The female co-founder of a Stockholm-based cybersecurity business has been named the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 at an awards ceremony held in Monaco’s Salle des Etoiles.
Stina Ehrensvär, who co-founded Yubico, was selected out of 5,000 programme participants – which included 52 winners across 43 countries and jurisdictions.
London-based EY, a member of the Big Four, selected Ehrensvär as the 25th winner of the annual award.
She is the fourth woman to hold the title after Olivia Lum in 2011, Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in 2020 and Doris Hsu in 2023.
She is also the first winner from Sweden in the award’s history.
Ehrensvär has built an industry-leading and highly profitable company that has set new standards for internet security.
Yubico was founded in 2007 with the mission to make the internet safer for everyone.
Within a year, it launched its first YubiKey, a physical security key for multifactor authentication (MFA) and over the next five years, it transformed the entire cybersecurity landscape by securing work with three of the biggest technology companies in Silicon Valley.
Since then, Ehrensvär has been leading its growth, scaling the firm to the point of protecting 19 of the world’s 20 largest internet companies and overseeing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 per cent since 2020.
The company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and currently has a share price of 148.25SEK (Swedish Krona).
It has a market cap of 12.81bn SEK, equating to around £978m.
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“Stina Ehrensvärd exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship, a visionary leader who is confidently shaping the future through these disruptive times,” said Janet Truncale, EY global chair and CEO.
“Her achievements at Yubico are remarkable on their own – consistently creating new value and making a societal impact – but Stina’s story goes much deeper.
“Her defining philosophy that a secure digital identity is a basic human right is exactly the type of purpose-driven leadership we look to celebrate with EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year.
“In this milestone year marking the 25th anniversary of the competition, Stina is a truly deserving world winner and an inspiration to us all.”
Ehrensvärd added: “I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has played a part in making this moment possible.
“The incredible teams within our company, the unwavering support from EY and especially the EY team in Sweden, who have cheered me on and guided me throughout this journey.
“I’m committed to saving the internet for democracy, for free speech, for education, for all the beautiful things we can do with it.
“This recognition isn’t the finish line. It’s fuel. We are building a safer digital world, and I won’t stop until that mission is fulfilled.”
Dr Ben Maruthappu of Cera Care represented the UK as a finalist after winning the 2024 award for the UK.
In November, he was recognised by the judges for his contribution to the UK healthcare sector and his firm has since raised a £122m funding round to fuel its AI-driven growth plans.
He described his experience at the final as a ‘career-defining moment’ and wrote on a post on LinkedIn: “Amazing to spend this week representing the UK at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2025.
“It was inspiring to hear other founders’ stories, and how they’ve overcome challenges and obstacles – really opening my eyes to what’s possible.
“It felt important to me to represent the UK at this event, not just as an entrepreneur, but as someone from the frontline of healthcare – a first in this competition – striving to solve the important, global challenge of how to build a more sustainable model of care for our ageing population.
“So grateful to EY for organising an incredible series of events that inspires entrepreneurs around the world. Entrepreneurs are not just builders of companies: we are leaders. And while many sectors are facing significant challenges, the technology and tools available to us have never been more powerful.
“This week has shown me we have a responsibility not just to lead our companies, but to lead our sectors and society into the future. And for entrepreneurs going through tough times – I know how you feel. Keep going: you really can do it!
“Congratulations to the global winner Stina Ehrensvard at Yubico, Sweden – and to all my fellow contestants. Getting the chance to meet and learn from you all has been a career-defining moment.”
The EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 was chosen by an independent panel of judges against four criteria – entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact.
The panel included a diverse and esteemed group of entrepreneurs from all over the world, chaired by Asif Ramji, founder and CEO of Venture Worx.