{
  "id": 1730606,
  "title": "What makes a business work? This Swedish scale-up has put €4.5 million behind finding out",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/what-makes-a-business-work-this-swedish-scale-up-has-put-4-5-million",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-18T14:48:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "EU-Startups",
    "slug": "eu-startups",
    "url": "https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/08/what-makes-a-business-work-this-swedish-scale-up-has-put-e4-5-million-behind-finding-out/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Swedish business software scale-up Fortnox is investing €4.5 million (50 million kronor) into a ten-year research initiative at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) to uncover the key factors that drive companies to contribute to a prosperous Swedish society. The CEO of Fortnox, Tommy Eklund, emphasized the company's desire to understand what drives companies of all sizes in Sweden, from small businesses to larger enterprises. Founded in 2001, Fortnox has grown from an accounting software business into a global cloud-based platform serving small and medium-sized businesses and accounting firms. Their products include bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, and financial administration. By collaborating with SSE, Fortnox aims to investigate how businesses define, measure, and pursue success, as well as what may be overlooked in the focus on goals, KPIs, and performance measurements. The research initiative will examine the dynamic relationship between performance measurements and organizational behavior, seeking to develop a deeper understanding of responsible performance measurement. The long-term financial commitment from Fortnox will enable SSE to establish a dedicated research environment while maintaining academic freedom. The results of the research center will be made publicly available, potentially providing new perspectives on metrics for founders, executives, and investors. This research may prove particularly valuable for Europe's startup ecosystem, where growth dashboards and KPI reports can significantly impact fundraising and hiring decisions.",
  "summary": "Swedish business software scale-up Fortnox is committing €4.5 million (50 million kronor) to a ten-year research initiative by the Stockholm School of Economics aimed at answering a deceptively simple question: what actually makes a company successful? Fortnox CEO Tommy Eklund says: “We want to find out what really drives companies of all sizes to contribute […] The post What makes a business…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}