Entrepreneurship scholarship for more effective skin cream

“It's great to be recognised for the work I've put into running Aperya and to receive support and recognition for my entrepreneurial drive! I also want to thank Stockholms Borgerskap,” William Ferreira Andrén says.

The scholarship of 100,000 Swedish crowns was established in 2024 to support and promote young, entrepreneurial individuals from KTH. It is awarded to one or more people who are between the ages of 18 and 29, studying at bachelor's, master's or doctoral level at KTH and who run a startup project developed with the support of KTH Innovation. Last year, the scholarship went to Maja Åstrand, founder of SimulAir.

William Ferreira Andrén is studying the master’s programme in Medical Biotechnology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and has further developed and investigated how the technology ‘Rolling spiked microspheres’ can improve the penetration of skin creams. The technology was developed by Professor Niclas Roxhed and KTH doctoral student Theocharis Nikiforos Iordanidis. Last year, the three colleagues started the company Aperya together.

“It has been incredibly exciting but also time consuming. I enjoy working in a creative way to solve complex problems,” Ferreira Andrén says. “Aperya's vision is to create a new generation of cream-based medicines and serums. We want to fundamentally change what is possible to treat with a cream, to help patients and open up for new, safer and more environmentally friendly active ingredients in dermatology.”

Support from KTH Innovation

Ferreira Andrén has received support from KTH Innovation since 2023, including business development coaching, patenting, funding of prototype development and investor contacts. Aperya has also participated in KTH Innovation's Launch programme , for teams that want to launch their solution on the market within a year, and Brighter , where startups from KTH travel to an international innovation hub to test the international market.

“William has shown great drive and managed to create contacts and collaborations with various companies and actors, and it will be exciting to follow his and the company's continued journey,” Daniel Carlsson, business development coach in medical technology at KTH Innovation, says.

Now, Aperya's main focus is to reach more customers, and the company plans to expand production later this year and build its own factory.

“Things are moving forward at a fast pace and our operational team is expanding right now. We have also raised a round of capital from international and Swedish business angels to accelerate Aperya's development,” Ferreira Andrén says.

 Text: Jon Lindhe ( jlindhe@kth.se )

William's tips for aspiring entrepreneurs

Do you have any advice for KTH students who dream of starting their own business?

“Dream big and don't assume that your first idea will work. Talk to your future customers from day one and make sure they are willing to pay for your solution and that there are enough people with the problem (large market). If you want more tips, you can find me on LinkedIn,” Ferreira Andrén says.

What help did you get from KTH Innovation and what did it mean to you?

“KTH Innovation has helped me in several ways, especially through support for IP that enabled us to patent our product. It has also been very helpful to have access to the physical KTH Innovation premises for events, networking and meetings,” Ferreira Andrén says.