Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Gothenburg

  • Swedish Furhat Robotics acquires US-based company Misty Robotics

    Swedish Furhat Robotics acquires US-based company Misty Robotics

    Furhat Robotics, the company behind the world’s most advanced social robot, Furhat, aquired Colorado-based social robotics startup Misty.

    The acquisition establishes an American base of operations for Furhat Robotics, and will enable further expansion and development of the next-generation of social robots.

    Misty Robotics, founded in 2017 by Ian Bernstein (the Co-Founder of consumer robotics company, Sphero) is the developer of Misty robot.

    They built Misty as an advanced platform to provide researchers and high-end developers with all the tools required to build and test prototypes of social robot applications

    Misty is an incredibly well designed and engineered robot that one falls in love with at first sight. Very likable and social, yet highly sophisticated in terms of hardware and software. There are more than 1000 Mistys out in the world, says CEO and Co-founder of Furhat Robotics, Samer Al Moubayed

    Furhat Robotics will continue to support the Misty Robotics brand, and help to develop and expand the product range.

    Also, they will gradually integrate Furhat and Misty technical features and SDK to bring the power of both platforms to all users.

  • Sweden to give a 583 million euros aid to households

    Sweden to give a 583 million euros aid to households

    Swedish government announced on Wednesday that it will give 6 billion SEK (583 million euros) to help households ”hit” by high electricity prices.

    Over 1.8 million households across the country will benefit from this plan, according to government calculations, EFE says.

    The compensation will be based on the electricity consumption of each Swedish household from December, January and February.

    Those who exceed a 2,000 KWh consumption will receive a maximum of SEK 2.000 per month (194 euros).

    Money will be distributed automatically to the most affected households, without the need to apply for aid.

  • Swedish prime minister supports H&M, which is facing a boycott in China

    Swedish prime minister supports H&M, which is facing a boycott in China

    Swedish Prime Minister voiced support for clothing company H&M, the target of a boycott campaign in China, AFP reports.

    H&M has pledged to stop buying cotton in China’s Xinjiang province amid allegations that ethnic Uighurs are being forced into labor there.

    I think it’s very good when companies take responsibility for the working conditions of employees all over the world, so that employees are treated with respect, said Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven

    Following the publication of studies on ”forced labor” in Xinjiang, several big companies including H&M, Nike, Adidas or Uniqlo started to boycott cotton from Xinjiang.

    On Wednesday, H&M saw its products withdrawn from China’s main online retail sites, even though its 500 stores remained open.

    H&M accounts for more than 5% of its turnover in China, a country where almost 10% of its stores are located.

  • H&M sales rose in the first half of this month, after stores reopening

    H&M sales rose in the first half of this month, after stores reopening

    H&M sales rose in the first half of this month, after COVID-19 restrictions eased in some markets, allowing the reopening of stores.

    Net sales fell 27%, or 21% in local currency, to SEK 40.1 billion ($ 4.72 billion).

    Analysts expected a 30% decline in sales between December 2020 and February 2021, H&M’s first fiscal quarter.

    Local currency sales rose 10% in the first half of this month amid store reopening, including the company’s largest market, Germany.

    As of March 13, about 900 of the approximately 5,000 H&M stores were closed due to restrictions.

  • PNE Group sold Hultema wind farm project in Sweden

    PNE Group sold Hultema wind farm project in Sweden

    Swedish wind farm Hultema with a planned nominal capacity of around 60 MW, which was developed by the PNE Group, has been sold to the Swiss infrastructure fund Reichmuth Infrastruktur II KmGK.

    Hultema wind farm is located in the southern part of Sweden and when completed will comprise of Siemens-Gamesa 6.0-155 wind turbines.

    The wind farm was developed by the Swedish WKN subsidiary VKS Vindkraft Sverige AB, which belongs to the PNE Group.

    Construction started in February 2021 and this will be managed by the PNE Group as a service provider on behalf of the buyer. Commissioning is planned for mid-2023.

  • EasyPark to buy Park Now app from Daimler and BMW

    EasyPark to buy Park Now app from Daimler and BMW

    Daimler and BMW announced on Tuesday that they want to sell their joint Park Now application to Swedish rival EasyPark, Reuters reports.

    The application allows customers to search and pay for parking spaces.

    Park Now is part of the joint venture established in 2019 and has five axes, including smartphone route management, parking reservation and a charging service for electric vehicles.

    The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

  • Production started at Stora Enso’s Oulu Mill in Finland

    Production started at Stora Enso’s Oulu Mill in Finland

    Stora Enso has completed the conversion of its Oulu paper mill for production of packaging board. The pulp mill has been in production since mid-January.

