Spintop Ventures invests SEK 16 million in photobook startup Once Upon

Spintop Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies from across the Nordic region, will invest SEK 16 million (about $1.7 million US) in Once Upon, a photobook app company located in Skellefteå, Sweden. The announcement said the company will use the investment to advance its new collaborative photobook experience.

“Our new function where several can collaborate live in one and the same book has been greatly appreciated by our early users,” says Lina Andersson, CEO, Once Upon. “Spintop Ventures and existing owners believe very much about what we do and are now entering this capital for expansion. We want people who have been on a trip, bachelorette party or perhaps a wedding to have the chance to create something nice together with memories of the experience. With our function, you no longer need to send pictures between each other but all contribute their own pictures and edit spreads live directly in the book. We want it to be both creative and fun.”

Spintop Ventures, which focuses on Nordic tech companies, sees great potential in Once Upon:

“The company has very strong key figures that make it possible to scale sales efficiently,” ” says Sami Niemi, partner at Spintop Ventures. “At the same time, the team puts an enormous focus on building the user experience. They have succeeded in creating an elegant and innovative product that is easy to use. I have a long background in image processing on smartphones in my former company Scalado and as global product manager for photography at Microsoft, and really like what I see at Once Upon.”

Once Upon’s app is available worldwide on the App Store and Google Play. The company claims 250,000 downloads in limited distribution within Europe. In addition to Spintop, other investors include Lunova, Partnerinvest Norr and Treac Innovation. According to CrunchBase, the company has raised $2.4 million in three rounds.