Ignite Sweden becomes a separate company and gets a new CEO

Swedish Incubators & Science Parks (SISP) today announces that they are starting a subsidiary for the business Ignite Sweden. This is to give Ignite the opportunity to focus on its core mission to help startups get their first customers in the private and public sector. Sara Hamlin is appointed CEO of the subsidiary.

Ignite Sweden was formed by several incubators and science parks in 2017 to increase, accelerate and facilitate commercial collaborations between startups and established companies. Since then, business with the public sector has also been included. In 2020, Ignite Sweden was accepted into SISP, the member organisation for Sweden’s incubators and science parks. Now it is time for the next step in Ignite Sweden’s development and therefore SISP is starting a wholly owned subsidiary for the business.

– Ignite Sweden’s mission remains the same, and we continue to see great value in Ignite for many of our members. Therefore, we want to continue to own Ignite, but we also want to give the organisation the opportunity to develop. It is a natural development to place the business in a subsidiary with its own management and board, where the board will consist of representatives from startups, large companies, the public sector and SISP members,” says Ulrika Malmqvist, Chairman of the Board SISP.

The new CEO of Ignite will be Sara Hamlin, who after a career at E.ON, among others, joined Ignite in 2020 to be responsible for Corporate Partnerships. She is now looking forward to leading the organisation in its new chapter:

– It is an incredible honour to take over as CEO of Ignite Sweden, which for several years has made such a big impact in the Swedish innovation system and for Swedish startups. By becoming a separate company, we can focus fully on creating collaborations between startups, established companies and public actors, together with our partners in the innovation ecosystem. Our goal is to continue to create business opportunities that contribute to sustainable growth, innovation and competitiveness for Sweden’s innovative companies and society at large,” says Sara Hamlin.

In connection with the split, Sasan Shaba, former COO of Ignite Sweden, will take on a new role at SISP, with responsibility for philanthropic investments and international partnerships.

– I am very proud of what we have built up in Ignite over the past few years, and now warmly hand over to Sara, with whom I have had the privilege of working for a long time. We will of course continue to work closely with Ignite as it is our subsidiary. At the same time, I am very much looking forward to taking on new challenges within SISP,” says Sasan.

The division will enter into force on 7 October 2024.

For more information, please contact:

Stina Lantz, CEO SISP: stina.lantz@sisp.se
Sara Hamlin, CEO Ignite Sweden: sara@ignitesweden.org

About Swedish Incubators & Science Parks (SISP)
SISP is a national trade association for Sweden’s incubators and science parks. Through its 63 members, SISP works to create a stronger innovation environment and promote collaboration between startups, academia and business.

About Ignite Sweden
Ignite Sweden is a national, non-profit organisation that aims to increase business partnerships between startups, large companies and the public sector. The programme has so far engaged over 1700 startups and around 400 established companies and public actors, leading to more than 600 collaboration agreements and business opportunities.

Sara Hamlin becomes new CEO of Ignite Sweden