2025 Impact Intl. UK/Euro Honorees: Niklas Lundell & Joel Borg

NIKLAS LUNDELL & JOEL BORG
Partners & Promoters
Rush Ent.

ENJOYING THE RUSH OF GOING INDEPENDENT

Define momentum: launching an independent company and delivering some of the largest and most culturally defining events Scandinavia has ever seen.

Joel Borg and Niklas Lundell did just that. They left German promoter FKP Scorpio, where they’d been partners for six years, at the end of 2024, to launch Rush Ent. And what a rush it’s been. “This summer alone, we set new Nordic attendance records with Håkan Hellström’s three sold-out Ullevi stadium shows in Gothenburg, moving 210,000-plus tickets, and Hov1’s farewell concert at Gärdet in Stockholm, which drew 53,000 fans – the biggest single headline outdoor show ever held in the city,” Lundell sums up. “On top of that, our festival Rosendal Garden Party in Stockholm became a huge success.”

The biggest challenge, adds Borg, was “breaking away from a safe, international structure and building something new on our own terms. It required taking risks, reestablishing our identity, and earning the trust of artists, agents and audiences all over again. We overcame it through long-term relationships, a strong team spirit, and the conviction that independence gives us the freedom to do things differently. We believe there is a need for a creative independent promoter in Scandinavia. It’s always a big challenge going up against Live Nation.”

The duo first worked together at Swedish promoter Luger, where they ran festival management and co-founded Way Out West, among other events, before launching businesses including Woah Dad!, which was acquired by FKP. They just never thrived in a corporate environment, and are back doing what they love most on their own terms.

Lundell says the goal is to build “a balance between intimate boutique festivals and some of the best shows ever seen in Scandinavia, between international and domestic concerts.” He adds, “2026 will see more important milestones, new concepts and partnerships that let us explore [our] independence in creative ways.”