Eight new startups join SSE Business Lab's summer batch

The batch also reflects the breadth of today’s startup ecosystem. It includes a founder who moved to Sweden from Norway, and a team that relocated to Gnosjö to build close to the country’s manufacturing industry. 

“The summer batch is special. When the city is empty and the calendar is quiet, there's nothing to go to and nothing to be distracted by, so the teams admitted can lock themselves in and just build. Legora was part of the summer batch in 2023, and from last year's summer batch, two companies, Brickanta and Openroll, went on to the same Y Combinator cohort, while Dentio raised a pre-seed round from one of the world's largest VC funds, Andreessen Horowitz,” says Isabel Keulen, CEO of SSE Business Lab. 

Since the incubator was founded 25 years ago, more than 350 companies have gotten their start at SSE Business Lab. Its alumni include well-known names such as Klarna, Voi, Budbee, Lassie and Legora. 

From the factory floor 

Three of companies in the batch are developing AI tools for manufacturing, one of the Swedish economy's most important sectors and a critical part of its exports.  

Atenify uses AI to automate the quality controls manufacturers must perform to win and keep their production contracts, work that today is largely done by hand in Excel.  

Polhem helps smaller workshops calculate prices and quotes for new orders, a time-consuming task that often determines how many orders a workshop can take on and that today rests on a handful of experienced employees. Tracearc automatically reviews the thousands of technical drawings used to build a ship, identifying errors before they become costly. Today, engineers often perform this work manually, spending about 30 percent of their time on the task. 

What the three have in common is that the founders have seen the problems from the inside.  Atenify's CEO Rickard Wiger has run manufacturing companies for more than 20 years and was one of the first manufacturers to put humanoid robots to work on the factory floor. Behind Polhem is a team that relocated to the manufacturing cluster in Gnosjö to build close to their customers, and behind Tracearc is Vivek Ramaswamy, who reviewed marine drawings at Alfa Laval before he started building the tool he himself was missing. 

The same movement is now visible in advisory and education. Klose is an AI-driven advisor that helps owners of small and medium-sized companies sell their businesses. Hundreds of thousands of ownership transfers take place across Europe every year, and many struggle due to limited access to advice and support. Nuro is building an AI-based learning tool for students with ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses. More than 225,000 students in Sweden have a legal right to educational support, but many do not receive it. 

Built for an AI-native future 

At the other end of the batch are companies built for a reality where AI agents already make decisions and carry out work on their own. As more consumers shop by asking an AI service like ChatGPT or Claude what to buy, instead of searching themselves, Carve helps brands get recommended in those answers. Aurem takes on a new kind of risk: as companies let AI agents handle tasks on their own, like sending money, writing code and making customer decisions – insurers are withdrawing their terms because they cannot assess what happens when an agent makes a mistake. Aurem is building the tool that makes insuring AI agents possible. 

“It's an interesting contrast to have in the same batch. At one end, companies using AI to sell a service rather than a product – not just software, but the job itself, done. At the other end, companies building what will be needed as more and more agents make autonomous decisions on our behalf, and managing the risks that come with it,” says Johan Skagerlind of Bonnier Capital, member of the SSE Ventures investment committee, who joined the admissions meeting as a guest. 

Experienced founders 

The founders include former employees of UBS, Klarna and Alfa Laval, alongside students from the Stockholm School of Economics and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. One founder previously  built the sales organization at the Northzone-backed company Riff. 

This year's second batch at SSE Business Lab 

• Atenify: Automates quality control in manufacturing with the help of AI – work that today is done by hand in Excel. 

• Aurem: Insurance solution for companies that let AI agents run parts of their operations on their own. 

• Carve: Helps brands get seen when customers shop through AI services like ChatGPT. 

• Klose: AI-driven advisor that helps owners of small and medium-sized companies sell their businesses. 

• Loira: Handles project management and coordination for small and medium-sized companies with the help of AI. 

• Nuro: AI-based learning tool built for students with ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses. 

• Polhem: AI that helps smaller workshops calculate prices and quotes for new orders. 

• Tracearc: AI that automatically reviews technical drawings for errors, starting in shipbuilding. 

For more information, please contact: 

Milena Vergara 
Ecosystem Manager, SSE Business Lab 
Email: milena.vergara@hhs.se 
Tel: +46 76 415 59 28 

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