KunskapsPorten

What KunskapsPorten does

KunskapsPorten AB is a Swedish property development and operations company founded in 2007 in Malmö by Joakim Ollén and Erik Selin, specializing in 'profilfastigheter' — educational facilities, sports arenas, and bathhouse/wellness centers. Its flagship go-to-market model is functional procurement (funktionsupphandling) and public-private partnership (OPP), under which municipalities contract the company to design, build, own, and operate facilities such as the Vattnets Hus bathhouse chain. The portfolio spans 13+ municipalities across Skåne, Blekinge, Kalmar, and Värmland and is held through 20+ wholly-owned property subsidiaries (e.g., KunskapsPorten Malmö AB, KunskapsPorten Ängelholm AB). Major assets include Vattnets Hus Ängelholm (opened 2017, ~300M SEK investment, ~1M cumulative visitors in 5 years), Vattnets Hus Kalmar (opened October 2025, ~600M SEK, 16,000 sqm, projected ~350,000 annual visitors), the under-construction Vattnets Hus Skurup (~200M SEK, completion autumn 2028), Kristinehamn Arena (~11,000 sqm, ~200,000 annual visitors), Pilängens Sportcenter, Norra Station in Hässleholm, multiple preschools, schools, and student housing (Skurups Elevhem — 96 apartments).

The company monetizes the portfolio through several revenue streams: long-term service fees from municipal functional procurement contracts covering public services (school swimming, public baths); commercial revenue from bathhouse admissions, gym memberships under the Gymporten brand, padel, spa, cafés, and restaurants operated inside the facilities; rental income from educational (notably Atvexa/Montessori Sverige), healthcare (Solbrinken vårdcentral), and commercial tenants; student housing rents; and conference facilities booked via the Bokamera platform. Notable physical-technical features include 90 solar panels at Vattnets Hus Ängelholm covering ~20% of electricity needs, weather-adaptive heating systems, water-saving fixtures (up to 70% reduction), app-controlled smart locks via Entryfy, and an interactive water exhibition ('Nyfiken på vatten') co-developed with Linnaeus University, Kalmar vatten, and other partners.

KunskapsPorten is privately held with no disclosed external PE/VC funding. Leadership includes CEO Joakim Ollén, Market Director Mats Svanberg (ex-Region Skåne), CFO Kjell Fernström, and Sustainability Manager Maria Ragnevad (ex-Peab, ex-Ramböll). The firm pursues growth through municipal procurement wins, organic facility expansions, strategic property acquisitions, and partnerships — most notably with Peab as lead construction contractor for major bathhouse projects and Leisure Jones for bathhouse operational expertise.

Name

KunskapsPorten

Legal name

Kunskapsporten AB

Website

https://kunskapsporten.nu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KunskapsPorten is a Swedish property developer and operator specializing in educational, sports, and bathhouse/wellness facilities across 13 municipalities, using functional procurement and public-private partnerships to build, own, and operate facilities for municipal clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Malmö

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Property Ownership and Rental Income: KunskapsPorten acquires, builds, and owns educational, sports, and wellness real estate. Revenue is generated through long-term leases with municipal and private tenants (schools, preschools, sports clubs, healthcare providers, restaurants). The portfolio spans preschools, schools, folk high schools, sports arenas, bathhouses, and elderly care facilities across 13+ municipalities.
2. Bath and Wellness Facility Operations: KunskapsPorten both owns and operates bathhouses and wellness facilities (Vattnets Hus, Kristinehamn Arena, Pilängens Sportcenter, GYMPORTEN). Revenue comes from public admissions, gym memberships, swim lessons for municipalities, and related commercial services (café, restaurant, spa). Municipalities contract for public swim access and school swimming instruction as part of functional procurement agreements.
3. Functional Procurement (Funktionsupphandling) / OPP: The company's flagship GTM model involves municipalities contracting KunskapsPorten to build, own, and operate facilities via functional procurement (funktionsupphandling) or public-private partnership (OPP). The municipality pays a predetermined annual service fee, covering core public services (e.g., school swimming, public baths). KunskapsPorten retains commercial freedom to develop additional revenue-generating services (gym, café, spa) within the facility.
4. Student Housing (Skurups Elevhem): 96 student apartments at Skurups Folkhögskola rented primarily to accepted students. Monthly rent ranges from 5,349 SEK (private apartment, incl. electricity) to 6,148 SEK (shared, incl. electricity). Revenue from student housing supplements the broader campus property portfolio.
5. Conference Facilities: Conference rooms available for rental in Kristinehamn (Aulan 130 persons, Godskällaren 16 persons) and Hässleholm, with booking via Bokamera platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

