the same time. After all, the Swedish games industry has significantly increased its turnover in the last ten years – by a whopping 70 percent according to the Game Developer Index 2022.
Why Malmö is popular with commuters
Malmö is located on the Öresund Strait, which separates Sweden and Denmark. The Öresund Bridge has been connecting the two countries since 2000. Malmö and the Danish capital Copenhagen are only around 20-minute drive or a 30-40 minute trainride apart.
The city's central location in the region and its excellent transport infrastructure, including two neighboring airports, make it easily accessible by air, road and rail. The completion of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel in 2029 should make it even easier for Germans in particular to travel to Malmö.
Conclusion: Malmö is doing well
Whether for start-ups or cooperations: Malmö offers companies a number of advantages and scores with a young, dynamic start-up scene as well as direct access to first-class educational and research institutions. Added to this is an above-average quality of life, which makes it hard not to fall in love with Malmö.