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Martin Varghult

Black belt and Smoothcomp co-founder whose registration tool for the Swedish Open grew into the company.

Biography

Martin Varghult is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a co-founder of Smoothcomp, where he holds the title of CPO. The company grew out of an online registration and payment tool he wrote for the Swedish Open, a tournament he helped organize from 2010. His professional background is in web design, work he has done since the late 1990s. In 2005 he founded his own web agency, Pixelstore, which Gymdesk credits with building the first version of Smoothcomp. On Smoothcomp's team page he says he loves graphical user interfaces and works by Dieter Rams' ten principles of good design, and Gymdesk describes the product interface as his area. He took up jiu-jitsu in 2010 in Stenungsund, under Martin Janson, who would later become one of his partners in Smoothcomp. The company's team page says he trains at Stenungsunds Kampsportsakademi under Janson, and both Smoothcomp and Gymdesk list him as a black belt. The account of how Smoothcomp began comes from its founders, in an interview published by Gymdesk, the company that now owns it. When Varghult joined the work on the Swedish Open, entries arrived by email and organizers checked bank transfers by hand. He replaced that routine with a module that took registrations and payments online, built for that one event. Ricard Carneborn saw the module and asked whether he could buy into it. In the founders' telling, that tool was the embryo of Smoothcomp. Varghult, Janson and Carneborn then met in Stenungsund to plan a complete system. A first version took shape over one summer, and in October 2015 the system handled its first event, with Varghult still writing code on the drive to the venue. In October 2026 Gymdesk announced that it had acquired Smoothcomp. The announcement again names Varghult as the builder of the Swedish Open's registration tool, and says Smoothcomp keeps its own brand and remains under the leadership of its founders.

Sources for this profile

  • Smoothcomp, English-language About page, team section(opens in a new tab)

    • Smoothcomp's own About page lists Martin Varghult as CPO and co-founder of Smoothcomp.

      Where in the source: Team section, entry for Martin Varghult.

      Accessed:

    • The English About page of Smoothcomp gives Varghult's rank as black belt in BJJ; the Swedish and German versions of the same page give black as well.

      Where in the source: Entry for Martin Varghult, rank line.

      Accessed:

    • He has worked with web design since the late 1990s and founded the web agency Pixelstore in 2005.

      Where in the source: Varghult paragraph, first sentence.

      Accessed:

    • He trains BJJ at Stenungsunds Kampsportsakademi under his fellow co-founder Martin Janson.

      Where in the source: Varghult paragraph, second sentence.

      Accessed:

    • He says he follows Dieter Rams' ten principles of good design and loves graphical user interfaces.

      Where in the source: Varghult paragraph, closing sentences.

      Accessed:

  • Gymdesk, About Gymdesk page, section on the Smoothcomp founders(opens in a new tab)

    • Gymdesk's About page also lists Varghult as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and as CPO and co-founder.

      Where in the source: Founders section, Varghult entry.

      Accessed:

    • Gymdesk describes him as a web designer since the late 1990s who founded the agency that built the first version of Smoothcomp, and says he owns the product interface.

      Where in the source: Varghult entry in the founders section.

      Accessed:

  • Gymdesk Originals, interview with the Smoothcomp co-founders in Stenungsund, published 6 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • The Gymdesk interview page's profile of Varghult says he started training in 2010 under Martin Janson.

      Where in the source: Cast section at the top of the page, profile entry for Martin Varghult.

      Accessed:

    • Varghult helped organise the Swedish Open from 2010. Registrations then came by email and bank transfers were checked by hand, until he built an online registration and payment module for the event.

      Where in the source: Section on the Swedish Open registration problem.

      Accessed:

    • Carneborn saw the registration module and asked to buy into it; the module was built for the Swedish Open only and was the embryo of Smoothcomp.

      Where in the source: Same section, Carneborn quote about buying in.

      Accessed:

    • The three founders met in Stenungsund to plan a full system, built a first version over the summer, and ran their first event on it in October 2015, with Varghult still programming on the drive to the event.

      Where in the source: Sections on the first meeting and the first version.

      Accessed:

  • Gymdesk press release on its acquisition of Smoothcomp, 6 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • Gymdesk's press release says Varghult built the registration tool that ran the Swedish Open, and that the three co-founders launched Smoothcomp in 2015.

      Where in the source: Closing background paragraph on Smoothcomp's origins.

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    • In October 2026 Gymdesk announced that it had acquired Smoothcomp, which continues under its own brand led by its founders.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraphs and brand statement.

      Accessed:

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