 The more successful Swedish East India Company (1731-1813) was, like most of the chartered companies, initiated by traders with a foreign background (Henrich König, Germany; Colin Campbell, Scotland; and Frans Bedoire, France) and its headquarters were located in Gothenburg.The company, however, was of significant importance to Stockholm because of the shipbuilding yards, the trade houses, and the exotic products imported by the company.In order to make the trips financially interesting the ships had to be made large, and to make the trips safe the ships had to be heavily armed.