What Forskning & Framsteg does

Forskning & Framsteg, legally Stiftelsen Forskning & Framsteg, is a Swedish non-profit foundation founded in 1966 and headquartered at Dalagatan 32, Stockholm. It publishes popular science journalism for Swedish-speaking audiences, operating a print magazine alongside a digital edition (e-tidning) hosted at e-tidning.fof.se, the fof.se content website, weekly and topical email newsletters, the seasonal podcast Experimentet, and the annual Hjärndagen live knowledge day. Editorial coverage spans medicine, environment, space and physics, society and culture, technology, AI, and archaeology, drawing on peer-reviewed research.

The foundation runs a small editorial operation (1–10 employees) under Editor-in-Chief Jonas Mattsson, with operational support from Klarna (payment processing) and third-party printing and distribution suppliers. Technology is a conventional digital publishing stack — website CMS, newsletter distribution, podcast hosting, and a digital reading platform — with no disclosed proprietary AI/ML components, APIs, or SDKs. Distribution is exclusively domestic (Sweden), via direct subscriptions, single-issue and year-collection (årgångssamlare) sales through the F&F shop, and the e-tidning self-serve portal.

Revenue is generated through recurring magazine subscriptions (69 SEK/month after a 3-month introductory period, with no binding commitment), one-time purchases of individual issues and annual compilations, direct advertising to subscribers, and event-based revenue from Hjärndagen and related podcast content. The organization operates without profit motive and discloses no revenue figures, funding rounds, or institutional investment, indicating a foundation-funded media model rather than a venture-backed or PE-owned entity.

Name

Forskning & Framsteg

Legal name

Stiftelsen Forskning & Framsteg

Website

https://fof.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Forskning & Framsteg, operated by the non-profit Stiftelsen Forskning & Framsteg since 1966, publishes Swedish popular science journalism through a magazine, digital edition, podcasts, newsletters, and live events for general Swedish-speaking audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Popular Science Magazine

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Popular Science, Technology & Nature Trade Publishing (MPAJAAAJ)

Keywords

• Popular science magazine
• Science journalism
• Swedish print publishing
• Digital magazine subscription
• Science podcast media

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Magazine subscriptions: Recurring subscription revenue from print and digital magazine access, including e-tidning (digital edition) and website content with login.
2. Single issue sales: One-time purchase of individual magazine issues and year compilations (årgångssamlare).
3. Events and podcasts: Revenue from knowledge events like Hjärndagen and podcast content 'Experimentet'.
4. Advertising: Direct marketing and advertising to subscribers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Forskning & Framsteg is a Swedish-language popular science magazine that publishes accessible articles on scientific research and discoveries, distributed in print and digital editions. The publication is complemented by the science podcast Experimentet, email newsletters, a searchable article archive, bound year collections (Årgångar), and the annual public science event Hjärndagen, serving a Swedish-speaking general audience interested in science.

Product overview

Forskning & Framsteg is a Swedish popular science magazine operated by the nonprofit foundation Stiftelsen Forskning & Framsteg. The company offers a core print magazine subscription product alongside complementary digital offerings including an e-tidning (digital magazine) platform, podcast content (Experimentet), email newsletters, and archived back issues. Physical products include year collections (årgångssamlare). The magazine covers topics across medicine, environment, space & physics, society & culture, and technology, and hosts events such as the annual Hjärndagen knowledge day. The company has no reported AI capabilities or public API.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forskning & Framsteg (Print Magazine)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• KlarnaminorOthersPayment processing partner for handling customer payments. Klarna provides payment methods at checkout, sharing customer data (contact info, order details) for payment assessment and customization.
• Printing and distribution supplierscoreOthersSuppliers for printing and distributing the magazine to customers. The foundation uses contractual agreements with these processors bound by data processing agreements.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Scientific American: Long-running US popular science magazine offering accessible coverage of research. Comparable in the magazine-plus-digital-plus-events model and in positioning as a trusted mainstream science voice.
• Popular Science (PopSci): Established US popular science magazine covering technology, science and futurism for general audiences. Comparable trade-publishing model delivering accessible science journalism via multi-channel (print, digital, video) distribution.

Direct peers

• New Scientist: Subscription-supported popular science magazine and website reporting on research developments across disciplines. Comparable in mission — translating scientific findings for an educated general audience — and in monetization via subscriptions and events.
• Illustrerad Vetenskap: Swedish-language popular science magazine covering research across multiple disciplines for a general audience. Closest direct competitor to F&F in the Swedish trade popular science market, with overlapping coverage of medicine, technology and environment.
• Allt om Vetenskap: Swedish popular science magazine aimed at general readers, publishing accessible explanations of research findings. Competes for the same Swedish-speaking science-curious subscriber base as F&F.

Emerging players

• The Conversation: Free science/news commentary platform where researchers write for a general audience. Comparable in producing accessible expert-written science content, competing in the same attention market though ad/news-supported rather than subscription-led.
• Quanta Magazine: Digital-first science journalism outlet covering research developments with high editorial quality. Comparable in mission (accessible science journalism) though digital-native and free, competing for share of attention rather than subscriptions.

Regional players

• Vetenskapens Värld: Swedish public-service science journalism program from Sveriges Radio covering research for a broad Swedish audience. Competes for attention from the same Swedish science-curious audience, though distributed via broadcast rather than print.
• Spektrum der Wissenschaft: German popular science magazine producing accessible coverage of research. Comparable trade-publishing model and multi-channel content strategy; serves German-language market rather than Swedish.

Others

• Nature (publisher): Global science publisher producing authoritative research and science journalism. Comparable as a science-content brand with multi-channel distribution, though operating at the scholarly end of the spectrum rather than popular science trade publishing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Forskning & Framsteg