A group of prominent figures from the Swedish e-commerce industry has joined forces to launch Future Retail Ventures, a new fund designed to support early-stage e-commerce companies that have graduated from E-commerce Park of Scandinavia’s successful incubator program.
The initiative, long in the making, aims to bridge the gap between early-stage startups and institutional funding.
“If we had this fund in place from year one of the incubator, we would have made more than six times our investment by now – and that’s a conservative estimate,”
says Karsten Deppert, co-founder of E-commerce Park.
Future Retail Ventures focuses on investing in early-stage e-commerce companies that have completed E-commerce Park’s one-year incubator program. The fund is backed by a roster of e-commerce veterans, including Ludvig Friberg (CarpetVista), Eric Smith (Uteprodukter), Philip Lexander (Fotbutiken), Amelie Henningsson (Eqvital), Andreas Wedberg (Räckesbutiken), and Erik Urnes (Lindengruppen).
The fund has already completed its first investments in Sugarbeet Co, Dryckbolaget, Mini Ferrum, and Làhku Nordisk Brodyr, companies operating across various e-commerce segments but sharing strong growth potential and driven entrepreneurs.
“It’s not just about investing in companies. We’re investing in entrepreneurs we believe in and want to support,”
says Amelie Henningsson, investor and board member of Future Retail Ventures
The fund’s approach goes beyond capital, emphasizing mentorship, networking, and community-building to help startups reach their full potential.
A Boost for Mini Ferrum and Sugarbeet
For Mini Ferrum, a startup specializing in innovative iron supplements, the investment came at a critical growth phase.
“A lot has happened since we were in the incubator. Demand for our products continues to grow, and we recently hit the milestone of 1,000 orders per month,”
says Daniel Melander, co-founder of Mini Ferrum
The support from Future Retail Ventures has provided new perspectives and valuable connections, helping the company scale faster.
Similarly, Sugarbeet is leveraging the fund’s capital, experience, and network to accelerate its growth.
“At this stage, the right support can make a huge difference. The combination of funding, expertise, and access to a strong network allows us to grow faster and more strategically than we could on our own,”
says Linus Löfgren, co-founder of Sugarbeet.
Future Retail Ventures represents a natural next step for the entrepreneurial ecosystem that has grown around E-commerce Park in recent years.
“With this fund, we can help more companies develop while strengthening the entire e-commerce and entrepreneurship ecosystem,”
says Karsten Deppert.
Transparency: Karsten Deppert is besides co-founder of E-commerce Park of Scandinavia also initiator and active contributer to Øresund Startup News.
