New round of the start-up program Forest Business Accelerator

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Now, the seventh round of the Forest Business Accelerator has started. A program that has attracted several start-ups with forest innovations to Västernorrland. Behind the program stands the incubator BizMaker in collaboration with SCA, IBM and RISE*.

This year there are five start-up companies that are developing: graphene of renewable resources for energy storage, production of electricity from low temperatures, digital risk management tools, traceability systems linked to sustainability reporting, and technology to keep wild animals away from, for example, afforestation areas.

For the companies participating in the accelerator, the program is a way to develop their business idea, and to validate and test it in collaboration with BizMaker and the partner companies. For the participating companies, it is also a mutual benefit to collaborate with innovative start-ups.

“In the accelerator, we get to see when young companies meet reality. We can contribute to them developing their business so that it meets the real needs of the industry, and of course that also benefits us in the long run,” says Hans Johansson, senior research specialist at the SCA R&D Centre, who also coordinates SCA's participation in the accelerator.

“Our accelerator follows the trend towards the green transition. We see a lot of interest from companies that are looking for our region because they notice that things are happening here,” says Pelle Berglund, responsible for the Forest Business Accelerator at Bizmaker.

Participating companies in the Forest Business Accelerator 2023.

Bright Day Graphene – Manufactures graphene from renewable resources with unique properties optimized for energy storage.

Zigrid – Has developed a solution to produce electricity from low temperatures that are not currently being used.

Diri Safety Solutions – Offers companies a digital risk management tool to facilitate risk assessments at work and expand systematic work environment management.

Original Creation – Offers a transparent traceability system that unites actors within the entire material flow chain and streamlines customers' sustainability reporting.

Flox – Designs, develops and deploys autonomous technologies to keep wildlife out of areas where they shouldn't be.

About The Forest Business Accelerator

The Forest Business Accelerator is a collaboration between the incubator BizMaker, SCA, IBM and RISE*. The accelerator is running this year for the seventh time. The companies that are admitted to the program work intensively for six months with business development support from BizMaker and get to develop and verify their business ideas together with SCA, IBM and RISE Processum. The aim is to create new business opportunities and a greener world by combining forests, digitization and entrepreneurship.

* RISE through Processum Biorefinery Cluster

More about SCA's collaboration within the accelerator and the participating start-up companies: https://www.sca.com/en/about-sca/innovation-and-research/forest-business-accelerator/

Picture above: Malin Alpsten, CEO and co-founder at Bright Day Graphene together with Pelle Berglund, BizMaker and Hans Johansson, SCA during the kick off-meeting of Forest Business Accelerator 2023. Photo: Bizmaker