New initiative to strengthen Sweden’s startups and scaleups

To meet the unique needs of Sweden’s innovative and fast-growing startups and scaleups, a new collaboration will establish Sweden Startup Nation. The initiative aims to become an independent, national knowledge source that improves the understanding of startups and scaleups and their ecosystems by collecting, analysing and making available data on the target group. With better knowledge of the unique needs of the target group, the goal is to favour national policy development and strengthen Sweden’s conditions for creating a more resilient ecosystem for startups and scaleups – and thus increase Sweden’s future competitiveness. Sweden Startup Nation has received seed funding from Vinnova for a first year.

Niclas Nilsson (LU Innovation), Deqa Abukar, (BLING), Lisa Ericsson, (KTH Holding), Ulrika Malmqvist (Chairman of the Board SISP) and Anders Nilsson (Ideon Science Park)

The initiative is led by BLING, FUHS (Föreningen Universitetsholdingbolag i Sverige), the innovation offices of the universities and SISP (Swedish Incubators & Science Parks), which together represent over 100 Swedish research and innovation environments across the country.

“In Sweden, we have world-leading research in several areas and we top various rankings, for example when it comes to the number of qualitative patents. However, we could be even better at commercialising and starting more successful growth companies to get this research out into society in a scalable way, where it makes a real difference. By collecting data on the companies coming from the universities, we can better understand their challenges and gain insights that will increase the proportion of research-based startups that make it all the way from lab to scaleups,” says Niclas Nilsson, Innovation Director at LU Innovation at Lund University.

Focus on data and knowledge for better policies and interventions

Sweden Startup Nation’s main goal is to provide ecosystems, policy makers and authorities with in-depth data and insights on startups and scaleups. This will be done through both quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and dissemination. The aim is to create the conditions for more targeted interventions and more effective policy development that strengthen Sweden’s innovation capacity and competitiveness.

“BLING works to promote diversity and inclusion in the Swedish business community and innovation system. We look forward to contributing to this in Sweden Startup Nation. Collected data will give us better tools to highlight and support startups from underrepresented groups” says Deqa Abukar, co-founder and CEO of BLING.

A long-term goal for Sweden’s competitiveness

During the first year, it is planned to establish Sweden Startup Nation as a stand-alone organisation, develop a strategy for collecting and analysing data on startups and scaleups, network with relevant partners within the ecosystem and attract funding to ensure long-term sustainability.

“Sweden lacks an independent national organisation that continuously collects and presents data on how we as a nation are performing in terms of startups and scaleups, something we see other countries doing successfully. To strengthen our competitiveness, we need to work more data-driven and by connecting data with insights from the innovation ecosystem, we can improve how we support startups and scaleups during their critical growth journeys” says Lisa Ericsson, CEO KTH Holding AB and FUHS representative in the project.

In the longer term, the ambition is for Sweden Startup Nation to become an obvious source of knowledge that strengthens Sweden’s ecosystem for startups and scaleups. By improving data-driven interventions and policies, Sweden Startup Nation can contribute to a more resilient and connected innovation system, which in turn increases Sweden’s future competitiveness globally.

“Through Sweden Startup Nation, we are creating a unified platform to generate and disseminate knowledge about startups and scaleups from all over the country, as well as insights into what is required for these to have the best conditions to grow in Sweden. This will not only benefit the entrepreneurs, but also strengthen Sweden’s position as a leading innovation nation. We also welcome other actors with similar goals to get in touch to explore cooperation opportunities and together create even greater effects”, concludes Ulrika Malmqvist, Chairman of the Board of SISP and CEO of Movexum in Gävle.

About Sweden Startup Nation

Sweden Startup Nation is initiated by FUHS, Innovationskontoren, BLING and SISP and the goal is to establish an independent national organisation that collects data from the entire innovation ecosystem. Together, these actors represent a broad network of Swedish innovation environments that reach startups and scaleups at all stages of development, from lab to scaleup. Sweden Startup Nation’s ambition is to improve the understanding of startups and scaleups, and strengthen Sweden’s ability to create a more resilient ecosystem for startups and scaleups – and thus increase Sweden’s future competitiveness.

For more information, please contact:

Deqa Abukar, CEO BLING: deqa@blingstartup.se, 072-251 66 47
Lisa Ericsson, CEO KTH Holding (FUHS): lisa.ericsson@kthholding.se, 073-315 26 62
Niclas Nilsson, Head of Department LU Innovation (the universities’ innovation offices): niclas.nilsson@innovation.lu.se, 046-222 15 51
Anders Nilsson, CEO Ideon Science Park, anders.nilsson@ideonsciencepark.se, 070-140 53 08
Ulrika Malmqvist, Chairman of the Board SISP: ulrika@movexum.se, 070-750 22 56

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