Berfin Roza Mert

Meet Berfin, Co-Founder of and Chief Operating Officer at Bower. Berfin is a BSc in Business & Economics and MSc in Economics alum.

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.

I'm the COO and Co-Founder of an impact tech startup called Bower (formerly PantaPå). Bower aims to reduce the number of packaging that ends up as trash in nature and increase recycling rates by giving all packaging a value in monetary terms – ”pant” – just like with PET bottles and cans in Sweden. That’s why we’ve developed a world-unique mobile app that rewards recycling of all consumer packaging at regular recycling bins.

What interested you about the field you are currently in?

What attracted me to Bower was the sense of freedom of working in the beginning stages of a creation, being able to create a company that I was passionate to work at – all whilst doing something good for others and the planet.

Why did you choose to study your subject area at SSE?

I’ve always had a great interest in problem solving and quantitative analyses, and I was told that Economics was the most number-oriented subject area – so I chose that for my Master's!

Following your time studying and living in Stockholm, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students?

I joined the Exchange Committee at SSE and some of my best memories are from that time. So my advice is to join the committees and gatherings that you are interested in as it is a wonderful opportunity to connect with others!