Mentorship that matters
“At KTH, we know how to develop great technology, but when it comes to the business side of things there are often a lot of puzzle pieces missing” says Károly Szipka, KTH researcher and founder of iPercept, one of eight startup projects that just finished the Bicky Chakraborty Entrepreneurship Program.
iPercept develops a new measurement method for predictive maintenance of production equipment, to reduce unplanned machine downtime. The project’s founder Károly Szipka is currently a PhD Candidate in Production Engineering at KTH.
In March, iPercept was one of seven projects that joined the Bicky Chakraborty Entrepreneurship Program, an education and mentorship program which was founded three years ago following a five million kronor donation from Bicky Chakraborty, founder of Elite Hotels. The aim is to support early-stage startups from KTH with the will and potential to create growth and prosperity in Sweden. Accepted teams also get 70 000 SEK in funding.
- It’s been great to hear such positive feedback from the participants, especially from the researchers, says Program Manager Viktor Olsson. The program is both hands-on and educational and seems to be a good fit in well for those who combine research with running a commercialization project.
This year, the projects focus on vastly different industries, from Klimato that calculates CO2 emissions from your lunch, to Icarus Digital Math, that develops software for flow calculation in aerodynamic simulations. Five are run by KTH researchers and two by KTH students. So how do you put together a program that suits everyone?
- It’s easy to get stuck in your bubble as a researcher or student, so we’ve designed the program to step-by-step help the teams learn how to run and grow a company and become more confident as entrepreneurs , says Viktor Olsson, program manager. Even though the teams are very different, they share many of the same challenges.
Throughout the year, the teams have met up for four full-day training sessions, where they have taken part in an education program developed by KTH Executive School. Each team have also had several individual lunch meetings with experienced mentors who have helped guide their development. This year, the teams have met with profiles like Nami Zarringhalam, founder of Truecaller, and Pirkko Tamsen, investor, entrepreneur and formed head of Uppsala University Innovation, who have shared their knowledge.
- The mentor meetings were fantastic, says Károly Szipka. These one-hour lunches were fantastic examples of extremely condensed and very valuable time-allocation. You cannot just get enough.
The program will continue next year, and we’re currently looking for the next batch of applicants. Károly Szipka says:
I would definitely recommend others to apply, especially if you are a researcher. We’ve had huge takeaways from the program and it has really had positive impact on our strategy.
The teams in the 2019 edition of the Bicky Chakraborty Entrepreneurship Program
Ally
Ally has developed an app to help hotels increase sales to their guests, by offering a type of appstore for hotels. Services that can be purchased in the app include everything from pre-ordering drinks to reserving a sun chair.
Apostar
Apostar is an e-learning tool for pharmacy staff. Using the Apostar app, pharmacy staff can develop their skills, stay updated on new pharmaceutical products, and look up information in conversation with customers.
Jaisy
Jaisy has developed a low-cost, non-invasive jaundice detector for newborns. The Jaisy team has reached promising results and have initiated clinical trials with Karolinska Institiute.
Klimato
Klimato offers a service to calculate and present the Co2 emission of food, giving companies the opportunity of presenting, analyzing, and decreasing their environmental impact, while creating a good environmental profile and transparency in consumption choices.
Icarus Digital Math
Icarus Digital Math has developed software for flow calculation in aerodynamic simulations for the aircraft-, space- and vehicle industries. Their software is ten times faster and cheaper than the global players on the market. Their tool is now used in teaching at KTH, has been recognized by NASA and is used by clients and in pilot projects at the highest echelon of the industry.
iPercept
IPercept’s technology introduces a new measurement method in combination with machine learning for predictive maintenance of production equipment. This enables an affordable and meaningful periodic information stream to reduce unplanned machine downtime and increase overall equipment efficiency.
Monocular
In the movie industry, visual prototyping is an important part of pre-production. The most common solution today is using physical “storyboards”. Monocular has developed an easy-to-use 3D software, which enables movie producers to change their storyboards in real-time. This creates a more efficient work-flow, and decreases the risk of misunderstanding and mistakes when filming. The team consists of researchers from KTH and Konstfack.
Find out more about Monocular
SEEN XR
SEEN has developed a world-leading solution by integrating eye-tracking in a VR headset and implementing and verifying a new streaming protocol that can save over 90% of bandwidth over a 5G network. Smart Eye-tracking Enabled Networking (SEEN) can make VR in your mobile phone a reality over the 5G network. The goal of the SEEN project is to provide new network services using smart eye-tracking sensors to optimize data-heavy services and products in future mobile communications systems.
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