DRIVE- Verification for companies in incubators
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Karolinska Institutet Innovations AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 5 500 000 |
| Project duration | January 2018 - February 2021 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
KI Innovations’ business incubator DRIVE supports research-based companies in human life science in areas such as medtech, biotech, digital health, diagnostics, pharma and healthcare. The sector is characterized by long lead time and high risk. The purpose of the project has been to offer value-creating verification activities for companies at an early stage of company development. The goal was to reduce risks in the business model and thus attract skills and external capital to the company, a goal which has been reached during the project.
Expected results and effects
25 incubator companies have performed a total of 150 verification activities such as CE marking, IP protection, market analysis, regulatory assessments, legal support, and health economic analysis of their new products or services. During the project the companies have, thanks to value-creating verification activities, attracted SEK 419 million in external funding from investors and a company acquisition for SEK 400 million. Out of 25 companies, eleven were graduated from the incubator during the project.
Planned approach and implementation
We assess the status, progress, and coach the companies, where the verification activities are included as part of the companies´ development. The work involves approval of activities driven by company needs and matching the companies to experts within the field. During the project, we have developed our external network with 34 new quality-controlled experts and now have 131 consultants in our network. We have also set up internal processes to assess needs, decide on VFI applications, and report activities. These are resources that we bring to the continued work within the incubator.