KunskapsPorten is a Swedish property development and management company that acquires, builds, owns, and operates specialized real estate assets — primarily bathhouses and wellness facilities (under the Vattnets Hus brand), educational facilities (schools, preschools, folk high schools), and sports arenas. The company sells to municipalities primarily through functional procurement (funktionsupphandling) contracts, where it finances construction, retains ownership, and operates the facility in exchange for a long-term service fee. It also generates consumer revenue from public admissions, gym memberships, student housing rentals, and conference bookings at its owned facilities.

Product overview

KunskapsPorten operates a diversified portfolio of profile-focused properties across 13 municipalities in southern Sweden. The company offers integrated bath and wellness facilities under the 'Vattnets Hus' brand (Ängelholm, Kalmar, Skurup under construction), sports arenas including Kristinehamn Arena and Pilängens Sportcenter, educational properties including preschools (Åkerbrukets förskola, Hindby Småskola, Brunnby Skola), schools, and student housing (Skurups Elevhem with 96 apartments). Additional offerings include conference services, Norra Station knowledge hub in Hässleholm, and specialized facilities such as elderly care, healthcare centers, and mixed-use properties. The company maintains an own gym chain (Gymporten) and operates restaurants including Salads and Smoothies franchise. The business model emphasizes functional procurement (funktionsupphandling) where municipalities pay for services rather than owning facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Vattnets Hus: Bath and wellness facilities operated by KunskapsPorten in various cities including Ängelholm, Kalmar, and Skurup.
• GYMPORTEN
• Kristinehamn Arena
• KunskapsPorten Arena
• Pilängens Sportcenter
• Skurups Elevhem

Products and services

• Vattnets Hus Ängelholm Multi-facility bathhouse and wellness center in Ängelholm combining public swimming, school swim instruction, gym, spa, café, and an educational water exhibition. Sells public admissions and serves municipal swimming obligations under a functional procurement agreement.
• Vattnets Hus Kalmar Bath and wellness facility opened October 2025 in Kalmar, operating under a functional procurement contract with Kalmar kommun and Region Kalmar. Combines 50m competition pool, family pool, rehabilitation pool, spa, gym, restaurant, and conference facilities for public, municipal, and commercial use.
• Kristinehamn Arena Multi-facility complex in Kristinehamn combining indoor football arena, bathhouse, gym, spa, café, and padel hall serving approximately 200,000 visitors annually. Long-term leased and operated directly by KunskapsPorten.
• Pilängens Sportcenter Combined bath and sports facility in Lomma (approximately 5,698 sqm) comprising an outdoor public bath, indoor sports hall, and multi-purpose hall. Lomma Municipality is the main tenant.
• Gymporten

