Powering the Future Through Collaborative Innovation

Organized by Ignite Sweden in collaboration with the Swedish Energy Agency, Eskilstuna Municipality, Electrification Hub, and MITC – Mälardalen Industrial Technology Center as part of the Swedish Battery Arena, Battery Tech Matchday provided a platform for innovation across the entire battery value chain.

A total of 27 pioneering startups participated in the event, presenting solutions that tackled key industry challenges —ranging from charging optimization and energy storage to recycling and grid flexibility— spanning different stages of the battery lifecycle.

Their cutting-edge technologies captured the interest of 10 leading corporations —including E.ON, Alstom, Epiroc, Toyota Material Handling Europe, and Hitachi Energy— keen to explore potential collaborations and new innovations in the battery sector.

Through Ignite Sweden’s curated matchmaking process, the event facilitated 60 qualitative 1:1 meetings, enabling startups and corporates to engage in targeted discussions on potential collaborations.

Michell Hanna, Project Manager at Ignite Sweden, emphasized the importance of these tailored interactions in creating real collaboration opportunities:

“This event was not just about meetings — it was about creating the right conditions for meaningful conversations between startups and corporates. By ensuring that both parties were well-matched and prepared, we aimed to maximize the potential for real partnerships to emerge.”

Startups Delivering Cutting-Edge Solutions

For startups, the event was a unique opportunity to present their solutions to key industry players. Among them was Bright Day Graphene, whose biobased graphene material could extend battery lifespan by at least three times.

“Even if you have a great technology, you still need to work on the market side,” said Malin Alpsten, CEO & Co-founder of Bright Day Graphene. “Collaborating with corporates is always important for a startup. We need to create the market for our material and the big corporates are the customers.”

Stefano Cucchiella is the CTO and co-founder of CanaryBit, a cybersecurity startup that enables secure AI analytics, ensuring third-party applications can safely process and collect insights from battery data for reuse and optimization while preserving ownership and control over the data.

He emphasized the value of the interactions with potential customers at matchmaking events like Battery Tech Matchday:

“Events like this one are very helpful for us to have close contact with big organizations, build relationships, and then move forward to potential projects. I think our meetings today have been quite successful. We had a few meetings to the point, and we’re going to have follow-ups in the coming days and weeks. So all in all, it’s been a successful day.”

Connecting Startups with the Right Decision-Makers

Another participating startup was Recap Power, which develops an energy management platform that maximizes the benefits from flexible energy resources like battery systems, helping their customers lower their energy costs and creating new revenue streams.

Its CEO, Jonas Thyni, highlighted how matchmaking connects startups with the right decision-makers in large corporations:

“I met with some interesting corporates, and I think we have good potential for cooperation with some of them. One of the biggest values that Ignite Sweden brings is getting the connections with the right people. I had meetings where I finally spoke to the exact person I had been looking for.”

Corporates on the Lookout for Innovation

Battery Tech Matchday was equally beneficial for corporate participants, who gained insights into emerging solutions and engaged with startups driving change in the industry.

Katarina Öquist, Global R&D Technology & Innovation Manager at Epiroc, stressed the strategic advantage of participating:

“We can’t invent everything by ourselves. We need to go out and scout for new technologies, and this was a great way to do it. Events like this give us the opportunity to build relationships and scout for innovation in an efficient way.”

“The meetings we had were really good. The startups were well prepared, and we had really valuable discussions,” noted Katarina.

Laying the Groundwork for Future Collaborations

Electrification Hub is an innovation accelerator driving the transition toward electrified mobility solutions by supporting early-stage technologies and advancing them from prototype to implementation. Its CEO, Mikael Hjorth, actively participated in several meetings between some of its corporate partners— including Hitachi Energy, Alstom, and Harting— and startups throughout the day.

He observed firsthand how well-prepared startups were and how corporates approached discussions with openness and a clear interest in potential collaborations.

“The startups had prepared and looked into use cases or examples where the bigger corporates could use their technologies, and the corporates were open to exploring ways of working together.”

Battery Tech Matchday demonstrated that collaboration between startups and large corporations is key to driving new technologies in the battery sector. The connections made during the event have the potential to spark transformative projects that will benefit the entire industry.