With unemployment rising to 9.2% in Sweden, 14 of the country's leading companies have come together to form Restart the Future, a one-year initiative to help build 1000 new companies, in order to create new jobs, strengthen the economy, and to build a bright future for Sweden.
The initiative was founded by Antler, a global early-stage venture capital firm, and is backed by Ericsson, Carnegie, Stena, Nordea, Amazon Web Services, Max Matthiessen, ARC, Ramboll, Lannebo Fonder, Werlabs, Mavenir, Mondial and Baker McKenzie.
Startups have become a significant contributor of new jobs and are by far the fastest and most resilient growing job engine (Index Ventures Report, Oct 2020).
Therefore, Restart the Future wants to create 1000 new businesses in Sweden by the end of 2022. It will do so by working with exceptional people, to help them become the founders of the future. Restart the Future's activity will fall into three main areas.
The Launch Academy
An open and fully digital entrepreneurship school on how to identify and validate a problem and solution, build a strong founding team, create an MVP and go-to-market strategy, analyze the business model, and raise capital. Applications for the academy open on November 16 and the course begins on January 11 for anyone who wants to learn the ropes of building companies.
Idea Competition
A competition for founders with business ideas that aim to positively impact the world. A jury consisting of representatives from the Partner companies will select 10 winners. They will be offered strategic one-on-one coaching by leaders such as Linnea Kornehed, co-founder Einride, Hjalmar Winbladh, serial entrepreneur, Anna König Jerlmyr, Mayor of Stockholm, and Ash Pournouri, founder of Brilliant Minds, as well as by domain experts within the Partner companies.
Scale Up Support
Existing startups will be able to apply for support to scale up, such as coaching from experienced advisors, experts, and founders through the Restart the Future network. Throughout the entire year, masterclasses and panel discussions will be opened to the general public in an effort to share business insights and know-how from the network broadly.
Restart the Future is also collaborating with 30 organisations such as Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship, Part, Geek Girl, Professional Women's Network, Invest Stockholm, European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) and more.
We are standing in front of a huge opportunity. Now more than ever, we need to back innovative and creative entrepreneurs to build companies and create new jobs. Encouraging entrepreneurship will help us build an even more robust economy. Sweden is full of innovative and creative entrepreneurs. With the right support, investment and encouragement, these entrepreneurs can build world-leading businesses. We are thrilled to join forces with leading global businesses to help propel these founders to global success.
— LIVIA MOORE, ASSOCIATE PARTNER AT ANTLER
In today's fast-changing, digital world, disruption is the norm and those who innovate constantly will succeed. At Ericsson ONE, we are betting on the entrepreneurial spirit to make real innovation happen. Our mission is to create game-changers by unlocking intrapreneurs and innovators, shaping the future together. We believe the next big innovation or new business will come from our entrepreneurial employees and we are here to support them and provide them with a platform to excel.
— SALMAN TAJ, INTERIM HEAD OF ERICSSON ONE
Read more about Restart the Future and how to get involved on restartthefuture.com
