Negotiation training in startup financing for incubators
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | GU Ventures AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 500 000 |
| Project duration | December 2025 - August 2026 |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Venture | Inkubationsstöd |
| Call | Development projects within incubators 2025 |
Important results from the project
The project developed the FDS Negotiation Training, a two-day practical negotiation training in startup finance. It was tested with GU Ventures, LEAD and UIC in June–July 2026 and is now openly offered through fds.education. The test showed that prior knowledge decides the benefit: the tester who had taken the FDS Course gained most, though the others also learnt a great deal. The conclusion is a sequence: the FDS Handbook, the FDS Course, finally the FDS Negotiation Training.
Expected long term effects
In the longer term the training should give incubator coaches, founders and investors practice in the negotiations that decide how startups are financed, owned and sold, so that companies can finance themselves more long-term and with better outcomes. By training both women and men in realistic scenarios it can also help reduce differences in negotiation experience. The effect assumes participants first have the theoretical grounding of the FDS Course.
Approach and implementation
GU Ventures coordinated the project together with LEAD and UIC, and Per Hulthén developed and led the training. From December 2025 scenarios and material were developed, with internal tests at GU Ventures. A three-day test with participants from the three incubators was held in Gothenburg on 30 June–2 July 2026, after which flaws were corrected. Four of the five planned scenario types were carried out; licensing negotiations were deprioritised to give more time given to financing and exits.