Following a successful roadshow in October 2019, Swedish accelerators Företagsfabriken i Kronoberg AB, Movexum, Kalmar Science Park AB and Bizmaker AB have partnered with Canadian-based DURAND, a law and business advisory firm, to help advise their start-ups on North American expansion strategies.
“With trading on the rise, innovation, especially from Europe, is surprisingly slow to reach North America”, said David Durand, founder of DURAND, “natural business barriers can be tough to overcome, but innovation and great ideas should travel fast. With this partnership, we are helping some of the best young start-ups in Sweden get exposure and a chance to compete in North America.”
According to the Global Innovation Index[1] and other competition indexes or scorecards[2], Sweden has been one of the strongest innovators in the world, often ranking in the top 5. Canada is seen by Europeans as the “gateway”[3] to North American markets. The benefits of trade far exceed “playing in one’s sandbox”[4].
Canada-EU Trade by the numbers[5]:
$206.6 billion - October 2017 to June 2019.
14.6% ($26.3B) increase in merchandise trade between Canada and the EU
9.1% ($6.5B) increase in Canada exports to EU
Företagsfabriken i Kronoberg AB focuses on Swedish start-ups, with most needing help to export to the EU, Asia, or North America.
Movexum helps start-up entrepreneurs bring their innovation to the international market. With links to major multinationals and university research in the region, Movexum fosters start-ups in all areas and with a particular focus on advanced materials science, sustainable manufacturing and smart sustainable cities.
Kalmar Science Park focuses on creating successful momentum for innovative companies regardless of their developmental stage. We assist fledgling startups through our incubator program and for well-established companies we offer a great network with clusters of associates within digital business, AI and e-health.
BizMaker AB is an innovation partner located in the middle of Sweden. Our mission is to convert good ideas into new growing companies and sustainable solutions for the future of our society. We focus on start-ups linked to the region's strengths such as the forest, finance and IT industries.
With a long history of building world-class, iconic companies, like Volvo, Klarna, Spotify, Skype, and Ikea, Swedish entrepreneurs are extremely focused on bringing the world cutting edge technologies from clean environmental solutions, to high tech medical breakthroughs and artificial intelligence.
In addition to the partnership, DURAND also announced that companies in incubators or accelerators can access go-to-market planning services around sales, marketing, IP and legal frameworks, consisting of the “essential” services companies need to land and expand in a new market.
About Företagsfabriken i Kronoberg AB: Företagsfabriken accelerates the growth of new and innovative companies that have business models that are scalable and allows internationalization. Företagsfabriken is focused on the area of Kronoberg, which has a rich history of successful entrepreneurs including Ingvar Kamprad, that created IKEA. For more information, find us at: www.foretagsfabriken.se.
About Movexum: Movexum is located in Gävleborg, one hour north of Stockholm, with a regional mission to foster and enhance innovation and entrepreneurship. Movexum offers a widely recognized pre-incubator program combined with a business incubator/accelerator which has helped numerous start-ups succeed and grow. For more information, find us at: www.movexum.se
About Kalmar Science Park: Kalmar Science Park is a meeting place for exceptionally driven people, smart ideas and innovative companies in the southeast of Sweden. This is where great thinkers, inspiring innovators and persistent experts come together and create fine-tune companies of the future. Here, you will find everything from scalable startups to major companies who make large-scale international investments. For more information go to: www.kalmarsciencepark.se
About BizMaker AB: BizMaker is a top-ranked business accelerator located in the middle of Sweden. We offer ambitious entrepreneurs the possibility to scale up innovative ideas and take on international markets. Since 2004 we have evaluated over 5.000 business ideas and helped develop over 500 new startup companies. For more information go to www.bizmaker.se
About Durand: DURAND brings Law & Business Together. We are a law and business advisory firm with experience in intellectual property, business strategy, and corporate law. We are uniquely positioned to help clients in emerging technology industries such as the environment, SaaS, AI, FinTech and cannabis; employing both lawyers and experienced entrepreneurs to get the best possible outcomes. For more information go to www.durand-lex.com.
[1] https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/Home [2] https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/policy/innovation/scoreboards_en [3] https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/campaign-campagne/ceta-aecg/gateway-porte_entree.aspx?lang=eng [4] https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2016/july/tradoc_154775.pdf [5] https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/canadexport/0003967.aspx?lang=eng
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