Johannes Schildt, the cofounder and long-time CEO of Swedish healthtech unicorn Kry, is stepping down and taking on the role of chair of the board.
Former COO Karl Conneryd-Lundgren will become the new CEO.
“Kalle and I have worked closely for a long time, and we’ll continue to collaborate, but with slightly different focuses,” Schildt says.
Kry, which provides digital care services, was founded in 2014 by Schildt, Josefin Landgård, Fredrik Jung Abbou and Joachim Hedenius. Schildt became CEO in 2015, leading up to the company’s first round of venture capital, and has led the company ever since. The other cofounders have gradually left operational roles at the company.
As chair, Schildt plans to remain operationally involved, focusing on new strategic verticals and geographical expansion.
“It’s about time to get a promotion after 10 years on the job,” Schildt jokes. “I’m really excited about this new role.”
Kry, which employs around 4k people, has expanded in recent years to France and the UK, where it is known as Livi. It operates both digital and physical care facilities.
People close to Schildt have previously told Sifted that his strengths lie in numbers and pitch deck creation, which has helped Kry raise over $700m since 2016. Its last publicly announced funding round in summer 2022 brought in $160m, valuing the company at $2bn.
Under Schildt’s leadership, Kry has reached operational break-even in its three core markets as investors have begun prioritising profitability over growth. Earlier this year, he also spearheaded a restructuring of the company’s “complex” capital structure.
“We’ve achieved a lot in the past 10 years, proving that our way of providing care works — and we have a solid underlying business,” Schildt says. “Now, the focus is on scaling that recipe in the markets we’re already in. Even though we’re a household name in Sweden, we aren’t [a household name] in France yet. There’s still a lot of potential to grow where we’ve already entered.”
Kry isn’t Schildt’s first startup. He began his career in the tech ecosystem as a game developer at Stardoll, a common starting point for many of Sweden’s seasoned tech entrepreneurs, and has been building startups ever since.
“Today was the first time since I was 22 that I didn’t wake up as a CEO,” Schildt says. “It feels really good.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/care-unicorn-krys-cofounder-johannes-schildt-steps-down-as-ceo-news/
