Andreessen Horowitz Flies to Stockholm 9 Times in a Year to Find the Next Big AI Unicorn

In a bold move that signals Silicon Valley’s growing appetite for European innovation, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) partner Gabriel Vasquez has revealed he took nine flights from New York to Stockholm in a single year—all in pursuit of the next breakout startup.

The strategy appears to be paying off. The firm just led a $2.3 million pre-seed round into Dentio, a Swedish AI startup that’s revolutionizing dental practice management by automating administrative workflows. While this check is modest for a firm that recently announced $15 billion in new funds, it represents something far more significant: a16z’s commitment to finding tomorrow’s unicorns before they cross the Atlantic.

Why Stockholm? The Nordic Advantage

Stockholm isn’t just another European tech hub—it’s a proven breeding ground for global giants. The city gave us Skype (where a16z saw massive returns) and has since produced a remarkable pipeline of successful companies including Klarna, Voi, and Legora.

Vasquez explains that a16z spends considerable time “developing a deep understanding of specific markets and knowing where innovation is emerging.” In Sweden, that means closely tracking ecosystems like SSE Labs—the startup incubator at the Stockholm School of Economics that has become a veritable factory for successful ventures.

Dentio is the latest graduate of this prestigious program. The company was founded by three former high school classmates—Elias Afrasiabi, Anton Li, and Lukas Sjögren—who reconnected as students at both SSE and KTH (Royal Institute of Technology). Their journey began when Li’s mother, a practicing dentist, complained about how administrative work was eating into patient care time.

The trio saw an opportunity to leverage large language models to solve this problem, creating what would become Dentio’s initial product: an AI-powered recording tool that generates clinical notes automatically. But they’re not stopping there.

The AI Scribe Race Heats Up

Dentio faces significant competition from Tandem Health, another Swedish startup that raised a staggering $50 million Series A last year to support clinicians with AI across multiple medical specialties. While Tandem casts a wider net across various medical fields, Dentio has chosen to focus exclusively on dentistry—a strategic bet that could pay off handsomely through international expansion.

“We’re a team of seven people, and we think it’s possible to build a unified way of handling administration all over Europe, and maybe even all over the world,” Afrasiabi says. Despite Europe’s fragmented healthcare systems, the founders believe what works in Sweden can work across the EU.

The “Made in Sweden” Advantage

Dentio prominently features its “Made in Sweden” branding, emphasizing that “all relevant data is processed in Sweden and Finland in compliance with Swedish and EU law.” This isn’t just marketing—it’s a powerful signal to privacy-conscious European customers and discerning VCs alike.

The branding taps into Sweden’s reputation for producing breakout companies while assuring customers that their sensitive healthcare data meets the highest standards of protection. In an era where data privacy concerns are paramount, this Swedish pedigree could be Dentio’s secret weapon.

How a16z Finds Hidden Gems

Here’s the fascinating part: Dentio’s founders claim they “went to zero meetups” and “reached out to zero investors.” They were heads-down building their product when suddenly, investment interest started flowing in.

“I think it was mostly through referrals and people talking to each other that the news got all the way over to the U.S.,” Afrasiabi says. This wasn’t happenstance—it’s the result of a16z’s sophisticated scouting network.

Vasquez reveals that a16z has “eyes around the world” to spot promising companies as early as local funds might. “In Sweden, for example, we partnered with top founders abroad like Fredrik Hjelm, founder of Voi, and Johannes Schildt, founder of Kry, by turning them into scouts and mapping the best local talent.”

This global scouting approach has led a16z to invest in companies like Black Forest Labs in Germany and even the Singapore-based AI startup Manus, which was recently acquired by Meta after generating massive buzz in the tech community.

Beyond Sweden: The Global AI Gold Rush

For Vasquez, who focuses on AI application investments at a16z, Sweden represents just one piece of a larger pattern: “great global companies being born abroad and scaling quickly.” Born and raised in El Salvador himself, Vasquez has been spending considerable time in São Paulo, Brazil, where he sees similar potential.

“I’m really excited about what’s brewing in Brazil and across Latin America in AI,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “I believe AI is the great equalizer. Most people now have access to PhD-level intelligence on a phone, and ultimately, Silicon Valley is a state of mind.”

This philosophy drives a16z’s aggressive international expansion strategy. The firm isn’t just looking for deals—it’s positioning itself to capture the next wave of global innovation, wherever it emerges.

What This Means for the Future of Venture Capital

The Dentio investment and Vasquez’s Stockholm travels signal a fundamental shift in how top-tier venture firms operate. No longer content to wait for deals to come to them, firms like a16z are proactively seeking out promising companies in emerging tech ecosystems around the world.

This approach offers several advantages: first-mover access to promising startups, diversification beyond Silicon Valley’s sometimes overheated market, and exposure to different perspectives and problem-solving approaches. As AI continues to democratize access to advanced technology, the next big thing could emerge from anywhere—and a16z is determined to be there when it does.

For Dentio and other European startups, this increased attention from U.S. VCs could mean more funding, faster growth, and ultimately, the resources needed to compete on a global scale. The Swedish dental AI company may be starting small, but with a16z’s backing and the firm’s global network, it’s positioned to scale rapidly across Europe and beyond.

The message is clear: in the age of AI, innovation knows no borders, and neither do the world’s most ambitious investors.

Tags: Andreessen Horowitz, a16z, Stockholm, Swedish startups, Dentio, AI dental technology, SSE Labs, Silicon Valley, European innovation, venture capital, global expansion, AI scribes, healthcare AI, Nordic tech ecosystem, international investment, Gabriel Vasquez, dental administration, AI automation, startup scouting, global venture capital

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