By Titik Puspa 
In a move that underscores the increasingly global nature of venture capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) partner Gabriel Vasquez recently revealed an intensive scouting mission that saw him traverse the Atlantic nine times in a single year, traveling from New York City to Stockholm. While these frequent sojourns included strategic visits to innovative companies like Lovable, where he was seen posting from their offices, the primary objective was far more ambitious: to identify and secure investments in emerging Swedish tech unicorns before they could capture the attention of the broader transatlantic market. This proactive international strategy has come to light following the news that a16z led a $2.3 million pre-seed funding round for Dentio, a Swedish startup leveraging artificial intelligence to streamline administrative tasks for dental practices. Although this investment represents a modest sum for a firm that recently announced a colossal $15 billion in new funds, it serves as a powerful confirmation of U.S. venture capital firms actively seeking promising deal flow beyond their traditional Silicon Valley stronghold, even in the absence of a physical local presence.
Stockholm, a city with a burgeoning reputation as a European tech hub, is a natural fit for a16z’s global ambitions. The firm’s prior success with Skype, co-founded by the renowned Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström, laid a crucial groundwork, demonstrating the fertile ground for innovation within Sweden. Since then, the Swedish capital has become a breeding ground for rapidly scaling startups, and a16z, through its dedicated scouting efforts, has been diligently tracking the origin and trajectory of many of these promising ventures.
Gabriel Vasquez articulated this strategic approach in a conversation with TechCrunch, stating, "We spend a lot of time developing a deep understanding of specific markets and knowing where innovation is emerging. In Sweden, that has meant closely tracking ecosystems like [SSE Business Lab] – the startup incubator of the Stockholm School of Economics – and the companies coming out of it." This methodical approach to market analysis and ecosystem cultivation is a hallmark of a16z’s investment philosophy, aiming to identify disruptive technologies and visionary founders at their earliest stages.
Dentio, the recent recipient of a16z’s investment, stands as a prime example of the type of company emerging from Stockholm’s vibrant startup scene. It joins the ranks of other successful Swedish ventures, including the fintech giant Klarna, the legal AI startup Legora, and the e-scooter company Voi, all of which have benefited from the nurturing environment of the SSE Business Lab. The story of Dentio’s founding is rooted in a shared experience and a keen observation of a pressing need. Elias Afrasiabi, Anton Li, and Lukas Sjögren, three high school classmates who reconnected as students at both the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), were drawn to the SSE Business Lab. Their entrepreneurial journey was further bolstered by additional backing from KTH’s Innovation Launch program.
The genesis of Dentio’s idea stemmed from a personal connection to the dental profession. Anton Li’s mother, a practicing dentist, frequently lamented how the overwhelming burden of administrative tasks detracted from her ability to provide optimal clinical care. This firsthand insight resonated deeply with the trio, who recognized a significant opportunity to apply emerging technologies to solve this pervasive problem. They hypothesized that Large Language Models (LLMs) could be harnessed to alleviate this administrative strain for dentists, a concept they rigorously validated through discussions with Li’s mother and her colleagues. This validation led to the development of Dentio’s initial product: an AI-powered recording tool designed to automatically generate clinical notes from patient consultations.
However, the Dentio team is acutely aware of the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Elias Afrasiabi acknowledged that AI scribes are quickly becoming a commoditized product. Consequently, Dentio’s strategic imperative is to demonstrate a clear and compelling value proposition that will prevent dentists from being tempted to switch to alternative solutions once these AI tools become more widespread. This necessitates a focus on building deep integrations and offering unique benefits that extend beyond basic note generation.
The competitive landscape for Dentio includes other innovative Swedish startups. Notably, Tandem Health, another player in the AI-driven healthcare solutions space, secured a substantial $50 million Series A round last year. Tandem Health aims to support clinicians across multiple medical specialties with its AI-powered operating system. In contrast, Dentio has chosen to focus exclusively on the dental sector. However, the company is confident in its ability to achieve the scale that venture capitalists typically expect through aggressive international expansion.
"Now we’re a team of seven people, and we think that it’s possible to build a unified way of handling administration all over Europe, and maybe even all over the world," Afrasiabi stated, highlighting the company’s global aspirations. While acknowledging the inherent fragmentation of European healthcare systems, Dentio believes that underlying similarities across these diverse markets will enable its Swedish-developed solutions to be successfully adopted elsewhere in the EU.
Dentio strategically leverages its "Made in Sweden" branding, emphasizing that "all relevant data is processed in Sweden and Finland in compliance with Swedish and EU law." This positioning serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it addresses the data privacy concerns of privacy-conscious European customers, assuring them of stringent data protection measures. Secondly, it acts as a powerful signal to venture capitalists, evoking Sweden’s long-standing reputation for producing globally competitive and innovative companies. This historical precedent, coupled with Dentio’s commitment to data sovereignty, creates a compelling narrative for potential investors.
The company’s ability to attract a16z’s attention without actively seeking it out is a testament to the power of organic growth and a strong product-market fit. Afrasiabi explained, "We went to zero meetups. I reached out to zero investors." He elaborated that the news of their progress spread primarily through word-of-mouth referrals and professional networks, eventually reaching the ears of investors in the U.S. This organic discovery process highlights the increasing importance of strong fundamentals and genuine innovation in attracting venture capital.
This proactive global scouting approach is not a new development for a16z, as Vasquez explained. The firm has consistently maintained a global network of "venture scouts" dispersed across Europe to identify promising companies at a similar pace to local funds. "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," Vasquez revealed. This strategy of leveraging established entrepreneurs as informal scouts provides a valuable on-the-ground perspective and access to burgeoning startup ecosystems.
For Vasquez, whose investment focus at a16z lies in AI applications, the trend extends beyond Sweden. He observes a broader pattern of exceptional global companies originating outside of traditional Silicon Valley hubs and achieving rapid scalability. He cited examples such as Germany’s Black Forest Labs, which recently raised $300 million at a $3.25 billion valuation, and Manus, a Singapore-based AI startup that was recently acquired by Meta. This perspective underscores a fundamental shift in the global innovation landscape, where talent and disruptive ideas are no longer confined to a single geographic epicenter.
Vasquez’s own background, having been born and raised in El Salvador, imbues him with a unique perspective on global innovation. He has also been actively engaging with the burgeoning tech scene in São Paulo, Brazil. In a LinkedIn post, he expressed his excitement about the potential brewing in Brazil and across Latin America, particularly in the field of AI. "I believe AI is the great equalizer," he stated, emphasizing the democratizing power of artificial intelligence. "Most people now have access to PhD-level intelligence on a phone, and ultimately, Silicon Valley is a state of mind." This sentiment encapsulates a vision where innovation and technological advancement are accessible to all, regardless of geographical location, and where the entrepreneurial spirit can thrive anywhere.
The story of Dentio and a16z’s investment in it is more than just a single funding round; it represents a broader trend of venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz actively broadening their horizons, recognizing that the next generation of transformative companies can emerge from anywhere in the world. Gabriel Vasquez’s frequent flights to Stockholm are not merely business trips; they are indicative of a strategic imperative to discover, cultivate, and invest in global innovation, ultimately shaping the future of technology on a worldwide scale. The continued success of companies like Dentio, nurtured by forward-thinking venture capital and a commitment to solving real-world problems, will undoubtedly redefine the landscape of entrepreneurship and investment in the years to come.
Corrections: This story originally stated that a16z is an investor in Lovable owing to an editing error. The name of SSE’s incubator has also been corrected.