From the Swedish Youth Entrepreneurship Championship to a place in the incubator

They became the JA company of the year in Fyrbodal, won Innovatum Science Park's JA startup of the year award and made it to the Swedish Championship final. Now the team behind En dag i taget have graduated and decided to invest wholeheartedly in helping more young people out of mental illness. We welcome Ebba, Elsa, Hanna and Alice to the incubator.

Did you know that in 2022, 71% of girls aged 16 to 29 suffered from anxiety, stress and worry? Or that 8300 children and adolescents in Sweden were diagnosed with an eating disorder in the same year? More than half of these people were girls under 18.

It is these dismal figures that the four friends from Vänersborg want to change!

Journal as a tool for self-reflection

The business idea for En dag i taget was born when one of them was struggling with mental health and eating disorders. She found that writing down her thoughts and feelings in a diary helped her cope with the difficulties.

Now Ebba, Elsa, Hanna and Alice want to help other young people, especially girls, who are facing similar challenges.

What the team developed, which they will now continue to work on in the incubator, is a journal book for young people with mental illness. The book serves as a tool for self-reflection and contains various exercises and support in everyday life.  

Interest in the idea has been great and En dag i taget has been recognized by both TTELA and Swedish Radio during the year.

Business coaching via the incubator

Winning the UF Startup of the Year award in Fyrbodal led to a place in the incubator where the team will now receive business development support, help with contacts and not least a physical place to work. They have already settled into the co-working space for startups at Innovatum Science Park's office in Trollhättan, where they look forward to meeting other entrepreneurs and making new contacts.

- We loved running JA companies and had a desire and dream to let our company live on. But as 18-year-old students, it felt a bit dizzying to take JA to AB on our own. When we won Startup of the Year and the place at the incubator, the step from UF to AB immediately felt a little more stable and in the end it became one of the decisive factors for us to dare to invest in our company! We believe and hope that the experienced team at the incubator will be able to contribute with the knowledge and security that we have not yet had time to create ourselves as entrepreneurs. Their wise advice and tips will be invaluable to our company and we are so grateful to be part of the Incubator during the start-up of our dream, says co-founder Elsa Selin.

The first week as a startup in the incubator started with a strategy meeting together with the business coaches Magnus Mollstedt and Markus Sulkupuro who will work most closely with the team.

- The team showed already during their JA time that they could both develop a really good and socially useful product and that they are good at sales. It is fantastic that they are now starting a limited company at the age of 19 and continuing on their business journey. I am absolutely convinced that these four creative and driven people will make a positive impact both in Sweden and outside Sweden when it comes to reducing mental illness," says Magnus Mollstedt, business coach at Innovatum Science Park.