SSE Business Lab has a successful history with outstanding tech companies like Klarna, Voi Technology and Budbee in their portfolio. The new Board of Admissions consisting of Sebastian Knutsson, Anna Stenberg, Sven Hagströmer, Donna Hanafi, Lisa Lindström, Mattias Miksche, Mernosh Saatchi and Magnus Mähring is now tasked with finding the hidden gems among the applicants to the incubator, and identifying the successful companies of tomorrow. Previously, profiles like Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Cristina Stenbeck, Mikael Schiller and Katarina Martinson have been members of the board.

Lars Strannegård, the President of the Stockholm School of Economics, is very pleased with the new board.

“We are now entering a new exciting chapter for SSE Business Lab, and we are very happy and proud to have this new diverse Board of Admissions with an impressive amount of experience. I look forward to seeing how the board will contribute to the development of SSE Business Lab and our startups” he says.

Extensive business building experience

The collective experience of the board is extensive. Board professionals like Sven Hagströmer and Mernosh Saatchi have together spent decades in boards of companies like Klarna, Avanza, MQ and eWork.

Many members of the board are also experienced when it comes to building their own businesses, for instance King (Sebastian Knutsson), Stardoll (Mattias Miksche), Doberman (Lisa Lindström), Humblestorm (Mernosh Saatchi), Avanza och Creades (Sven Hagströmer) and Mentimeter and Tictail which Donna Hanafi was part of building.

“I’m very happy to be joining this exciting board. For me it’s great to be able to contribute with a design perspective in the assessment of the companies applying, something which is crucial to their success”, says Lisa Lindström.

The group is also well versed when it comes to assessing companies as investors. Anna Stenberg has a long background from Kinnevik, Sebastian Knutsson is the founder of the venture capital firm Sweet Capital, and Mattias Miksche has successfully made angel investments in companies like Tink, Karma and Natural Cycles.

“I’m very excited to get started on this new board. I have previously been a mentor at SSE Business Lab, and I look forward to working with the success stories of tomorrow, who will be getting their start there”, Mattias Miksche says.

The Board of Admissions will meet for the first time in March, when they will decide which companies will be given the opportunity to join the incubator next. All startups with a team member who is a student, alumni or faculty member of the Stockholm School of Economics can apply to the incubator. Read more on SSE Business Lab’s website, ssebl.com.


About the members of the Board of Admissions:

Sebastian Knutsson: Founder of King Digital Entertainment, one of Sweden’s most successful unicorn companies and creators of the gaming sensation Candy Crush Saga. Also the founder of the venture capital firm Sweet Capital. Has been named by Dagens Industri as Sweden’s most influential tech investor.

Anna Stenberg: Founder of the company Women Executive Search which helps companies to recruit with more diversity to leadership positions. Is today the Chief People and Platform Officer at Kinnevik, and an active angel investor in the Swedish startup ecosystem.

Sven Hagströmer: Businessman who is the founder and chairman of Avanza, and has been chairman of companies like Creades, eWork, and Klarna. Was a “dragon” in the Swedish version of Dragons Den, which aired on SVT.

Donna Hanafi: Growth and marketing expert with a background at successful startups like Mentimeter and Tictail. Has been a coach at both Sting and SSE Business Lab, and is an active angel investor having made investments in companies like imagiLabs and Mindmore.

Lisa Lindström: Has since 2003 led the digital design agency Doberman, which under her leadership became one of Sweden’s most well renowned and successful agencies. Doberman was recently acquired by EY, where Lisa today is the Chief Experience Officer.

Mattias Miksche: Founder and CEO of Stardoll, the gaming site which became one of the most popular websites for girls aged 10-17. Board member of companies like Dustin, Avanza, Eniro and Sportamore. Investment advisor to Altor Equity Partners and angel investor in companies like Fishbrain, Karma, Estrid, Detectify, Teamtailor and Natural Cycles.

Mernosh Saatchi: At the age of 22 she founded the successful communications agency Humblestorm. Has been a board member in organisations like MQ, eWork and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Named the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 by Veckans Affärer.

Magnus Mähring: Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology at the Stockholm School of Economics and the representative of SSE in the Board of Admissions. His research interests revolve around organizational decision-making and transformation processes involving digital technologies.

For more information, please contact:

Julia Delin
CEO, SSE Business Lab
Email: julia.delin@hhs.se
Phone: 073-724 94 12

Andreas Johansson
Program Manager, SSE Business Lab
Email: andreas.johansson@hhs.se
Phone: 072-306 33 44

About SSE Business Lab:
SSE Business Lab is the Startup Incubator of the Stockholm School of Economics, open to all current and former students as well as faculty of SSE, that have founded a business. We provide support through one of our three programs; Ideate, Activate and Incubate. In these programs we offer coaching, mentorship, workshops and connections to networks of investors and partners, such as Manifest Stockholm, Assessio, Sigma Software and Scrive.