Univrses wins the Kommersialiseringspriset 2020

Univrses is the winner of the Kommersialiseringspriset 2020, a prize initiated by Ignite Sweden and awarded yearly as a part of Power Circle Summit, powered by Energimyndigheten, EIT InnoEnergy and Svenska Mässan. The prize is given by an Ignite Sweden corporate partner -in this case, ABB-, and consists of a commercial project with them. 

The award’s goal is to highlight the importance of commercial collaboration between startups and corporations. The innovation should have a positive impact on the environment. Ignite Sweden was in charge of the selection of the winning project.

Univrses is a Stockholm-based startup that develops world-class perception solutions, based on computer vision and AI, for autonomous systems.

– This is a huge step for us. Receiving the prize is great recognition for the work we have done. A commercial project with a company like ABB is what startups dream about. It is a fantastic opportunity to work with a company that has great technology, highly experienced people and a first-class brand, says Jonathan Selbie, CEO of Univrses.

Univrses will collaborate with ABB in a new autonomous robotics solution for the mining industry. This game-changing technology, part of a project called Sustainable Intelligent Mining Systems (SIMS), will make mines both safer and more efficient. 

– Univrses will provide one of the most important senses of the robot: the eyes. With their vision solution, the remote charger robot can automatically detect boreholes and fill them with explosives and detonators without the presence of humans. This will be performed in an extremely harsh environment as you could expect from a mine, explains Martin Olausson, Head of Business Development at ABB’s innovation hub SynerLeap. 

He adds that the startup has proven to be very skilled within their expertise and unique software applications in computer vision in combination with machine learning technologies.

– The mining industry is a traditional industry with high energy consumption. I am thrilled to see that they are open to new innovative ways of working by collaborating with innovative startups. This is a milestone that will pave the way for many other energy-related innovations“, says Sasan Shaba, Portfolio Manager and Business Developer at the Sweden Energy Agency.

ABB met Univrses at one of the matchmaking events organized by Ignite Sweden to connect startups with potential corporate customers.

– This is an outstanding commercial project in an incredibly interesting area that targets many of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as SDG 9 (build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) and SDG 12 (ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns), says Stina Lantz, Program Manager at Ignite Sweden.

This is the second edition of the Kommersialiseringspriset. Last year it was awarded to Mimbly. The Gothenburg-based startup won a pilot project with Coor Service Management, which has recently been completed with successful results.

About Ignite Sweden

Ignite Sweden is a program aims to initiate collaborations between startups and established companies. Since its start in spring 2017, Ignite has organized matchmaking events all over Sweden connecting over 500 startups with 153 corporates, resulting in more than 2800 meetings and most importantly 100+ commercial collaborations.

Ignite Sweden is led by LEAD, MINC, THINGS, STING and Uminova in collaboration with SISP. It is co-funded by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency, and Tillväxtverket.