2023-03-08
Hanna Lauste & Linn Rosenqvist
Half of the world's population has a period. Yet the subject is taboo and access to menstrual protection is poor. Childhood friends Linn Rosenqvist and Hanna Lauste want to change that. Through their startup Herbox, they make free sanitary pads available at schools and workplaces with the vision of increasing gender equality and making sanitary pads as accessible as toilet paper. Herbox sanitary pads are already available in more than 1000 toilets in around 150 organizations and international expansion is underway. CEO Hanna Lauste was recently included in Göteborgsposten's 2022 Power List of people who have made an impact on the lives of all Gothenburgers.
Cecilia Larsson
Half of all women experience back problems during pregnancy and childbirth. Back problems in general cost society SEK 19 billion a year and are one of the main causes of sick leave today. By offering ergonomic products to parents, Cecilia Larsson wants to improve their health and reduce social costs: "I want to improve the work environment at home". The iRock ergonomic cradle is Bebb Baby's first product, but the vision goes beyond that. Cecilia compares her first innovation to a song from a full album of so-called 'parent friendly products' (PFP). The concept can be seen as a nod to all child safe products.
Emma Lundgren
With more than 12,000 photos of children unorganized on her mobile phone, Emma, a nurse at a childcare centre, had a business idea. Through the Childlife app, she now helps parents collect pictures, memories and documentation about their child's development. The app also functions as a digital BVC book and contains tips on parenting. Emma is herself a mother of four and in her work as a district nurse at BVC, she has followed families closely for many years. She has used this experience in the design of the app. The app is constantly being developed and Emma has signed up a number of exciting partners - including Baby Björn, Lindex and Lekia.
Hanna Dahl
Insulin is a very temperature-sensitive medicine, and as a diabetic it is difficult to keep track of the temperatures to which the medicine has been exposed. In Sweden alone, around 60,000 expensive vials are thrown away every year in the belief that the medicine is not usable. InsulinSaver is a product that helps diabetics keep track of the temperature of their medicine wherever they are.
During a train trip in 2017, co-founder Hanna Dahl left all her insulin in a fridge in a hotel room in Italy. A few days later, after filling her syringes with the insulin, her blood sugar started to rise. Thinking she had an infection, she started increasing her doses. Hanna got progressively worse, feeling dehydrated, with headaches, nausea and dizziness. When she was up to double her insulin doses, but still had high blood sugar, she and her travel partner started to wonder if the insulin might have been affected in the fridge? It turned out that the fridge thermostat was not working properly. With an InsulinSaver, Hanna had an indication that her insulin had been exposed to too low a temperature before her body suffered.
Jessica Schädlich & Cia Wedberg
Esmergot develops natural, organic and handmade skin care for horses and dogs. Made in Sweden with love and care for animals, the environment and humanity. Esmergot's motto is that what you use on the animals' skin should be so healthy in all choices of ingredients that you might as well use it on your own. The skin is the largest organ. Whatever we wash or apply to it is absorbed and absorbed into the bloodstream, affecting everything from organs to every little cell. It then goes into our drains and affects the environment around us, including lakes, stables and pastures.
Nathalie Berezina
Norbite, led by Nathalie Berezina, has patented a technology that uses plastic-eating caterpillars to get rid of waste while providing nutritious food. Around 100 larvae consume a plastic bag in about 24 hours. At the end of the process, the plastic is gone and replaced with high-quality protein, fat and fiber that can be used for food, feed and organic farming.
Since 2021, Norbite has been part of the ESA-BIC space incubator that Innovatum Science Park is involved in running. Nathalie's solution has great potential to make a difference in space when it comes to food and waste challenges. In space, circularity is an absolute necessity, especially during long space flights. Solid waste management and recycling are mandatory. Yet, plastic waste is particularly difficult to manage in space due to its chemical diversity and physical properties. Enabling the crew to become self-sufficient in food is also of high importance.
Prarthanaa Khokar
Fureho, co-founded by CEO Prarthanaa Khokar, has developed a lightweight and durable 3D composite material that replaces heavy metals and could save millions of dollars in the space industry. The three-dimensional composite material has been tested in the motorsport and aerospace industries, among others. In space, it could replace some metal parts in satellites and reduce the weight by up to 50 kilograms per communication satellite. This would have a significant positive environmental impact and cost savings of around €1-2.3 million per satellite.
Prarthanaa and his team have been part of the ESA-BIC space incubator, which Innovatum Science Park helps to run, since 2020.
Therese Albinsson
MedQdoc provides medical device companies with a simplified, ready-to-use quality management software solution. The software solution guides customers quickly and efficiently through the quality process so they can meet the regulatory requirements for their medical devices and get to market faster. The idea came when Therese encountered yet another paper-based and cumbersome quality management system at a customer site, which was hindering, rather than helping, the company.
