Varvet

What Varvet does

Varvet is a Swedish digital product studio (boutique agency) that designs, engineers, and maintains custom digital products for enterprise and well-funded mid-market clients across fintech, mobility, hospitality, retail, and entertainment. Founded in 2008 as Elabs and re-established under its current name when Elabs and a separate 2013 entity merged in 2016, Varvet operates today as Varvet AB (org.nr 559243-1869), independently owned by its partners after buying back independence from Universal Avenue in 2020. The firm employs 1–10 people across offices in Hovås (Gothenburg) and Stockholm, and embeds senior practitioners directly into client teams rather than operating through account-manager hand-offs.

The studio's technical core is Ruby on Rails, complemented by React/Node, Swift/Kotlin for mobile, Next.js, PostgreSQL, and AWS, with project-specific stacks including WooCommerce and Elixir/Phoenix. Varvet owns and maintains two globally significant open-source projects: Pundit, an authorization library with 100M+ downloads and 38,000+ dependent projects, and Capybara, the de facto Rails acceptance-testing framework. Notable client deliveries include the Webby-winning Wealthsimple website, the Forbes-recognized Bestow platform, the Volvo On Demand car-sharing platform, the Liseberg amusement-park app (Svenska Designpriset 2019, 500K+ downloads in its first season), the Alumni Ventures rebrand (Webby Honoree in three categories), and the A-Z Inner Voice app for Zlatan Ibrahimović's sports brand launch across 11 European countries.

Varvet generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements — design, full-stack development, mobile apps, and ongoing maintenance — sold via direct enterprise sales and inbound referrals rather than through pricing transparency or self-serve channels. GTM centers on a case-study-driven website, open-source credibility, and a long-term partnership model where the same senior team stays embedded through the "messy middle" of product evolution. Customer mix is predominantly enterprise (Volvo, Wealthsimple, Liseberg, Alumni Ventures, Klarna, Electronic Arts) alongside selected growth-stage clients (Bestow, Dockspot, EOE Eyewear), with multiple multi-year anchor relationships indicating high customer-by-revenue concentration within a small overall account base.

Name

Varvet

Legal name

Varvet AB

Website

https://varvet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Varvet is a Swedish boutique digital product studio (1–10 employees, Hovås/Stockholm) that designs and engineers custom web and mobile applications for enterprise and growth-stage clients, embedding senior practitioners directly into client teams. Revenue is project-based professional services anchored by multi-year engagements with brands such as Volvo, Wealthsimple, and Liseberg.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Digital Product Development Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Application UX, Portals & Low-Code Extensions (BPAEAGAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG), Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)

Keywords

• Digital product studio
• Custom software development
• Web application development
• Mobile app development
• Ruby on rails development

Headquarters

HQ city

Gothenburg

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Product Development Services: Varvet generates revenue through custom digital product development engagements. They embed with client teams to design, build, and maintain digital products (websites, mobile apps, platforms). Revenue is project-based with ongoing maintenance relationships. Their model emphasizes long-term partnerships rather than one-off deliverables.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Varvet is a Swedish digital product studio that designs, builds, and maintains custom digital applications for enterprise and mid-market clients, embedding with client teams across the full product lifecycle. Services span analytics and insight, brand design, design systems, full-stack web and mobile development, prototyping, motion graphics, user experience, and visual design. They also maintain and develop two notable open-source projects, Pundit and Capybara, which anchor their technical credibility in the Ruby on Rails ecosystem.

Product overview

Varvet is a Swedish digital product studio (established 2008) that crafts digital applications combining business, technology, and design expertise. The company operates primarily as a services firm building custom digital products for clients, while also maintaining two notable open-source projects: Pundit (authorization library with 100M+ downloads, 38,000+ dependent projects) and Capybara (acceptance testing framework for Rails). Their client portfolio spans fintech (Wealthsimple, Alumni Ventures, Bestow), mobility (Volvo On Demand, Dockspot), hospitality (ESS Group's Min Bokning), retail (EOE Eyewear), and entertainment (Liseberg app). The studio embeds with client teams to design, build, and maintain products through their full lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pundit: Open source authorization library for Ruby on Rails, created by Varvet in 2012. Used in over 38,000 projects worldwide with 100M+ downloads and 8,500+ GitHub stars.
• Capybara

