Swedish Innovation

Can you fight single-use plastics products as a small start-up with limited resources? Can you really create a deodorant that is so great it lasts for longer than your lifetime and can be passed on to your grandchildren? And how should you do to be successful on Kickstarter? 

Adam Webb, serial entrepreneur, gives his advice on how to make your idea become reality, but also shares his own failures along the way. 

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When everyone else fights for the market shares of e-scooters in the big cities, Hopp has a different business model that works perfect for small towns. Through franchise they have reached small cities like Kiruna long before anyone would imagined. In this episode we talk about the e-scooter business, what difference it makes to both the customer experience, sustainability, quality and market expansion to use a franchise business model. Michel also tells us about the profitability of the franchise model and that it actually can be very profitable for the e-scooter franchise owners. 

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What's the difference between the swedish startups and a typical valley start-up? 

Annie makes a comeback and gives her review of 2022 in terms of innovations. She also talks about how Swedish startups can learn from Silicon Valley by the program TINC from Nordic Innovation House. And what's the difference between Swedish start-ups and typical valley start-ups? 

If you're interested, apply to TINC on the link below. 

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Why is Sweden so innovative? And how can we boost innovation specifically within the mining industry? Can you direct in which field to be innovative? 

Jenny Greberg invited Darja isaksson, who is the director general at Vinnova, to discuss these topics with us. 

Vinnova is Sweden’s innovation agency that helps to build Sweden's innovation capacity and contributing to sustainable growth. Their vision is that Sweden is an innovative force in a sustainable world. Vinnova together with Formas and the swedish energy agency are the investors of Swedish Mining Innovation

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Recycling metals, will that kill the mining industry? 

In this episode we get insights from reality regarding circular economy within the mining industry. We talk about the current state of recycling, the upsides with it but also the drawbacks with Charlotte Andersson

Charlotte is associate professor in metallurgy at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden’s and one of Europe's leading universities in mining research. Charlotte has an extensive background in mining innovation with a career spanning more than 20 years: She has done research on fossilfree steel production, and worked on industry R&D for state-owned mining company LKAB. Charlotte was the programme director of Swedish Mining Innovation between 2015 and 2018 and is a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

We also talk to Linn Andersson, general manager at Boliden Rönnskär, who is recycling copper already today from old cellphones and computers. Rönnskär in Skelleftehamn is one of the world's most efficient copper smelters.  Today the smelter is a world leader in electronics recycling.

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Everybody wants an electric vehicle, but no one wants to live next to a mine. This paradox might slow down the transition to renewable energy system, but is it true? Does actually no one wants to live next to a mine?  In this episode, the second one in our miniseries together with Swedish Mining Innovation and Jenny Greberg, their programme director, we discuss Social Innovation in the mining industry. For this, we invited Åsa Allan, deputy CEO at Kaunis Iron, who has experience of starting up a new mine in Pajala in northern Sweden. She gives examples of how new mining industry can be in favour for the people living close by and tell us the surprising fact that 98% the young inhabitants in Pajala are in favour of the mine being in operations.

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In this mini series we dig into everything from what type of minerals and metals we actually have in Sweden to social innovation and circular economy in the mining industry. To guide us through these topics we have the programme director from Swedish Mining Innovation, Jenny Greberg, and leading Swedish experts. Jenny, a professor in mining and rock engineering, and one of the most prominent voices in the sector, has dedicated her career to put sustainability on top of the agenda by driving innovation and change.

In the first episode, we go into the basics. What is even possible to mine in Sweden? And what other countries do we depend on? What role does mining have in Sweden and what could we export? For this, Jenny has invited Erika Ingvald, Head of Division Mineral Information and Mining Industry at SGU (Geological Survey of Sweden). If someone knows what raw material we have in Sweden and the future potential of mining, it’s Erika.

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"The proof is in the pudding" is what Stefan himself says is one of the success factors behind his two very successful startups: POC and CAKE. The idea of POC came to his mind sitting in the ski lift and wanting to contribute to save more lives by making safer helmets that also people wanted to wear. Later on, when Stefan got a hand of a very early electric motorbike prototype it was just way too fun and astonshing for him to not share it with the rest of the world. So tune in and enjoy an hour of inspiring talk with Stefan Ytterborn, one of Swedens most famous superentrepreneur. 

