Sweden's answer to Cameo has blown up during the coronavirus pandemic with soccer stars and the 'Game of Thrones' Night King joining the platform

Gustav Toresson

Bored celebrities and bored people have turned Swedish startup Memmo into hot property during the coronavirus pandemic.
The platform, similar to shoutout app Cameo, is making use of out-of-work celebrities to provide personalized video messages, with 25% of the fees going towards COVID-19 relief efforts.
As a result, the nine-month-old tech startup is booming as a variety of sport and entertainment stars apply to be on the platform as regular life grinds to a halt.
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Memmo, a Swedish tech startup akin to Cameo, says it has seen unexpected growth during the coronavirus pandemic.

US-based Cameo has made waves by providing a marketplace for users to pay for video messages from celebrities and has been backed by major VC funds including Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Sweden's Memmo does much the same thing, and has added celebrities including current and former soccer stars and "Game of Thrones'" the Night King in recent months. 25% of its fees are going towards COVID-19 relief efforts with celebrities offering birthday, wedding, and congratulation messages to fans.

Users can go to the Memmo website, find a celebrity on the platform in their price bracket (the current most popular choice is the retired ice hockey player Peter Forsberg), send a request, and a few days later your Memmo is sent by SMS or email.

"Everyone has time on their hands now and it's crazy," Memmo CEO and cofounder Gustav Toresson told Business Insider in an interview. "We're expanding faster than we originally planned to, the concept is young but the market is so big."

For context, traffic and orders to the Memmo website have doubled each week since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Western Europe, a 128% increase, according to Toresson.

The platform, which launched in September last year, has more than 800 celebrities and is live in three markets, having added Germany and Finland to the service.

Despite Sweden, somewhat anomalistically, not being in lockdown, celebrities have been queueing up to be on the service, Toresson said due to their regular work, be it sport or performing, being canceled.

To-date, former Sweden, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich soccer player Patrick Andersson, "Vikings" actress Alicia Agneson, German handball star Stefan Kretzschmar, former Premier League player and current Sweden captain Sebastian Larsson, and "Game of Thrones" actor Vladimír Furdík — the Night King — have joined the platform.

Sebastian Larsson

"It's a big advantage to be local in every market, we have some niche celebrities in their own area that have a lot more engagement and loyalty from users, plus they have more interest in interacting with those users," Toresson said. "We are trying to democratize celebrities."

Toresson is no stranger to entrepreneurship and founded his first company aged 18. However, the inspiration to build more came from a dinner he had in the US with friends which was interrupted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who left a lasting impression on the Swede.

"Only a certain percentage of people have it in them to be entrepreneurs," he said. "It's about trying to have a positive impact on the world."

The platform is barely nine months old but Toresson believes he is working harder than he ever has in his life, which is impressive considering his prior positions in the Swedish army and investment banking.

To date, Memmo has raised $2 million in seed funding, led by Luxor Capital and involving angel investors from fintech unicorn Klarna and Fredrik Hjelm, CEO at e-scooter company Voi.

"We've been really surprised by how nice the traction has been," Toresson added. "We feel comfortable for this year and going into next."

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