By Niels Vestergaard // nv@subscrybe.com
The subscription company Lovable is Scandinavia’s newest unicorn. And it looks like several other subscription businesses are well on their way to reaching the magical $1 billion valuation.
This July, Swedish AI startup Lovable closed a $200 million Series A investment round, which pushed its valuation to an impressive $1.8 billion. The speed of their growth has been staggering: they reached this milestone just eight months after launching their service. Lovable is a textbook example of how to make the freemium model work. With 2.3 million active users and 180,000 paying subscribers, they maintain a healthy conversion rate of 7.83% and an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over $100 million. (A significant portion of this comes from paying enterprise clients such as HubSpot, Klarna, and Photoroom.)
But it seems that we in Scandinavia can look forward to more success stories like Lovable. And a significant number of the so-called “soon-to-be unicorns” or “Soonicorns” are using a subscription model to drive impressive growth. We’ve put together a list of the companies that subscription geeks and investors should keep a close eye on:
#1 NORNORM
At the top of the list is a familiar name we’ve highlighted before here at Subscrybe: NORNORM, the furniture subscription service we also use at our own office in Copenhagen. Co-founded with IKEA Development, the company is already active in 11 European markets and has its headquarters in Copenhagen. Today, NORNORM’s valuation is estimated to be between $480 million and $720 million.
#2 Dixa
Next up is Danish Dixa, a customer engagement platform that has established itself as a serious SaaS player through a string of acquisitions. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Dixa operates on a tiered “seat-based” pricing model, now supercharged with AI-powered services like transcription, quality assurance, and even a customer service AI agent. The company’s current valuation sits between $420 million and $630 million.
#3 Planhat
Crossing over to Sweden, Stockholm-based Planhat has built an impressive customer success platform that was named a 2024 Leader in Gartner’s highly regarded Magic Quadrant for CSM platforms. With major clients across industries – including Nasdaq, Kickstarter, Telia, and Trustpilot – Planhat is already well on its way toward unicorn territory.
#4 Supermetrics
Finland has already given us unicorns like Oura Ring and Wolt, and the next in line may well be Supermetrics. The SaaS company helps businesses integrate and visualize data across their favorite platforms, essentially acting as a data management powerhouse in an increasingly data-driven world. With data complexity only growing, Supermetrics is playing in a highly lucrative space – and it seems only a matter of time before Finland can add another unicorn to its roster.
#5 Veo Technologies
Finally, back to Copenhagen with Veo Technologies, currently valued at around $440 million. Backed by Seed Capital, Ventech, and Danish pension fund ATP (which invested DKK 500 million in 2022), Veo develops cameras that automatically record and analyze sports matches, streaming them to coaches with advanced analytics. Parents can even follow along remotely when their kids play. Naturally, everything is delivered via subscription. Today, Veo is used by professional football clubs worldwide and is considered a key tool in global talent development. Don’t be surprised if Veo joins the unicorn club in the near future.
Subscription Revenue: The Fastest Route to Unicorn Status
This isn’t just a celebration of Scandinavian entrepreneurial talent – though it’s worth noting that Scandinavia boasts the highest number of unicorns per capita in the world. It’s also a reminder that if you’re dreaming of launching a startup, you should seriously consider a subscription model. The beauty of subscription businesses – provided you keep a firm handle on CAC and churn – is the predictability: recurring, planned revenues month after month. That kind of financial stability is exactly what investors love. Combine that with the explosive potential of AI, and it’s only a matter of time before we see even more subscription companies making this list.
Many say the next unicorn could be built by a single individual leveraging AI. I don’t know when it will happen – but if I had to bet, I’d put my money on it happening right here in Scandinavia.