Products and services

• Digital Product Studio Services Full-service digital product studio offering combining business, technology, and design expertise. Services include analytics and insight, brand design, design systems, full-stack development, mobile apps, motion graphics, prototyping, user experience, user testing, and visual design, delivered through embedded engagement with client teams.
• Pundit Open source authorization library for Ruby on Rails, providing authorization through plain Ruby objects without DSLs or magic. Used in over 38,000 projects worldwide with 100M+ downloads, 8,500+ GitHub stars, and 126 contributors. For Rails developers seeking lightweight, idiomatic authorization.
• Capybara Open source acceptance testing framework for web applications, originally created by Varvet team members (Jonas Nicklas). Now maintained as teamcapybara/capybara, it sits in the test suite of a large share of Rails applications worldwide. For web application developers needing browser-level integration testing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500,000+ app downloads in first season for Liseberg
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered notable and core.

• Forsman & BodenforsnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency partner for A-Z Inner Voice project - Zlatan Ibrahimović's sports brand launch app (2016). Forsman & Bodenfors was the creative agency leading the campaign; Varvet built the native iOS and Android apps.
• Magoo StudiosnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Magoo Studios on Alumni Ventures rebrand - created visual language rooted in steampunk aesthetic with copper, gold, wood elements.
• CreunanotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Creuna on Liseberg app (2018). Creuna handled some aspects while Varvet did design and mobile build.
• DobermancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with Doberman ( Stockholm design/tech agency). Co-built Webby-winning Wealthsimple website. Doberman and Varvet have worked together since at least 2017.
• ManVsMachinenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorked with ManVsMachine on Wealthsimple project - they created the bold 3D brand film that Varvet engineered to work on the web across all devices.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Creuna: Leading Nordic digital agency headquartered in Oslo with offices across Scandinavia. Direct peer that has partnered with Varvet on the Liseberg app project, serving the same enterprise and public-sector client base in the Nordics.
• Hashrocket: Chicago-based Rails and Elixir consultancy with a strong open-source heritage (e.g., Crono). Direct international peer of comparable size and Rails-craft ethos, serving product teams with embedded senior developers.
• Ustwo: London-based digital product studio known for design-led app and platform development. International boutique peer of similar size and craft profile, competing for premium enterprise and consumer product engagements.
• Doberman: Stockholm-based design and tech agency founded in 1998. Direct Nordic peer of Varvet, co-built the Webby-winning Wealthsimple site together, and is the agency Varvet's founders (Kindell, Halse) departed to start Varvet in 2013.
• North Kingdom: Swedish digital experience agency known for award-winning interactive work for global brands. Direct Nordic peer in the premium digital product and experience space, competing for similar enterprise client mandates.
• Thoughtbot: US-based consultancy specializing in Ruby on Rails, product design, and dev tooling. Most direct international peer given shared Rails specialization, boutique team model, and similar emphasis on craftsmanship and open-source contribution.

Broad incumbents

• Pivotal Labs: Software consultancy (now part of Broadcom/VMware) that pioneered the embedded paired-programming model for enterprise product teams. Broader incumbent that established the boutique-consultant-into-large-account pattern Varvet now operates within.
• Netlight: Major Nordic IT and management consultancy with deep enterprise software expertise. Broader incumbent that competes for the same large enterprise digital mandates but operates at significantly larger scale across the Nordics and Europe.
• Forsman & Bodenfors: Leading Scandinavian creative agency headquartered in Gothenburg. Broader incumbent that partnered with Varvet on the Zlatan A-Z campaign app; competes for the same premium brand-driven digital mandates across the Nordics.

Others

• Magoo Studios: Swedish design studio that co-created the Alumni Ventures rebrand with Varvet. Adjacent creative peer and active collaborator, not a direct competitor but operates in the same Swedish premium design ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/varvet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/varvet

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Varvet