Annica Grimberg Lignell, Head of Business Development at Sahlgrenska Science Park, was one of the panelists at
Sweden Innovation Days when three of the gateways into the Swedish innovation system, Testa Center, AstraZeneca BioventureHub and Sahlgrenska Science Park, joined forces to showcase their offers and collaboration.
“Many of the innovators we work with come not only from Sweden but from other parts of the world, such as North and South America, Asia and Europe. When people with different backgrounds come together it has a very positive impact on how the work progress”, says Annica Grimberg Lignell.
She has her mind set on accelerating business for health innovation startups. One key factor is planning for raising capital. Another one is early internationalisation, often crucial to how quickly the business can achieve sustainable growth and become profitable.
“It’s important to fully understand the business landscape, the rules and regulations to succeed in different markets. We provide expert coaching in market readiness and our close and long-term relations with national and local care providers ensure a good insight of healthcare systems in key markets. We have a special focus on the Nordics, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and the US”, says Annica Grimberg Lignell.
Through cross sector workshops, other industries are invited to validate possible use outside the Life Science sector.
“We aim to put startups in a position to get lucky in raising enough capital to grow internationally. True success for us is when a company has been introduced to the market after going through our Accelerator programme, and their product improves the quality of people’s lives”, she says. As an alumni company, you are still an important part of the park community by sharing experiences and taking part of network opportunities.
Collaboration is key and part of our “swedishness” according to Annica Grimberg Lignell. There are many examples, Ignite Sweden being one of them, making the Sweden Innovation Days event a reality, gathering 3000+ digital participants from 80 countries. Another example is a cross sector collaboration programme among incubators in West Sweden.
On a Nordic level, Sahlgrenska Science Park is one of the partners in HealthTech Nordic, a community gathering some 280 fast-growing startups, coached by collaborating organisations from Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
