Uncovering the Secrets of Successful Business: A Swedish Scale-Up’s €4.5 Million Investment in Understanding Success

Fortnox Invests €4.5 Million in Ten-Year Research Initiative with Stockholm School of Economics

Swedish business software scale-up, Fortnox, has announced a commitment of €4.5 million (50 million kronor) towards a ten-year research project with the Stockholm School of Economics. The initiative aims to address the fundamental question of what factors truly contribute to a company’s success.

CEO of Fortnox, Tommy Eklund, expressed the company’s motivation behind the collaboration, stating, “We want to uncover the key drivers that lead companies of all sizes to contribute to a thriving Swedish society. By partnering with a prestigious institution like the Stockholm School of Economics, we believe we can achieve this goal.”

Founded in 2001 and based in Växjö, Fortnox has evolved from a Swedish accounting software firm to a prominent cloud-based platform catering to SMBs and accounting firms. With a range of products covering bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, and financial administration, the company has gained valuable insights into how businesses monitor their progress and make operational decisions.

Supported by EQT, a leading European investment group that privatized the company in 2025, Fortnox is deeply ingrained in Europe’s tech and scale-up ecosystem.

The new research initiative with the Stockholm School of Economics will establish the Center for Responsible Performance Measurement and fund a professorship. The focus will be on exploring how organizations define, measure, and pursue success, shedding light on potential oversights when management becomes overly fixated on goals and KPIs.

Startups, in particular, stand to benefit from this research as they are constantly advised to track various metrics to gauge their performance. However, an overemphasis on certain metrics can steer organizations towards prioritizing easily quantifiable targets over sustainable value creation.

The collaboration aims to delve deeper into these dynamics and cultivate a better understanding of responsible performance measurement for organizations. Fortnox’s substantial financial commitment will enable the establishment of a dedicated research environment at SSE while upholding academic freedom.

Vice-Chancellor Lars Strannegård expressed gratitude for Fortnox’s support, emphasizing the opportunity to advance knowledge in this critical area and enhance the understanding of organizational success measurement.

Fortnox’s investment in this research aligns closely with its customer base and the businesses utilizing its software. By gaining insights into the factors that drive businesses of varying sizes to contribute to the economy, the company aims to enhance its platform and provide valuable tools to its users.

The outcomes of the research will be publicly accessible, offering founders, executives, and investors new perspectives on evaluating progress and performance metrics. Fortnox intends to integrate these insights into its product development, bridging the gap between academic research and practical business applications.

For Europe’s startup ecosystem, where metrics play a crucial role in decision-making processes, the findings from this research could offer valuable insights for fundraising, hiring, and overall growth strategies.