First stop for startups
Since 2011, KTH Innovation is running a pre-incubator supporting technology based KTH projects with the potential to become successful businesses. More than 70 projects and companies have completed the program that now also opens up for research based companies.
In the beginning the pre-incubator was called Student Inc. and was open to students wanting to realise their ideas. Many successful startups started their journey in what was then a simple basement in Teknikringen. One example is
Greenely
, a company that uses an app to help consumers visualise and understand their energy consumption, and recently raised SEK 5 million in venture capital. Further examples are
Degoo
, the online back-up solution that is expanding significantly at the moment, and
Manomotion
, the VR-company that lets you use your mobile phone camera to map your hand movements, and just announced their first investment round of SEK 14 million with the backing of a number of well established investors.
During the spring of 2016, Student Inc. expanded their scope and opended up to research based projects as well as student startups. This coincided with the move to new and larger premises and the re-naming of the program the KTH Innovation pre-incubator, an initiative that the KTH Innovation business coach Daniel Carlsson is very positive to.
– We could see that the concept of physically sharing offices and meeting other entrepreneurs in similar circumstances was working very well and it seemed silly not to offer researchers the same opportunity. We have always prioritised getting KTH research out onto the market, he says.
Apart from having their own office space and creative environment that aids business development, the projects co-exist with other companies that are developing their ideas. They also work very closely with their own business coach and other team members at KTH Innovation who share the premises.
Batch enrollment increases opportunities
The packaging of the offer has been polished and the pre-incubator gives the accepted projects access to a structured process as well as the office space. The process runs for a year but with milestones at the 4 and 8 month point where the startups need to show progress. The support is free of charge and also includes workshops and seminars on relevant subjects. The pre-incubator opens up for applications three times per year with 6-8 of the applicants being accepted in each batch. The projects that are accepted into the same batch work side by side, lifting each other and working towards the goals together rather than competing. This is the ideal opportunity for anyone thinking of starting a company.
– If you have an idea and think there is potential for it to become a company, then you should apply to the pre-incubator. You don't have to have experience of startups but you have to have started evaluating the technology and found some sort of market for it, says Daniel Carlsson.
The application for Batch 3 is now closed. If you have a question email nicolefo@kth.se