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How does one of the most creative gaming companies such as Paradox Interactive work with innovation? And what can other industries learn from the gaming industry? Charlotta Nilsson has a broad experience from many different industries. She gives us the reason why the gaming industry needs to be more creative and how she makes creativity spark at Paradox Interactive. We also discuss if a company needs to be short on resources to keep up with their innovative work. Don't miss out to get inspired by Charlotta! 

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Few are left untouched when listening to Shori Zand's life story. Graduated from university only 19 years old. Came to sweden with two small kids and had to start all over not knowing anyone. She is one of the pioneers that challenged the public heathcare system meaning it did have care for every patient and with using diversity and inclusion as real asesset 20 years before it was a thing she made a strong position on the swedish healt care market. Don't miss out getting great advice from a great entrepreneur! 

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Time to increase your results times two? With the extraordinary results method it is possible. In this episode, Sandra Bourbon talks to Maximilian Tropé about how he helped a pharmaceutical company go from one approved drug per year to two. Maximilian became obsessed with goal settings to reach extraordinary results when he played ice hockey. Today, he helps elite athletes and business leaders set goals to achieve extraordinary results. He is also the co-author of the book For Full Potential - Exploring the possible, achieving the extraordinary which describes the method. In this episode, Maximilian tells you how to achieve extraordinary results and why it is extra important when it comes to innovation.

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Every wondered why some of the world's most successful organizations can stay ahead of disruption, adopting and implementing innovative strategies while others fail? Kurt Matzler has the answer: open strategy. Kurt is professor of strategic management at the University of Innsbruck, academic director of the Executive MBA program at MCI in Innsbruck and a partner at the international management consulting firm IMP. He is one of four co-authors of the recently published book Open Strategy: Mastering disruption from outside the C-Suite. Kurt is not Swedish, but open strategy applies wherever you are in the world if you want to succeed with innovation, especially distributive innovation. In this episode Sandra Bourbon talks to Kurt about what open strategy is and for which organizations it fits. Kurt shares his knowledge, and many inspiring stories, of what is needed to succeed with open strategy such as leadership, an open mind, business model disruption and the role of the top management. We talk about the challenges: how to treat sensitive information, how to find and involve external experts (without paying them) and what first step you can take to pursue open strategy to generate more revenue and higher profits.

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Did you know that you may be entitled to financial compensation that you did not even know about? Or that you can book a free introductory meeting with a lawyer? Getting help from the right jurist as a private person is both difficult and costly. Lawyers Azra Osmancevic and Evelina Anttila got tired of this and started the robot lawyer Justic. We get to hear everything about their start up story, what has been the most difficult and fun. We also get to know what it's like to work with your best friend: is it really that smart? Evelina's and Azra's passion that everyone should have the right to legal advice is contagious! We are also talking about the future of legal tech and whether artificial intelligence will take over the legal profession.

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William Bergh just couldn't stop thinking about the battery ecosystem and the missing link. How could batteries be reused? How could customers, consumers, producers, buyers and other key-functions find each other to create a circular business system? Only 25 years old, he decided to be the change he didn't find and founded Cling systems. 

Cling systems develops the intelligent trading platform that connects the battery ecosystem to ensure batteries are reused, repurposed and recycled. William is a humble and inspirational entrepreneur and inventor. And if you're into batteries or circular economy, this is an episode for you!

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It all started with being rejected internships during university studies and when life gave Matija Milenovic lemons, he founded his own rocket science company. Less then 3 years later, they have already had their product on SpaceX Falcon and next step is to become the DHL of deep space. Matija will tell you more about what porkchop and space has in common as well as how space can help us become more sustainable on our own planet. 

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Children spend way so much time infront of screens today and at the same time they read books less and less. Monica decided that this can be combined and founded Boksnok (Book worm), the app where children can read books on the screen. Can she make books more interesting than "Baby Shark" and cute kittens on YouTube? And what made her have the guts to start a company right in the beginning of a pandemic?  

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Medea S. Ekner has been obsessed of changing the museum experience ever since she was young when she started to wonder why nobody talked to her at museums. In this episode we talk about the future of museums, how new technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D elements and online exhibitions can help creating a new experience. We also talk about how museums will move away from focusing on displaying objects and why partnerships and relationships are important parts of the puzzle.

