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Celebrating SSE Business Lab 20th Year Anniversary

Join us in the celebration and learn about the history of the SSE Business Lab in this exciting anniversary edition of startup stories, featuring interviews with the CEOs and founders of startups who made the SSE Business Lab what it is today. Check back often as we share our history throughout this year of celebration one story at a time.

Our history from 2001 to the present

Explore the companies, key milestones, facts and personalities of the SSE Business Lab history in our timeline. 

2001 

- SSE Business Lab is founded, with the mission to strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness by providing a platform for growth to exceptional entrepreneurs. Their first address offices open at Saltmätargatan 19A.  

- Jan Nylander becomes the first CEO of SSE Business Lab. 

- Carin Holmquist, the first female professor at SSE and the founder of the SSE Business Lab, is appointed Chair of the Board. 

2002 

- Jenny Söderberg becomes the first female CEO of SSE Business Lab. 

- Pocketklubben becomes the first company admitted to SSE Business Lab. They launched a paperback book subscription service.

- The student competition Guldräven is launched by SSE Business Lab. This annual competition encourages students to bring their business ideas to life. 

2003 

- SSE Business Lab is admitted to the national incubator program.

- SSE Business Lab gets financial support from the Swedish Innovation Authority, Vinnova, to evaluate and develop their processes in business development within the service industry.  

 2004 

- Klarna is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They offer payment solutions in e-commerce where consumers can buy now and pay later. 20 years later they are the second highest valued fintech company in the world. 

2005 

- Pocketklubben wins the Corporate Partner Event pitching competition.  

2006 

- House of Radon is admitted to SSE Business Lab. Their agency combines creativity, strategy, craft and venture under one roof. They later became an award-winning creative agency. 

 2007 

- Rasmus Rahm replaces Jenny Söderberg as the CEO of SSE Business Lab.  

- SSE Business Lab moves into new offices at Holländargatan 40.  

- Mikael Samuelsson replaces Rasmus Rahm as the CEO of SSE Business Lab.  

2008 

- Ung Omsorg is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They bridge the gap between youths and seniors, fostering intergenerational relationships. 

2009 

- Eventbook is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They offer a web service for booking events and conferences, and are later acquired by Corporate Classifieds. 

2012 

- Budbee is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They revolutionize home delivery by enabling customers to decide how and when they get their deliveries.

 2014 

- Qasa is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They help you find the right tenant, manage leases, payments and anything else you might find difficult with your rental. 5 years later, they are acquired by Blocket Bostad. 

-Tankeapoteket is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They are a transdisciplinary think-tank, focusing on gathering the most interesting questions, exploring them from unexpected perspectives. 

2015 

- Erik Wetter replaces Mikael Samuelsson as the CEO of SSE Business Lab.  

- An Advisory Board and admission committee is created, consisting of Sebastian Siemiatkowski (chair), Cristina Stenbeck, Katarina Martinson, Sebastian Knutsson, Mikael Schiller, and Lars Strannegård.  

2016 

- Insurello is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They provide a digital solution that helps people get the right compensation from their accident insurances. 

 2017 

- Douglas Stark replaces Erik Wetter as the CEO of SSE Business Lab.  

 2018 

- Voi Technology is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They are Europe's leading electric scooter operator. 

- Julia Delin replaces Douglas Stark as the CEO of SSE Business Lab. 

- The SSE Business Lab moves to A house at Östermalmsgatan 26A.  

2019 

- The Ode To is admitted to SSE Business Lab. They digitize art with their online gallery of handmade and curated art pieces.

- Diversity and sustainability are added as admissions criteria.

- A new acceleration program called Activate is launched. Activate helps teams who have just come up with an idea to launch and validate a prototype.

2020 

- SSE Business Lab is awarded by Vinnova the quality stamp of incubator excellence and receives funding to strengthen its support for new businesses with the potential for international growth as part of Agenda 2030.  

 2021 

- A new pre-acceleration program called Ideate is launched. Ideate brings together students to form teams and come up with ideas working to solve global challenges.

- A new Board of Admissions is formed and new members join; Sven Hagströmer, Mattias Miksche, Lisa Lindström, Anna Stenberg, Donna Hanafi, Mernosh Saatchi & Magnus Mähring. Sebastian Knutsson is appointed Chair of the Board.

🎉SSE Business Lab - 20th anniversary.