2023-11-14
Last updated: 2023-11-14 08:59
Every year, the SKAPA Foundation awards the SKAPA Prize in memory of inventor Alfred Nobel. It is Sweden's largest innovation prize and is awarded to the person who has made the most meritorious contributions in terms of innovation and creativity and the development of products and services that can lead to commercial opportunities. The prize has been awarded every year since 1986 and the winner can call themselves the Swedish Champion of Innovation.
During the award ceremony in the Blue Hall in Stockholm on November 9, Björn Holmström received the prize from President Andreas Norlén.
- The win really came as a bolt from the blue! I thought my best chance was at the pitching competition, but when there was no prize there, I thought it was over. It was a real shock when they read out my name! I'm incredibly happy and proud of this, and am so grateful to everyone who helped me/us along the way. Many thanks to Innovatum Science Park who helped us lay the foundation and believed in us from the beginning and GU Ventures who now help us towards new goals, says Björn Holmström.
Björn's startup NSS Water Enhancement Technology (NNS Water) has developed a process to produce the world's first nano-clean water, completely free of particles above 10 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. In the production of semiconductors (found in all electronic equipment), the WET NANO innovation can bring a number of major benefits - not least for the environment.
- "We at Innovatum Science Park are incredibly happy and proud that Björn is receiving this award. His innovation really has the potential to make an incredible difference," says Eivind Vogel-Rödin, Head of Startups at Innovatum Science Park.
NSS Water Enhancement was founded in 2020 by Björn Holmström from Bengtsfors and Christer Ljungwall. The startup was part of Innovatum Science Park's incubator in Trollhättan between 2021-2023 and is now a portfolio company at GU Ventures in Gothenburg. In 2022, Björn was named one of ten innovative entrepreneurs in Sweden to receive SEK 200,000 in Åforsk entrepreneurship scholarships.
Fresh water is in short supply in many parts of the world. Water is essential for all life on Earth, but it is used for so much more than drinking. Water is good for cleaning, and it should be cleaner than what is being cleaned.
Imagine cleaning something that is very small and cannot have any dirt on it at all, not even a speck of dust down to the nano level. Then the water must be "cleaned" before it can be used for cleaning. This is the case when washing silicon wafers in the semiconductor industry.
Traditionally, incredible amounts of water are used for this washing process. A semiconductor factory disposes of millions of cubic meters of water a year. Water that is also contaminated with chemicals. With WET NANO, this has been solved in a much more efficient way. Through membrane distillation on an industrial level, the water can be purified down to the nano level and with reduced need for chemicals.
Water consumption in the process is reduced by up to 90% and the washing water is made on plastic in the semiconductor factory. After the cleaning process, the water is cleaned of chemicals and can be released back into the environment, completely free of pollution. This means that a lot of fresh water can be used for other vital purposes, such as drinking water or irrigation for crops. This is why the WET NANO SKAPA Prize 2023 is awarded to the invention.
