New Nordic collaboration launches a cross-border Accelerator program for life science and medtech companies
The project called Accelerace Life aims to develop an effective and cost-efficient cross-border high growth accelerator in the Nordic countries that propels promising life science SMEs into international markets to gain faster market access through a strong collaboration between the best Scandinavian incubators & accelerators. On 17th of February 2014, a group of 7 strong incubators and accelerators in Scandinavia launched a shared joint Nordic Accelerator that place high growth SMEs within life science and medtech simultaneously in the four Scandinavian markets with all needed network, mentors, experts, elite training programs etc. Peter Torstensen, CEO in Accelerace, says: “The creation of high growth companies have been high on the agenda of all European countries for many decades, but so far we have seen little concrete efforts towards collaborating on Nordic level to achieve such goals. By allowing for innovative entrepreneurs to access all Nordic markets from day 1 through a strong cross-border collaboration between national accelerators and incubators with valuable experiences and networks, we can immediately help Nordic entrepreneurs grow faster, better and stronger, both within the Nordic region and on export markets.” Morten Mølgaard Jensen, CEO in COBIS, adds: ”Small home markets and similar challenges calls for closer Nordic collaboration to build stronger and more interlinked Nordic infrastructure for entrepreneurs. With the valuable support from Nordic Innovation, Accelerace Life will simultaneously strengthen the Nordic Ecosystem for high growth company creation by setting up a cross-border accelerator.” The partners have now begun to identify and select potential promising life science SMEs in the Nordic countries that could benefit from the program. The participating companies will get access to practical, hands-on business development services, parallel market access to all Nordic countries, international funding and collaborations between life science SMEs and experts, facilities and investors in other Nordic regions. The innovation needs of SMEs will drive the collaborations. Whether they are technological, commercial or financial, Accelerace Life will help to connect Nordic SMEs to a relevant expert or provider in the consortium network. The partners behind the new program are Accelerace Management (DK), Copenhagen Bio Science Park (DK), STING (SE), Karolinska Institutet Innovations (SE), Lund Life Science Incubator (SE), Turku Science Park (FI) and Kjeller Innovasjon (NO). For more information, please visit the following websites: For more information, please visit the following websites: www.accelerace.io www.cobis.dk www.lundlsi.se www.stockholminnovation.com www.kiinnovations.se www.turkusciencepark.com www.kjellerinnovasjon.no Contact: Accelerace Management: Morten Heide, Partner – phone: +45 2971 3979, mh@accelerace.io Copenhagen Bio Science Park: Morten Mølgaard Jensen, CEO – phone: +45 3119 7311, mmj@cobis.dk STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth): Olof Berglund, Business Coach Medtech – phone: +46 (0)706 35 98 15, olof.berglund@stockholminnovation.com Karolinska Institutet Innovations: Christian Krog-Jensen, Science and Business Development – phone: +46 (0)70-661 81 49, christian.krog-jensen@kiinnovations.se Lund Life Science Incubator Örjan Norberg, CEO – phone: +46 70 309 1868, orjan@lundlsi.se Turku Science Park: Tero Piispanen, Program Director – phone: +358 400 781 683, Tero.Piispanen@turkusciencepark.com Kjeller Innovasjon: Reidun Gangdal, project manager – phone: +47 907 51 791, rg@kjellerinnovasjon.no]]>