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Virpal Singh wanted to help out in 2015 when refugees from Syria arrived in Sweden. Standing at the central station in Stockholm, watching the chaotic situation were volunteers where shouting out "Do someone speak Arabic?" in to the crowd he got the fix idea that there must be a better way. Volunteering with helping refugees from Syria gave him reason to start his superfast growing and successful award-winning startup Digitaltolk, Digital Interpretations Scandinavia. They have grown over 2 800% in only four years and had over 350 000 bookings last year. Virpal is a true leader that walks the talk and is now spending every free hour in his busy startup founder schedule to help the Ukrainian refugees that just started to arrive in Sweden.

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Anne Årneby is a professional board member (including board member at Svenska Spel ) and CEO. For the last five years she has been the CEO of Nordic Morning Group. Nordic Morning Group was founded in 1859 and is the second oldest company in Finland.  When Anne took over as CEO in 2017 the mission was clear – turn the company around and find a new home for it.  Anne will tell how to lead a complete reorganization (including removing the management team during a period of time) by literally turning the whole organization upside down to create a modern innovative organization.  We also talk about the new role of board members to support innovative organizations with more uncertainty on how to get to the goal. And lastly – did she manage to reach the goal of finding a new home for the company? Let’s figure that out!

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In this episode we talk to Katarina Önell, client director at Kantar Sifo. Kantar Sifo is one of the world’s leading organizations when it comes to insights and analysis. Katarina is an expert on what needs to be measured to getting things done. She will give you her tips when it comes to how to create an innovation culture, and what that is, and how you should measure it. We also talk about how fear will not create anything and Katarina shares how she helped a traditional bank go from zero innovation to securing their future existence by challenging the culture of silence.

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Can we solve the climate impact from cow burps? Do the methane emissions from cows even effect the global warming? 

Fredrik Åkerman is the founder and CEO of Volta Greentech that uses seaweed as a supplement to cow diets to have them produce less methane emissions in their burps and farts! Does it work? Seems so! Hear Fredrik tell the story behind this innovation and crazy idea and about their production plans in Lysekil. 

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Is sustainable growth possible or just a "nice" utopia expression? Annie Lindmark knows the answer. She is paving the way for innovation that makes a difference at Sweden's innovation agency Vinnova, governed by the Swedish government. She is also the program director for Eurostars which is the largest international funding program for SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative solutions for commercialization. Eurostars is a joint program between EUREKA and the European Commission. Annie has been awarded "Innovator of the year" and is a true inspiration when it comes to innovation! We talk to Annie Lindmark about how governmental grants can boost innovation.

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How can you make charity become more than just help? Malin found a innovative way of charity and founded Help to Help. Help to Help supports higher education in East Africa which helps their scholars to higher paid jobs. The education also creates a ripple effect for families and siblings. Hear more about how it all started and the obstacles Help to Help has overcome.

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Time to sell the car? Johan Arntyr is a management consultant and expert when it comes to innovation in public transportation. He shares with us how the future of public transportation will look like and answers questions like: When can you stop taking the bus and instead get picked up by an autonomous vehicle and is it a good idea to make public transportation free? Johan also gives his best advise on how to convince your boss that you need to help your organisation with innovation and how to succeed with innovation in organisations where the resistance is high and resources are limited.

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Annie Backman is one of the co-founders of the healthcare startup Care to Translate. It was founded in 2018 to make healtcare better for all, despite language barriers. So far it has been used over 470 000 people in over 200 countries and even been part of the Times Square billboard by Nasdaq as one of the startups in actions against Covid-19.

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Niclas Ihrén is the founder of Matters group and investor in several sustainable Swedish startups including the electric motorbike company CAKE. Listen to his advise on how to get started with sustainable investments and why innovation can be so tough. 

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This episode is an interview with our pod host Sara Hermansson to get to know her better. Sara works at Northvolt today and has been part of the startup journey almost from the start. Learn more about Northvolt, the very unique company that has gone from 20 to 2000 employees in 4 years and is the only company that can recycle and produce sustainable li-ion battery in large scale.  

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Welcome to the Swedish Innovation Podcast!

In our first episode you will get to know the podcast host Sandra Bourbon. Listen to how she will get financially free, why she is called the feminist of the future and what innovative prank she did in her childhood. 

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