Quantifiable outcome

• Vattnets Hus Ängelholm attracted approximately 1 million visitors in its first 5 years of operation (2017–2022)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PeabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 December 2025Peab is the main construction contractor for KunskapsPorten's bathhouse projects. Peab was commissioned for Vattnets Hus Skurup (SEK 155 million project, construction starting spring 2026, completing late 2028) and is the builder of Vattnets Hus Kalmar (SEK ~600 million, completed October 2025). Peab and KunskapsPorten also co-exhibited at Träffpunkt Idrott 2025 to promote the functional procurement model.
• Kalmar kommun, Kalmar vatten, Linnéuniversitetet, Havsmiljöinstitutet, Sportfiskarna, Svenska kyrkancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Six partners collaborated on the interactive water exhibition 'Nyfiken på vatten' (Curious about Water) at Vattnets Hus Kalmar (opened October 2025). The exhibition covers wetlands, Baltic Sea environment, algae cultivation, fish conservation, and water in society. KunskapsPorten hosts the exhibition in the facility entrance; partners contributed content and expertise. Also Kalmar kommun and Region Kalmar were joint procurement clients for the bathhouse.
• Svea PadelminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2020KunskapsPorten and Svea Padel jointly operate the padel hall at Kristinehamn Arena (opened December 2020, approximately 1,000 sqm with 4 double courts and 1 single court). Svea Padel, which operates multiple padel halls, provides operational expertise while KunskapsPorten owns the facility.
• LB 07coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 20 December 2018KunskapsPorten purchased Bunkeflo Arena from football club LB 07 in summer 2018 and simultaneously entered a four-year sponsorship agreement (2019-2022). LB 07 receives long-term facility ownership certainty; KunskapsPorten gains a foothold in southern Malmö. The deal was described as mutually beneficial for the club's development and the arena's further development.
• Atvexa (Montessori Sverige)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018Atvexa is the publicly listed education company that operates schools and preschools across many of KunskapsPorten's educational properties. Tenants include: Montessori Sverige at Brunnby Skola (Höganäs), preschool operations at Kingelstad Byskola (Helsingborg), four educational units in Karlskrona (F-9 plus sports hall), and Västra Klagstorp Montessori in Malmö. Atvexa drives the educational operations; KunskapsPorten provides the real estate.
• Leisure JonescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2015Strategic cooperation signed June 2015 between KunskapsPorten (Malmö) and Leisure Jones (Stockholm) to develop bathhouse concepts together. Leisure Jones has over 20 years of experience developing the Aquarena concept (facilities in Sollefteå and Tyresö). The partnership aimed to combine KunskapsPorten's property development expertise with Leisure Jones's operational bathhouse know-how to offer integrated build-own-operate solutions to the Swedish market.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Peab: One of Sweden's largest construction contractors, currently the main builder for KunskapsPorten's bathhouse projects (Kalmar, Skurup) and co-exhibitor at Träffpunkt Idrott 2025. Serves as the construction counterparty and PPP partner for KunskapsPorten's municipal projects.
• Atvexa (AcadeMedia peer): Publicly listed Swedish education company operating preschools and schools (Montessori Sverige brand). KunskapsPorten's largest tenant across multiple educational properties; represents the educational operator counterpart in KunskapsPorten's build-lease model.

Broad incumbents

• Castellum: One of Sweden's largest listed real estate companies with diversified commercial, office, and logistics properties. Comparable as a major Swedish real estate owner-operator with property management capabilities; KunskapsPorten team members have prior experience at Castellum.
• Balder: Swedish real estate company with diversified residential, commercial, and community service properties across Sweden and Northern Europe. Comparable broad Swedish real estate operator; KunskapsPorten team has prior Balder experience.
• SBB (Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB): Swedish real estate company focused on community service properties (schools, nursing homes, public buildings) leased to government and municipal tenants. Direct comparison to KunskapsPorten's educational real estate segment and its publicly-leased portfolio model.
• SATS Group: Nordic gym, fitness, and wellness chain operating across Scandinavia. Comparable to KunskapsPorten's Gymporten gym operations and the commercial fitness/wellness side of the Vattnets Hus bathhouse business.

Regional players

• Diös Fastigheter: Swedish regional real estate company with properties across northern and central Sweden, including community service real estate. Comparable as a Sweden-focused real estate company with public-sector tenants, though operating in different regional geographies.

Emerging players

• Leisure Jones (Aquarena): Swedish bathhouse developer and operator with over 20 years of experience developing the Aquarena concept. KunskapsPorten's strategic partner since 2015 for developing bathhouse concepts together; represents an adjacent specialist in the integrated bathhouse development market.

Direct peers

• Medley: Swedish bath, gym, and wellness facility operator running municipal pools and gym facilities across multiple Swedish cities. Most directly comparable to KunskapsPorten's bathhouse and wellness operations (Vattnets Hus brand) under a similar public-private service model.
• Stenvalvet: Swedish real estate company specializing in public-sector properties including schools, nursing homes, and municipal buildings, leased to public tenants on long-term contracts. Highly comparable operating model to KunskapsPorten's educational real estate and long-term municipal lease structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KunskapsPorten