Digital court Swiftcourt wants to give everyone access to the legal system
Innovative business in Skåne: Scanian Swiftcourt has won influential business magazine "Veckans Affärer" innovation award as well as Venture Cup South. They are now on their way to changing the whole legal industry.
– The legal system is inefficient and inaccessible, which means that there is a lack of “access to justice”. But our concept makes it possible for anybody, regardless of financial situation and legal knowledge, to get justice, without costing the state a penny, says Johan Hedén Hultgren, who is one of the founders of Swiftcourt.
The idea started to grow when jurist Jakob Elander was working in the district court in Gothenburg in the spring of 2013. He discovered that many of the disputes over smaller sums didn’t get to court, and if they did, the costs could be up to triple what the disputes themselves were worth. Individuals and small businesses therefore often lacked the financial means to be able to solve disputes over smaller sums as it was too expensive, something he also saw as a societal problem.
Together with newly examined jurist and serial entrepreneur Johan Hedén Hultgren, the idea of Swiftcourt was developed. It is a digital tool for disputes over sums smaller than 100,000 SEK. The parties agree to solve the dispute with the help of Swiftcourt, and can in this way get a quick and cheap solution that is run online, where unnecessary work is rationalised away. The costs are kept down, and the price for solving a dispute is never more than 1,500 SEK.
Global potential in a fast growing market
The service is one of a kind, as it has human involvement and is based on an agreement which makes Swiftcourt’s decisions executive. This means that the parties have to adhere to the verdict.
– Our customers are really anyone who has a dispute, explains Johan. We use various channels to spread the concept, for instance e-trade services like Blocket, where buyers and sellers can agree to use Swiftcourt if a dispute should arise prior to the sale. The concept can simply be applied to a number of different markets.
Today, there are five people in the team: two jurists, one developer and two engineers. The base is in Lund.
– There is a lot buzzing and happening in the region, especially in terms of young entrepreneurs, says Johan. Here in Skåne, we have Media Evolution, Minc, Ideon and Mindpark which means that you can always find a person to help you progress.
The plan is to become the first choice for solving disputes in Sweden. Five years in the future, Johan counts on Swiftcourt being represented in all of Scandinavia and one other EU country, as well as working on a launch in the US.
– Our concept has raised an important issue, and can add a lot of value to society.
