In 2024, Axel Johnson’s investment company Novax established Bond Health Group – a new Nordic player in health and wellness, operating through subsidiaries such as STC, Bruce Studios, and the new wellness platform Aspire Health Hub. The new CEO of Bond Health Group will be Josef Bexell, who has previously served as Chairman of the Board and was responsible for developing Novax’s investments in the health sector.
Josef Bexell has worked at Novax since 2014, focusing on investments and company building within health. He has served as Chairman of the Board at STC and Bruce Studios, as well as Investment Manager for Onelab and Aqua Dental.
With the launch of Bond Health Group, Novax is building the Nordic region’s leading player in preventive health, with operations in training (STC), aggregated wellness services for consumers (Bruce Studios), and corporate wellness services (Aspire). Novax now wants to accelerate the growth of its subsidiaries, while also developing or acquiring new business areas aimed at both consumers and companies. The geographical focus is primarily continued growth in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, but with the ambition to eventually expand into new countries.
Ida Linderbrandt, Investment Manager at Novax:
“By appointing Josef as CEO, we are adding even more strength to the company. This will be valuable as we ramp up STC’s Nordic expansion plan, expand Bruce Studios’ offering in major Nordic cities, and broaden Bond Health Group’s business into new areas.”
The companies within Bond Health Group today reach nearly 300,000 people with their services, and revenues have exceeded SEK 1.1 billion. From Novax’s perspective, however, this is only the beginning of a longer journey. The ambition for the coming years is to at least double the reach and further strengthen the position as a driving force for better health in society.
Josef Bexell, incoming CEO of Bond Health Group:
“It has been exciting to launch Bond Health Group as Chairman together with Anders Carlbark, and we complement each other very well. Anders’ strong results at STC create the best possible foundation for an ambitious expansion going forward, both for STC and for the entire group. Therefore, it feels natural that we continue this journey in close collaboration, with me now taking on full operational responsibility at Bond, as the pace and level of ambition are being raised across the board. Our ambition is to build inclusive offerings and environments that make it easy to choose a healthier life – whether at the gym, at home, in the workplace, or through one of our many partners in the Bruce Studios network. I cannot imagine a more meaningful task than helping more people achieve better health and doing so together with our fantastic colleagues in the Group.”
STC will continue to be led by CEO Anders Carlbark, who during his time as Group CEO contributed to building up Bond Health Group while also developing STC into one of the Nordic region’s leading gym operators. With his full focus on STC, he is now tasked with accelerating growth both nationally and internationally, making the company an even stronger engine within Bond Health Group. Since early 2025, Bruce Studios has been led by CEO Filip Wiqvist, with the mission to strengthen the Nordic presence.
