Standing (left to right): Charlotte Olson, Olivia Engellau, Ashkan Azadi and Sofie Åkerlund. Sitting (left to right): Xingyu Zhu, Hao Tang, Joakim Karlsson, Sofie Stenmark and Tim Rijavec Bruneus. Photo by Adrian Kunce.

The second batch of Activate starts today, the accelerator program of the SSE Business Lab, the incubator unit at the Stockholm School of Economics. Activate is created for students and alumni who want to develop a prototype and launch quickly to begin commercial sales over sixteen weeks. The program provides ambitious entrepreneurs with the support they need to quickly get to market.

"Through Activate, we can support students and alumni by providing robust help to quickly and easily develope prototypes, and in that way help them reach their markets," says Julia Delin, CEO of the SSE Business Lab. "We see numerous companies spending an entire year of development on their apps before getting them onto the market. Once on the market, they can't find product-market fit. We want to help those with the right driving force to develop their products and get them to market as fast as possible."

Activate, Initiate, Incubate

Activate works as a bridge between two of SSE Business Lab's other programs, Initiate and Incubate. Initiate encourages students to develop their entrepreneurial competence, regardless of the career they have chosen, while Incubate supports startups that already have a team, a business idea and a prototype. The first batch of the Activate program was during last summer and two of the startups are now part of Business Lab's Incubate program.

Some companies have gone the whole way from Initiate to Incubate, one example being the electric scooter company Voi Technology. The founders met at a hackathon organized by Initiate and conducted together with the Entrepreneurship Society, part of SSE's student association.

For this batch of Activate, four companies have been selected by the SSE Business Lab Advisory Board, which consists of Cristina Stenbeck, Katarina Martinson, Sebastian Knutsson and Mikael Schiller. Besides support from the board, each company will have a dedicated mentor, receive coaching from a prominent entrepreneur and executive, participate in workshops and join the network at SSE Business Lab's 400 square meter office complex in A House.

The following companies have been chosen.

Atamai: Data Exchange platform enabling companies and research teams to buy and sell data as well as to promote cooperation between different companies and academic institutions interested in AI, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Team: Hao Tang, Xingyu Zhu, Tim Rijavec Bruneus

Les Objects: Marketplace for high-end interior design items, connecting top retailers and consumers. A destination where design lovers from all over the world can shop for an unrivalled range of exclusive design products from the world's best stores. Team: Olivia Engellau, Ashkan Azadi and Charlotte Olsson.

Spring: Rent sports equipment from boxes located in parks and sports fields near you through automated boxes are filled with sports equipment, toys and games for all ages to try out. Team: Joakim Karlsson, Elias Selhi, Irina Polishchuk.

Trashure: The Next Generation of Statement Bags, made from recycled ocean plastics. We provide a complete handbag solution for the millennial woman with sustainable materials, functional features, fashionable design, and an affordable price-point. Team: Sofie Stenmark and Sofie Åkerlund.

For more information, please contact:

Julia Delin, CEO SSE Business Lab
Email: julia.delin@hhs.se
Phone: +46 (0)73-724 94 12
Julia Delin on LinkedIn

Arish Karadaghi, Program Manager Activate
E-mail: arish.karadaghi@gmail.com
Phone: +46 (0)73-676 93 99
Arish Karadaghi on LinkedIn