Prince Daniel visits Mid Sweden University to discuss entrepreneurship

The event was organised by Prince Daniel's Fellowship and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) in collaboration with Mid Sweden University, Bizmaker, Bron Innovation and several regional and national actors.

The purpose of the day was to inspire young people to entrepreneurship, create meetings between students and entrepreneurs and contribute to new perspectives, contacts and future collaborations.

Vice-Chancellor Anders Fällström opened the day and welcomed the participants.

"Entrepreneurship is about daring, taking responsibility and seeing opportunities. Mid Sweden University also wants to be a nursery for this, and we are very happy to be a meeting place for this event," he said.

Important for the development of society

Prince Daniel led the talks with entrepreneurs Hedda Båverud Olsson, founder of Lassie, and Lukas Saari, founder of Tandem Health. During the break, he also developed his thoughts on the importance of entrepreneurship for the development of society.

"Entrepreneurship is not only fun, but also important for a society, that we have more people who come up with good ideas and solutions that can benefit others," said Prince Daniel.

He also sent the students a concrete piece of advice:

"Don't spend too much time refining the idea, dare to take the step and get started with the implementation – sometimes it can be more important than the idea. The study period can also be a good time to dare to try. It can be a more flexible period in life where you may not have incurred such large expenses yet.

Estelle Westling, Executive Director of Prince Daniel's Fellowship, highlighted why entrepreneurship is a key issue for IVA.

"Entrepreneurs drive innovation, renewal and growth. Through our Entrepreneur Talks, we want to create meetings that give young people inspiration, new perspectives and valuable contacts," she says.

Entrepreneurs from the region

During the afternoon, the participants also met entrepreneurs from the region who shared their experiences – from idea to company building. The innovation platform Bizmaker's Josefin Jaén Nilsson moderated the talks with Johanna Westman from Plantvation and Elliott Timander from the Registry Centre.

The panel discussions were interspersed with roundtable discussions where the participants discussed ideas, asked questions and made new contacts.

Among the participants were both current students and alumni from Mid Sweden University.

"It's good to get inspiration and take part in what can be important to think about as an entrepreneur," says Ceyda Ciran, a student at the Master of Science in Engineering programme in Technical Design.

Alva Innala, a student at the Master of Science Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management, highlights the courage to dare as an important lesson.

"I don't know exactly what I want to work with yet, but this gives me inspiration. I take with me the encouragement to dare – that everything doesn't have to be completely ready to take the next step," she says.

Inspiring to listen to entrepreneurs

Alumni also participated, including Axel Häger, former economics student at Mid Sweden University and now entrepreneur behind the company Jord Innovation.

"It has been very inspiring to hear about other entrepreneurs' journeys. Everyone has started in different ways, and you feel really excited after a day like this," he says.

The event is part of Prince Daniel's Fellowship's work to strengthen entrepreneurship in Sweden by connecting young talents with experienced entrepreneurs, business and academia. For Mid Sweden University, the day was also an opportunity to show the university's role as an active meeting place for innovation, collaboration and the future of entrepreneurship.