"I'm here to realise Loredge"
Anna Abelin is one of four founders behind the knowledge platform Loredge that is being launched this autumn. We had a chat with her to try to fiund out what's going on in the company and what the future might hold.
Nine people, of which five are full time employees, work at the company Loredge right nog. The startup was accepted into the KTH Innovation pre-incubator in October last year. The four founders are Anna Abelin, Philipp Engelhard, Mikael Lindahl and Per Ejeklint.
How did you get the idea for Loredge?
– I happened upon the problem that we are solving while studying for my phd in the USA. When I came back to Sweden I started to think about the kind of tools I would have wanted to have. I started working full time with Loredge in the spring of 2015 and the others came on board during the autumn of 2015, says Anna Abelin.
Working effectively with knowledge
Loredge is a digital pratform for knowledge management and global sharing. Anna Abelin explains that it addresses how our modern society could handle knowlege more effectively. In today's society, when the quantity of information is increasing at a mind blowing speed, it becomes more and more important to be able to decide what information is useful, she maintains.
– Today it is very hard to know what information to examine and what is valuable and true. Also, what it is there for or why it exists.
The Loredge platform is meant to work as a place where you can both structure your own knowledge and also access other people's knowledge, through interatcion, says Anna.
– As a student or researcher you should be able to arrange knowledge so that it is permanent but also changeable. If, for instance, you are a student at KTH, you will be able to use the tool to remember everything you have learnt. If you took a course in year one and need to access the knowledge at work ten years later - then all you need to do is fire up the tool, see what you learnt, how you thought and what you read, but above all how this knowledge has changed during these past ten years. This is done through interaction with others and using their knowledge as well, says Anna.
Exciting, and you're launching this autumn?
– Yes, we are launching an MVP. It is the smallest unit you can build but that is still complete for use, so it doesn't have all the cool features yet. But it's a great way for us to give users the opportunity to try it out - that's our main focus right now!
What support from KTH Innovation has been the most significant for developing Loredge?
– The most important for us has been our coach, Gustav Notander. He is a great sounding board and never says "do this" but helps us discuss and reflect together. He gives us freedom and expects us to take responsibility for our company - it's not like having a teacher but he is a sounding board.
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
– It's not really entrepreneurship that attracts me, but rather my vision and the change that we as a group can achieve. That it happens through entrepreneurship is less important. I'm not in it to be a serial entrepreneur, I'm here to realise Loredge.
So in five years, where is Loredge?
– In five years Loredge is a global player that sets the pace in our market, but is based in Sweden.
Do you want to follow Loredge and make sure you don't miss the launch? Check out their website here!
Emelie Södergren
emesod@kth.se
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