Fanny Widepalm

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis. 

I work in business development at Blykalla, a newly founded company developing next-generation nuclear power technology. Building on 30 years of research at KTH, Blykalla has created a safer, cheaper, and faster way to build nuclear power plants — lead-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs).

My core responsibilities include supporting the CFO and CEO on key strategic topics and fundraising activities, as well as identifying, evaluating, and pursuing business opportunities with potential customers. This also involves understanding how to tailor our offering to meet their specific needs.

What interested you about the field/company/role you are currently in?

My mum’s work on world peace topics set the scene for me – it made me realise that I also wanted to work with something that has a higher purpose. I found my passion in the climate transition, which I believe is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and I want to help drive it forward.

I joined Blykalla because I wanted to be part of building impact in action. I had previously worked on sustainability at larger organisations – within McKinsey’s sustainability strategy practice and at Norrsken VC – but I wanted to experience what this looks like on the ground, at a newly founded company where much of the real innovation happens.

I was also drawn to Blykalla because it’s not just an app with marginal impact, but physical hardware that could truly move the needle in the climate transition, grounded in decades of research.

What interested you about the field/company/role you are currently in?

My mum’s work with world peace topics set the scene for me – I realised I also wanted to work with something that had a higher purpose. I found my passion in the climate transition. I believe it’s one of the biggest challenges of our time, and I want to help drive it forward. 

I joined Norrsken VC because I was curious about impact solutions at the early stages. I had previously worked with sustainability at larger companies (at a part of McKinsey focused on sustainability strategy), but I wanted to see what this looked like in newly founded companies, where much of the innovation happens. I had also heard great things about the team at Norrsken VC and was eager to work with them.

Why did you choose to study your subject area at SSE?

I chose the Business & Economics Bachelor’s program, because I was interested in business. When it was time to apply for the Master’s, I wanted to broaden my perspective beyond companies and their shareholders to include the role of the state, so I chose the Economics Master’s. During the Master’s, I realised I wanted to work with the climate transition. It became clear to me that the climate crisis is a powerful example of where business and societal priorities need to be aligned.

How did your time/education at SSE help guide you to the career journey you have embarked on?

Beyond the obvious foundational business and economics knowledge, my time at SSE was very formative for my career path. The internship frenzy during the early years pushed me to try many different jobs, helping me understand what mattered most when applying for my first full-time role.

Equally important, I made many amazing friends at SSE–people I often turn to for career advice.

Following the time at SSE, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students?

Although a bit hypocritical as I just said the internship frenzy taught me a lot – don’t stress about it. Instead, do what interests you. Maybe try something completely different, like working in a restaurant–jobs that might be harder to explore later in your career. It may be hard to see the relevance at the time, but it usually becomes clear in hindsight. 

Take the chance to go on exchange. I went to Mexico City during my Bachelor’s and Paris during my Master’s. It’s an amazing opportunity to experience a new country and culture–and an experience that you can bore your friends and family with for the rest of your life! 

Focus on finding good teams and managers. No project, subject or industry in the world is fun to work with if you work in a bad team or have a bad boss. Great teams and bosses create an environment where you can thrive professionally–and have fun along the way.

What are three words that sum up your time at SSE?

Friends, fun, and the Dunning–Kruger-Effect.*

* The cognitive bias where confidence is high when you know little about a subject and drops as you learn more–because you realise how much you don’t know.