Gabriel Vasquez, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has recently journeyed from New York City to Stockholm on nine separate occasions within the past year. His travels were not only intended to visit Lovable, a portfolio company, but also to scout for emerging Swedish startups poised to achieve unicorn status before they make their mark internationally.
This pursuit of innovation was highlighted by a16z’s recent $2.3 million pre-seed investment in Dentio, a Swedish startup that utilizes artificial intelligence to streamline administrative tasks for dental practices. While this investment represents a modest sum for a firm that has just announced a substantial fund totaling $15 billion, it underscores the growing trend of U.S.-based venture capitalists actively exploring investment opportunities beyond U.S. borders, even in the absence of local offices.
Exploring the Swedish market makes sense for a16z, which has previously generated significant returns by investing in companies like Skype, co-founded by Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström. Stockholm has seen a surge in high-growth startups, making it an attractive location for the venture capital powerhouse.
Dentio joins the ranks of notable startups emerging from SSE Labs, a startup incubator responsible for nurturing successful companies like fintech giant Klarna and e-scooter provider Voi. The trio behind Dentio—Elias Afrasiabi, Anton Li, and Lukas Sjögren—met during their studies at the Stockholm School of Economics and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. They were inspired to create Dentio after learning from a dentist (Li’s mother) about the burdensome nature of administrative work, which detracts from patient care.
The team harnessed large language models (LLMs) to develop an initial product: an AI-driven tool that generates clinical notes. As the market evolves and AI-driven solutions become ubiquitous, Afrasiabi emphasized the need for Dentio to demonstrate its unique value to dental professionals, preventing them from switching to competitors.
Potential rivals include Tandem Health, another Swedish startup that secured $50 million in Series A funding last year to provide AI assistance across various medical fields. However, Dentio’s specialized focus on dentistry gives it an edge, and the company aims for international growth.
“Currently, we are a team of seven and believe we can create a standardized administrative solution for healthcare across Europe and potentially worldwide,” Afrasiabi shared. While healthcare systems in Europe differ, they often share core similarities, leading Dentio to believe that their successful model could translate to other EU countries.
Emphasizing its “Made in Sweden” branding, Dentio assures European customers that all processed data complies with Swedish and EU regulations, thus aligning with privacy standards. This commitment not only caters to privacy-conscious users but also signals potential for venture capital investment, reflecting Sweden’s heritage of fostering successful tech companies.
“There were no meetups and no outreach to investors,” Afrasiabi stated, noting that the company’s growth stemmed organically from referrals and word-of-mouth, eventually reaching U.S. investors.
a16z’s proactive global strategy, led by Vasquez, extends beyond Sweden; it encompasses global scouting for early opportunity identification. By partnering with influential founders like Fredrik Hjelm from Voi and Johannes Schildt from Kry, a16z gains insight into local ecosystems.
Vasquez, who focuses on AI investments for a16z, expressed that this initiative aligns with a broader narrative of internationally sourced startups rapidly scaling in various global markets—from Germany’s Black Forest Labs to Singapore’s Manus, recently acquired by Meta. His interest in AI also extends to emerging markets, including Brazil and Latin America, emphasizing that AI technology has democratized access to high-level intelligence worldwide, shaping a new wave of innovation.
