But the effect on stock prices was to return them to pre recession levels (while growth did not). So regardless of what it did to interest rates (or perhaps in some part because of what it did), the QE has likely inflated prices of stocks - particularly US stocks. So the S&P 500 growth vs the Swedish index is hardly indicative of anything re: startups either way. If anything the increased stock prices in the US should have helped buoy the option for a IPO exit strategy in favor of the US.