    The project began in May 2019 following a decision to invest EUR 350 million. The packaging machine will now be ramped up during the first quarter and is expected to reach its designed production capacity by the end of this year.

    Completing the Oulu Mill conversion is an important step in our transformation and responds to increasing global market demand for circular and eco-friendly packaging materials, says President and CEO Annica Bresky.

    In the conversion project, one of the two former paper machines was converted for packaging board production.

    The pulp mill and drying machine were modified to produce unbleached brown pulp (530 000 tonnes annually), out of which about 150 000 tonnes are sold externally.

    When fully ramped up within a year, Oulu Mill will generate a EUR 300 million annual sales increase for the Packaging Materials division.

    Approximately 400 people are employed on the mill site, including facilities personnel and logistics staff.

    The mill’s wood consumption, mainly purchased from private forest owners in Northern Finland, will increase by 0.5 million m3 to 2.4 million m3 annually.

  • Tele2 and Telenor won 100 MHz in the Swedish 3.5 GHz spectrum auction

    Tele2 and Telenor won 100 MHz in the Swedish 3.5 GHz spectrum auction

    Tele2 and Telenor Sweden have together secured crucial spectrum in the 3.5 GHz spectrum auction.

    Combined with the frequencies already won in the 700 MHz auction 2018, this will make it possible to commence the nationwide rollout of 5G, as well a significant upgrade of the existing 4G network.

    The rollout will be conducted through Tele2’s and Telenor’s joint company Net4Mobility.

    The two companies have also finalized their vendor procurement and chosen Ericsson and Nokia as partners for the rollout of their joint nationwide 5G radio access network.

    The new 5G network will increase speed and coverage while lowering latency for both consumers and businesses.

    Tele2’s 5G vendors

    In connection to the auction, Tele2 and Telenor have also finalized their procurement of radio access network vendors and have signed with Ericsson and Nokia for their nationwide rollout.

    As previously announced, Tele2 has chosen Nokia as vendor for its core network in both Sweden and the Baltics.

    Tele2 will operate and monitor its Swedish 5G network from within Sweden.

  • Tink closes €85 million investment round extension

    Tink closes €85 million investment round extension

    Tink closed the year with a completed €85 million investment round extension, following its €90 million investment round in January.

    This brings the total invested in Tink during 2020 to €175 million.

    This funding top up will fuel Tink’s continued expansion and support the further development of its payment initiation technology, enabling companies of all shapes and sizes across Europe to integrate streamlined, low-cost payment solutions.

    Tink processes close to 1 million payment transactions per month in five markets, for clients including digital mailbox provider Kivra, used by close to 4 million adults in Sweden, and payment fintech Lydia, used by more than 5 million customers in France.

    Tink aims to make its payment initiation services live in 10 markets in 2021.

    Tink is currently live in Sweden, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

    Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Stockholm, Tink has more than 350 employees and is currently serving its clients out of 13 local offices across Europe.

  • Sweden is looking at the transition to digital currency

    Sweden is looking at the transition to digital currency

    The Swedish government will analyze the feasibility of the transition to a digital currency, Bloomberg reports.

    Sweden is one of the first countries in the world to consider introducing a digital currency.

    The Central Bank of Sweden is already conducting a pilot project in partnership with Accenture Plc to introduce an electronic crown based on the same block chain technology as that used by other digital currencies, such as Bitcoin.

    The Minister for Financial Markets, Per Bolund, announced that an evaluation process was launched on Friday and is expected to end in November 2022.

    ”It is crucial that the digital payments market works securely and is available to everyone,” Per Bolund said.

    The evaluation will be led by Anna Kinberg Batra, a former chairman of the Finance Committee of the Swedish Parliament.

  • IKEA catalogue print edition cancelled after 70 years

    IKEA catalogue print edition cancelled after 70 years

    IKEA says in a statement that this decision came after customer behavior and media consumption have changed, and fewer people read the IKEA Catalogue today than in years past.

    The decision to cut IKEA Catalogue goes hand-in-hand with the ongoing transformation to become more digital and accessible.

    Last year IKEA online retail sales increased by 45% worldwide and the retailer launched new apps for a better experience.

    In 1951, Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA founder put together the first IKEA Catalogue, and the very first catalogue cover featured the MK wing chair in brown upholstery.

    It was printed and distributed in 285,000 copies in the southern part of Sweden, 68 pages. In Swedish.

    In 2000, IKEA launched both a printed and digital version of the catalogue.

    2016 was IKEA Catalogue peak year. It was distributed in 200 million copies, in 69 different versions, 32 languages and to more than 50 markets.