Upper-North Sweden: Innova makes businesses out of innovations and research

Strengthening regional growth and entrepreneurship so as to increase new business starts among graduates and students is the aim of the Innova project located in Umeå.

The project is a link between academia and business intended to create oppor-tunities of turning innova-tions and research projects into new business oppor-tunities. The approach is to continue running the incu-bator previously put in place and to offer a structured process in a creative envi-ronment through coaching, seminars, advice and busi-ness assistance. The focus is on business concepts from researchers, employees and students at the University and the Hospital in Umeå and on innovative ideas from businesses in the region.

The objective is to contribute to a stronger, more innovative and open region and to increase the understanding of the commercialisation process and entrepreneurship in the target group. This will enable more people to stay on in the region while generating growth and competitiveness.

“During the project period we have received about 330 business concepts," says the project manager, Barbro Renkel. Out of these, 33 have been developed into businesses.

Account of the recession

Recent years have been marked by something of a decline on account of the recession.

"We notice that many are more thoughtful now than before and are not as quick off the mark with regard to new business starts. Since spring 2010 it looks as though things have picked up again."

One sign is that more than 20 students have become what are called ‘summer entrepreneurs´. This means that they start their own companies so as to be able to do summer jobs as consultant contracts with F tax, i.e. business tax status. This can for example involve computer engineers doing programming jobs or economics and business students and graduates doing market surveys for businesses or municipalities.

"The fact that so many are doing so this year, 2010, we see as a good sign of entrepreneurship and of a renewed willing-ness among people to have a try at running their own business," says Barbro Renkel.

Read the article in swedish