Digital ERFA: How can we get better at supporting startups with hardware?

What methods and tools do business coaches need to help their hardware startups grow? How can we foster collaboration between incubators and organisations that support hardware startups with industrialisation and scaling up of innovative products?

Early introduction to industrialisation has been shown to save time and reduce risks for hardware start-ups, which in turn can lead to faster market introduction and strengthened competitiveness for Swedish innovations. If production collaborations also take place with local suppliers, supply chains can be shortened and Swedish production promoted.

These questions are at the heart of the Vinnova-funded project “Industrialisation and Production”. Through interviews with 27 business coaches from different innovation environments, we have investigated how the transition from incubation to industrialisation and production can be facilitated and streamlined. We would like to invite you, our members, to join this discussion!

Participants:

You as a business coach, your participation and your input are the most important during this ERFA.

Natalia Lundin, Startup Manager, and Victor Strimfors, Programme Manager at Södertälje Science Park, will give a brief overview of the project and share insights from the 27 interviews with business coaches. We have identified several challenges in areas such as training, networking, testbeds, funding, maturity and collaboration models. The project team is now working on testing different methods and tools that business coaches can use in their work with hardware startups.

Jörgen Steen, business coach at Dalarna Science Park, will present a concrete start-up case. He will describe how a start-up company went from idea to production and what challenges they encountered in areas such as supplier selection, requirements specification and market introduction. Participants will then be asked to discuss how they would have guided the start-up through group work in breakout rooms.

Ulrika Wahlström from EIT Manufacturing will give examples of how they have supported a startup with internationalisation, with a focus on Europe.

A warm welcome!