FAQ
Check out our frequently asked questions
General questions
Where will the matchmaking meetings take place?
Due to the pandemic, our matchdays are currently being held digitally on the platform Zoom. We use a tool called “breakout rooms” to ensure the meetings’ privacy. We will provide you the link to join the session to the startups that have a confirmed match a few days before the session.
When do the matchmaking sessions take place?
We hold our matchmaking sessions all year round but for July and the Christmas holidays.
Check out our upcoming matchdays.
Have the matchmaking sessions different topics?
We organize matchdays for different industries and sectors.
Check out if there is an upcoming session that suits your company or organization.
Apart from matchmaking sessions, do you organize other types of events or activities?
Yes! Every now and then we hold other types of activities such as webinars, workshops, conferences, masterclasses, etc.
Check out our upcoming activities.
Startups
How can Ignite Sweden contribute to my startup success?
Our program gives you the chance to meet established companies and public organizations that are looking for startups who can help them solve their challenges. These meetings are tailored to guarantee their quality. The participant organizations have specially selected you from a shortlist of startups that we have prepared based on their needs and challenges. This means that you can be sure that your meetings will be of high relevance. That is why over 55% of the meetings lead to further discussions. Every match is an opportunity to establish a collaboration with a potential B2B customer that can take your startup to new heights.
Which companies or public organizations can I meet and who are attending from those companies?
Through our program, you can meet national and international corporates, public-owned companies, municipalities and other public organizations with a serious interest in startup collaboration. Over 220 companies from a wide range of industries have participated in Ignite Sweden since 2017.
Their delegates usually work in areas such as innovation and product development. We always make sure that startups meet the right people with the right mandates who understand their technology.
What phase should my startup be in?
Your startup should be looking for one of the following:
- A potential customer to verify your business idea -proof of concept
- Help with verifying your final product requirements by a potential customer
- Pilot testing your solution or product in a real customer’s environment
How will I meet the corporates or public organizations?
You will meet the corporates during a 20-minute matchmaking meeting during our matchdays, i.e. a matchmaking session. The matchdays are not speed-dating or mingle events where every participant startup has the chance to meet every participant corporates or organizations but these sessions are tailored to guarantee the quality of its meetings. Every single meeting that takes place in our sessions has been curated.
We will let you know if there is a match for your startup in advance. It is important that once you have registered for a matchday you keep your calendar free until then.
We will schedule the meeting for you and provide you with the information to join.
How do I know if I will meet a corporate or organization at a matchday?
Every time a corporate or organization confirms a match with a startup, our system automatically sends an email to the startup to notify them of the match. This normally happens about two or three weeks prior to the event. It is important that you keep your calendar free until then so that we are certain that you can join if we get a match.
You will also receive a notification if we couldn’t find any matches for your startup on the matchday you have applied for participating.
Sometimes we facilitate matchmaking meetings outside our regular matchdays. Some of these events are not made public. That is why it is important that you submit your application to our platform Ignite Magic even if there is not any matchmaking event that suits your startup right now as we are constantly searching for startups in our database.
Can I participate in a matchmaking session even if I haven’t got any matches?
Unfortunately not. Only startups that have got a match with a corporate or organization can participate.
How much does it cost to participate in a matchmaking meeting?
Startups’ participation at Ignite Sweden is funded by Vinnova. When you have a confirmed match, our team will contact you with instructions on how to proceed so that we can get the funding. Please note if your startup is currently participating in an incubator program with any of the incubators that are a part of Vinnova’s national incubator program Excellence, your incubator will pay for your participation.
Corporates
What’s in it for us?
What are startups you will be matched with looking for?
- A potential first customer
- Validation of their business idea and technology
- Final product requirements verification
- A real customer environment for pilot testing
- Strategic partnerships to scale
What roles in our company should we ideally involve?
How much time will we have to allocate for the program?
It depends on the challenges you wish to solve and the extension of the collaboration project you would like to start with a startup. It’s up to you.
By signing up, you are only committing to performing a needs assessment workshop to identify your challenges and needs and select relevant startups that will help you solve those.
How will I meet the startups?
How much does it cost to participate in a matchmaking sessions?
Our matchmaking events are exclusively for our corporate members. Please contact Sara Hamlin, Head of Corporate Partnerships, at sara@ignitesweden.org to find out more about our memberships.