From a commission-only sales job in Stockholm to a hillside above Marbella
I'm Martin. Swedish, living in Marbella since 2018, and I have spent most of the last twenty years starting, scaling and selling companies. I co-founded Mediapilot in Stockholm and grew it for seven years — more than a hundred jobs created, no external capital, two Gazelle awards. After it merged with Whispr and sold in 2018, I worked on the commercial side of software, advised founders at Antler, and invested in early companies like P.F.C., Movesta and Kim Denzler.
Most of my work now sits here on the coast. Caterbee, the foodtech company I co-founded in 2017, has been profitable since launch and is past 5M EUR in turnover. The Pool Marbella brings together founders, investors and operators who have moved to southern Spain. Soulhouse develops Scandinavian-designed villas in the €3-9M range. Since 2025 I have also been Head of Growth at Happeo on a consulting contract, working on enterprise AI readiness. I am a dad to Theo, and raising him here has been a dream. I still keep a written life plan, updated every January.
If you are considering the same move, I have written down everything I have learned about living here in my Marbella guides.
Career
- 1999 — 2000
Started studying economics at Umeå University, and worked as a food server at Grodan Grev Ture in Stockholm. It taught me discipline, empathy, and how to read a room before speaking.
- 2001 — 2003
Business administration at Karlstad University. Active in Stockholms nation — and started my first venture there, a nightclub, which sold out.
- 2003 — 2004
Business at Appalachian State University, then finance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The years in the United States shaped how I work more than anything I was taught in a lecture hall.
- 2005 — 2006
Finished a B.A.Sc. in finance at Linköping University. My master's thesis covered share buyback strategies in A-listed companies.
- Mid 2000s
Aimed at purchasing because people said it had status. It was dull. Took a commission-only sales job at a PR agency instead.
- 2006
Met Fredrik Båge, who told me I would be good at sales when I was certain I would not be. He was right. We co-founded Mediapilot with no external capital and no debt.
- 2006 — 2013
Built Mediapilot from zero to a B2B SaaS insights business with 100+ clients — Coca-Cola, McDonald's, SCA, Atlas Copco, Volvo. Hired more than 100 people, built teams in Stockholm and Oslo, and won the Dagens Industri Gazelle high-growth award twice. In 2010 I opened the Oslo office from scratch and left it profitable.
- 2013
Mediapilot merged with Whispr. I stepped into Founder, CMO and CCO roles, working with H&M, Spotify, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, IKEA, Disney and Kate Spade. Whispr was sold in 2018.
- 2014 — 2016
Invested in and advised early-stage companies: Kim Denzler, Saffron, P.F.C. — and later Betalo. Most lessons were learned the expensive way.
- 2015
Led the launch of Klout in the Nordics, their first market outside the U.S.
- 2017
Co-founded Caterbee, a foodtech startup for business catering. Live since spring 2018, profitable from the start, and now past 5M EUR in turnover.
- 2018
Moved from Sweden to Marbella. Caterbee went live that spring and Whispr was sold the same year.
- 2019 — 2022
Advisor at Antler, helping founders find co-founders and build from day one. Investor and advisor at Movesta, the real-estate platform that lets you sell a home with a push of a button.
- 2022 — 2025
Co-founded The Pool Marbella, a private members' hub for founders, creatives and international operators. Founded Soultech as CEO to build a more convenient, modern e-commerce experience. Ran Future of Commerce, an exclusive invite-only e-commerce event series across Europe. Stepped back from Soultech in March 2025.
- 2023 — present
Co-founded Soulhouse, a boutique real-estate venture developing Scandinavian-designed luxury villas in the €3-9M range around Marbella.
- 2025 — present
Joined Happeo as Head of Growth on a consulting contract, helping enterprises become AI-ready by structuring and governing their internal knowledge. Still building, still in Marbella.
What I am working on now
Caterbee
Co-founder and board member. Live since spring 2018, profitable from the start, past 5M EUR in turnover.
The Pool Marbella
Co-founder. A private members' hub for founders, investors and operators on the Costa del Sol, covered by Forbes, Bloomberg and the FT.
Soulhouse
Co-founder. Scandinavian-designed villas in the €3-9M range, from acquisition through design to sale.
Happeo
Head of Growth on a consulting contract since 2025, working with enterprises on AI readiness and their knowledge layer.