Mullvad Co-Founder Donated 5 Million Kronor to Swedish Far-Right Party
The donation reveals that a single individual behind a prominent privacy-focused VPN service is the primary financial backer of a party criticized as far-right, creating a conflict between the company's stated values and its co-founder's personal political spending.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
Daniel Berntsson, co-founder of VPN company Mullvad, donated 5 million Swedish kronor to the Örebro Party in 2025, covering 72% of the party's annual income. The party advocates strict immigration restrictions and repatriation. Mullvad's other co-founder, Fredrik Strömberg, stated the donation is personal and does not reflect company values, though some users have threatened to cancel service.
Daniel Berntsson, co-founder of the VPN service Mullvad, donated 5 million Swedish kronor (about 83 million yen) in 2025 to the Örebro Party, a Swedish local party that advocates strict immigration restrictions and the repatriation of immigrants. According to Swedish news outlet Flamman, which obtained the party's income reports, the donation accounted for 72% of the party's annual income, making Berntsson its largest single private donor in 2025. The Örebro Party, based in the city of Örebro, has been criticized as far-right for its policy of re-immigration. Berntsson cited dissatisfaction with policies on crime, immigration, and integration as his reason for the donation.
Mullvad's other co-founder, Fredrik Strömberg, responded on Hacker News that Berntsson's donation is personal and not part of Mullvad's values or mission. Strömberg said he does not view the donation favorably and that many colleagues share that view. Some users have said they will cancel their service or request refunds, while others argued that customer payments primarily support employees and that judging a business by an owner's personal spending is unrealistic.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.