Collaboration for Sustainable Impact

“Startups, corporations and the public sector have an important role to play. Gathering them under the same roof has the chance to inspire, enable and accelerate the transition into a more sustainable future,” says Siimon Vaske, Business Development Coach Energy & Clean Tech at KTH Innovation.

KTH Innovation was an organizer of the digital matchmaking together with Ignite Sweden, Sting and Things. The event was part of the Sustainable Energy Action, an initiative funded by the Swedish Energy Agency that aims to boost the commercialization of energy and climate-related innovations nationally. 

“To help startups get access to market is key to increasing the speed of commercialization of sustaintech innovations that can play a significant role in fighting climate change,” says Karin Ruiz, Business Coach for sustaintech and deeptech startups at Sting.

“You need to do things you haven’t done before. Startups are exceptionally good at solving problems in new ways. With the resources and experience from corporations, the impact becomes even greater,” explains Johannes Henriksson, co-founder of Chalmers Venture’s startup Compular. The company develops analysis tools based on machine learning and statistical physics that enable more sustainable batteries.

For Pia Wall, Innovation Business Partner at the energy company E.ON, working together with startups is all about mixing the best of both worlds.

“At E.ON we have a comprehensive experience of innovation and the muscles to really make a difference. The startup companies have the innovative ideas and the drive to find new paths to create value. Together, we can create an even bigger value for the society, the customers and the businesses.”

“Sustainability is one of the most important issues of our time. Our customers increasingly require that our commitment to sustainability is in line with their own goals and that we  positively contribute to the achievement of these sustainable goals. Finding solutions that can reduce both Coor’s and our customers’ climate footprint is therefore of the highest priority,” explains Mattias Wahlgren, Group Innovation Manager at the facility management company Coor. His company was matched with four startups at the event.

Mattias thinks that the challenge is to find solutions that are “truly sustainable.” “Ignite Sustaintech was an excellent platform for that. To achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, we must address the problems that are still unresolved, that’s why we engage in these types of events.”

Lindab Ventilation met five startups at Ignite Sustaintech. “We are still following up and evaluating the startups but it looks promising.”

Pia Wall from E.ON believes that these matchmaking events are a great opportunity to get a quick feeling of the startup companies and possible collaboration areas. 

“The meetings at Ignite Sustaintech were inspiring. There were some very good matches with a number of startups. There were also other meetings where the collaboration possibilities were not that obvious, but that was valuable as well. We at E.ON need to stretch our minds and sometimes we find unexpected opportunities.”

“We get insights into how big corporations work, what struggles they have and if we can help solve their problems with our technology. It is a very time-efficient way for us to find suitable prospects,” he adds. 

He met two corporations during his third participation at an Ignite matchmaking event. His startup is currently in discussion to enter pilot projects with some of the companies they have met previously through Ignite.

Another of the 55 participating startups was Cellfion, a spin-off company of RISE, KTH and LiU that is currently part of the incubator LEAD. The startup develops bio-based ion-selective membranes for electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.

Cellfion chose to apply for this event as their business is built around bringing sustainable materials to the sustainable energy sector. “We wanted to meet organizations that think just like us,” says co-founder and CEO Liam Hardey.