Canadian AI Startups to Sweden
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Lindholmen Science Park AB - AI Sweden |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 100 000 |
| Project duration | September 2021 - May 2023 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
The purpose of the project was to attract AI talent to Sweden In terms of networking, we built contacts in the 4 largest provinces Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario & Quebec, with local & regional actors to reach out to startups in a smarter way. We have reached over 100 AI startups with our offering and relationships have been built with the regional startup ecosystems Actors like Alberta Innovates, Innovate BC, Communitech & Startup Montreal have been key to reaching out, as well as building relationships with some of the best startup clusters in Canada, like DMZ, CDL and Vector Institute
Expected long term effects
The result of the project is that we have created interest in Sweden as an entrance to the European market and the long-term effects of the project will be noticeable over time. We see that this project has great potential to develop and lead to several opportunities to attract Canadian scaleups to Sweden, and we have a standing offer to the companies that have been accepted into the program to come to Sweden. As we now have an existing network of actors to reach out to, this enables us to create opportunities in the future
Approach and implementation
It has been a challenge to activate large Swedish companies even though they see the value in our program The large companies traditional working methods, internal processes, their time and limited resources have hindered their involvement in the program We have been successful in stimulating interest, but in converting interest into concrete actions/partnerships have proven challenging. We will continue to work to increase the engagement of large companies, as we believe it is critical to our long-term success We have learned the importance of tailoring our offerings to companies.