Sweden is home to more than 400,000 unlisted and private companies, a sector that represents the backbone of entrepreneurship, long-term ownership, job creation, and innovation. Yet despite their importance, these companies have long been underserved by outdated and fragmented infrastructure. Ownership is often tracked in spreadsheets, fundraising remains inefficient, and valuable information is locked away from stakeholders.

Alternativa is changing that. Through its core service eAktiebok, the company already supports more than 1,000 clients, 12,000 members, and 60,000 users. The demand is clear, and the business model proven.

From this strong foundation, Alternativa is now:

• Scaling what works
• Adding new digital tools for ownership management, issuances, and transactions
• Making the Swedish private company market more transparent, accessible, and efficient

The team is led by CEO Martin N. Larsson, a seasoned senior executive in the field of trading and finance. Martin holds formal approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) as a fit and proper executive, has served as Head of Securities at Mangold, and until recently was CEO of Pepins, a market-leading platform for unlisted shares and their shareholders. This track record gives him a uniquely relevant perspective on how to modernize and scale Sweden’s private company infrastructure.

With Martin’s leadership, and with Katalysen and Apollonian as partners, Alternativa combines cutting-edge technology with deep market expertise. Together, we are building the backbone of a more modern private markets ecosystem, one where companies can raise capital more efficiently, owners enjoy clearer governance, and Sweden’s entrepreneurial energy is matched with world-class digital infrastructure. While the immediate focus is Sweden, the need for better private company infrastructure is not unique to one market. From this strong Nordic base, Alternativa is positioning itself to eventually serve private companies across borders, a natural step for a sector that is increasingly global in both ownership and ambition.

“As I see it, Alternativa is betting on three mega-trends,” says Tobias Mathiasen, Venture Partner at Katalysen. “First, long-term, more and more capital is flowing into unlisted companies. We have already seen this trend with the strong growth of PE, and we believe it will ‘crawl down’ into earlier stages too. Second, as this happens, regulatory pressure for unlisted companies may increase, and the line between private and public may slowly blur, especially around secondaries trading. Third, existing fundraising infrastructure is changing. Stock exchanges are increasingly places for exits, not growth capital. More and more value is now created in the pre-IPO stage. Taken together, these shifts create real opportunities for companies and platforms that help unlisted companies navigate this new landscape.”

For Katalysen, Alternativa is not just a promising venture. It is one of our five core investments, reflecting both our confidence in the team and our conviction that this overlooked sector is ready for transformation.