Investor · Board Director · Advisor

Where Capital Meets Conviction.

An independent platform for capital, governance, and conviction.

I'm Marika Svardstrom, founder of Active Capital.

Twenty years turning institutional and family office capital into direct investments, board seats, and exits — working across syndicate investing, fractional advisory mandates, and board representation, building on roles at Khazanah Nasional, L&G Capital, and Scandinavian single-family offices.

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London Ambassador, Investors for Climate

Two chapters, one line — up.

TRACK RECORD

Institutional-era results, then the independent-era portfolio and exits since founding Active Capital. Same ridge, same trajectory — read it as mountains, or read it as a chart.

INSTITUTIONAL ERA · 2010–2020

3 Unicorns backed · 2 IPOs / 1 trade sale · 43%+ Portfolio IRR (Khazanah)

Auto1 and Farfetch (IPO), Skyscanner (trade sale to Ctrip) — led at Khazanah Europe Investment.

INDEPENDENT ERA · 2021–present

40+ Principal investments · $200M+ Capital deployed 3 Exits: Vortex IoT, Eligible.ai, Veremark – partial exit

Three ways I work with capital and companies.

WHAT I DO

ADVISORY — Fractional and mandate-based capital strategy

I step into defined advisory mandates — fractional executive roles and investment-leadership seats — for founders, single-family offices, and institutional platforms that need capital strategy, investor engagement, and fundraising execution without a permanent hire.

Novai — Fractional CIGO, 2025–26 · L&G Capital — Interim Head of VC Investing · Sabaro Investments — Investment Director · Julnie Sarl — Investment Director

BOARD REPRESENTATION — Governance, strategy, and NED work

I sit on boards as an investor-director and chair nomination committees — CEO and NED recruitment, board composition, and board assessment — across listed companies and early-stage syndicates alike.

MeVitae — Alternate Director · Lunio.ai — Board Observer · Formpipe Software AB — Nomination Chair · Björn Borg AB — Nomination Chair

INVESTING — Syndicate lead, direct and fund investments

I source proprietary deal flow, raise from family offices and private investors, run onboarding through close, and represent the syndicate on the board — alongside direct and fund investments spanning venture, growth, and private equity.

Syndicate Lead — AI-native & fintech · Co-founder, GP — Breakout Partners Fund I · Co-invested alongside Balderton, Lightspeed, and Valar

LP commitments include EQT European Mid-Market Fund, Atomico, Seedcamp, Dawn Capital, and Norrsken22.

"Marika immediately understood the growth potential of our company. She proved a tough and successful negotiator when it came to structuring the terms. Definitely an investment professional to have on your side."

— Håkan Koç, Co-Founder, Auto1 Group

18 companies — direct and fund exposure to 100+.