The foundation that promotes entrepreneurs and researchers

The Knut and Ragnvi Jacobsson Family Foundation, founded in 2012, stems from the Jacobsson family's entrepreneurial spirit. Knut Jacobsson founded the company Atlet in 1958 and the business soon became a successful and leading international player in its field.

We have talked to Marianne Brismar, daughter of Knut and Ragnvi and chairman of the foundation, and Turid Oom, communications officer, about the importance of promoting entrepreneurs and researchers who with their innovations can benefit society.

The desire to help others

"My father grew up poor but was driven and wanted to go his own way. After studying at Hermods and Chalmers, he started his own business and sold drawing tools to students. My mother lent him money that she had saved to buy a Vespa, and dad bought components for a hand-drawn stacker, which he travelled around selling. He had very little money and no network, so when he became successful, he wanted to support entrepreneurs and researchers, which is why we founded the foundation."

The foundation awards scholarships to support researchers and entrepreneurs to take the next step with their companies and research projects. Marianne says that scholarships of between 50 000 – 500 000 SEK are awarded depending on what you want to do with the money, which requires that you have a clear plan, e.g. to take an MBA or for a specific research project.

"We look a lot at the business acumen and drive of the entrepreneurs, it must be realistic goals, innovative, have a clear vision and be able to achieve growth. You have to own or co-own the company, and the company must have existed in two consecutive financial statements. Several of our research fellows have started their own companies, which is great!"

Social benefits and realistic goals

Turid says that the award of the scholarships is a very festive event where all previous scholarship holders are invited. This year's scholarship recipients present their plans, and last year's entrepreneurs and researchers explains what they have done with their scholarships and the results. Each year, an extra prize is also awarded to scholarship holders who have distinguished themselves in entrepreneurship, in addition to a framed handwritten diploma, Marianne Brismar and Niklas Hedin, board member and CEO of Centiro, will be sounding boards for the recipients.?

"Their projects should contribute to societal benefits, for example in healthcare and environment/sustainability. One scholarship holder has developed an app to make it easier for patients to prepare themselves for cancer treatment, a doctor has developed instruments that facilitate operations, and an entrepreneur has today a growing company in digital marketing and sales for SaaS companies.

Sound and diatoms

Two of the previous scholarship recipients are Johan Isaksson-Daun and Angela Wulff, who with the help of the scholarship were able to develop groundbreaking innovations.

Johan says in an interview that with the help of the scholarship he has developed a mobility aid for blind and severely visually impaired people. "Audomni's basic concept is to translate how things look and are positioned into sound. A wide-angle distance camera reads the surroundings, and Audomni's unique regulations translate that into sound that is then played back into a pair of open headphones, which do not block sounds from the surroundings. Things on the left sound on the left, things further down sound darker, and things closer sound more intense. The result can be likened to a kind of extensive echolocation."

During an expedition to Antarctica, Angela got the idea to use diatoms to, among other things, increase the efficiency of solar cells and batteries. The company she is a partner in, The Swedish Algae Factory, currently has 13 employees. The scholarship enabled Angela Wulff to start and build up the business faster together with Sofie Allert, the CEO. https://www.familjenjacobssonsstiftelse.se/kiselalger-framtidens-grona-energi/).

Do you have an innovative idea? Can your business idea become a successful enterprise?

The foundation annually awards scholarships for education for you as an entrepreneur with a registered company and for you who have a research project and are affiliated with a Swedish university.

To apply for one a scholarship, you need to have a specialization in one or more of the following areas: logistics, innovation, quality, internationalization, ergonomics and design.

Submission Deadline: July 31, 2023

Apply here.

Read more about the Knut & Ragnvi Jacobsson Family Foundation here.

Here you can read interviews with previous scholarship holders.

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