This Swedish Scale-Up Invests $4.8M to Uncover Business Success

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-18

Ever wonder what *really* makes a business tick? You know, beyond the fancy charts and buzzwords? Well, a Swedish business software company called Fortnox is pouring a significant chunk of change – about $4.8 million – into a ten-year research project. They've teamed up with the prestigious Stockholm School of Economics to dive deep into that deceptively simple question: what truly makes a company successful? It's not just about big corporations either. Fortnox CEO Tommy Eklund put it perfectly: "We want to find out what really drives companies of all sizes to contribute to a prosperous Swedish society – from the small hair salon in Växjö and the medium-sized construction company in Gothenburg to the accounting firm in Stockholm." It’s about understanding the whole ecosystem, not just the giants. ### Why This Research Matters Fortnox, founded way back in 2001, started as a Swedish accounting software business. Now, they’re a huge cloud-based platform, serving small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and accounting firms across various sectors. Think bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, and all that financial administration stuff. Because they're so embedded in how businesses operate day-to-day, they get a front-row seat to how companies measure their progress and make decisions. This unique vantage point makes them ideal partners for this kind of deep-dive research. They're also backed by EQT, a major European investment group, which took the company private in 2025. This connection further links Fortnox's growth story to the broader European tech and scale-up scene, making their findings potentially relevant far beyond Sweden's borders. Now, Fortnox wants to understand if the metrics businesses rely on actually tell them what they *think* they do. Sometimes, what we measure isn't always what truly drives long-term success, right? ### The Center for Responsible Performance Measurement Through this new ten-year agreement, Fortnox is contributing that $4.8 million to establish the Center for Responsible Performance Measurement at the Stockholm School of Economics. This isn't just a one-off study; it's a dedicated effort, even supporting a new professorship focused on this topic. The initiative will explore how businesses and other organizations define, measure, and pursue success. More importantly, it will look at what might get overlooked when management gets *too* focused on specific goals, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and other measurements. For startups, this question is anything but academic. Founders are constantly told to track every metric under the sun: - Growth rates - Revenue figures - Customer retention - Acquisition costs - Profit margins - A whole laundry list of sector-specific KPIs These numbers are powerful. They dictate where capital goes, which products get developed, which teams get more resources, and ultimately, how investors and executives decide if a company is heading in the right direction. It's the lifeblood of decision-making. ### The Double-Edged Sword of Metrics But here's the kicker: measuring a business can also subtly influence the behavior of the people running it. When certain targets become the absolute center of decision-making, organizations can sometimes start prioritizing what’s easiest to quantify. This might not always align with what actually creates sustainable, long-term value. The new research center will dig into these dynamics. They want to develop a deeper understanding of how organizations can measure performance *responsibly*. As the Stockholm School of Economics shared, Fortnox's long-term financial commitment means they can build a dedicated research environment while maintaining academic freedom. Vice-Chancellor Lars Strannegård expressed gratitude, stating, "We are very grateful for Fortnox's generous support and for the trust they place in the Stockholm School of Economics. The support makes it possible for us to build long-term knowledge in an important area. Together we can increase understanding of how organizations can measure success." ### Impact on Business and Innovation For Fortnox, this research isn't just theoretical. It's directly tied to the businesses that use their software. Having built their platform around the financial and administrative needs of Swedish companies, they genuinely want to better understand what factors allow businesses of all sizes to contribute meaningfully to the wider economy. The exciting part? The results from this center will be made publicly available. Imagine that! Founders, executives, and investors could get entirely new perspectives on the metrics they use to define progress and performance. It could really shake things up in a good way. Fortnox also plans to take these insights and apply them directly to the tools they develop for their customers. This creates a fantastic feedback loop, connecting cutting-edge academic work with the practical needs of businesses using their platform. It's a smart move that could benefit the entire European startup ecosystem, where dashboards and KPI reports are king, by providing a more nuanced understanding of what success truly entails.