Editorial in newsletter #12
Two reports may not be what you usually want for Christmas, but in this case they are real gifts. When this year's regional GEM report was presented by the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum and Örebro University last week, it came as a wonderful Christmas present: Dalarna has climbed from a bottom position to one of the top positions in entrepreneurship in Sweden.
The report shows that between 2021 and 2023, the share of entrepreneurs in Dalarna increased from less than 3% of the working-age population to over 7.5%. This is an impressive improvement, taking the county from 20th to 3rd place!
I am convinced that this success is no coincidence. The GEM report points to increased start-ups in both early and later stages - exactly what we have been working intensively on in recent years. What's more, Dalarna's entrepreneurs show admirable drive: over 40% start companies with the aim of changing the world. A common reason for starting a business, finding a livelihood, was cited by only 15% of Dalarna's entrepreneurs. This is the lowest figure in the country. But, as Annie Lööf concluded the last Dalarna Talks of the year by saying, there is no contradiction in being able to do good and make money at the same time. We need economically strong companies to create growth that can contribute to change both in Sweden and in the world.
Behind Dalarna's entrepreneurial success are strategic regional initiatives in business, academia and the public sector. The report highlights, among other things, the importance of collaboration between these parties as a cause of successful entrepreneurship.
Developing these collaborations and getting them to contribute to our innovation environment is an important task for us as a science park. You can read more about how we go about this in our very own Innovation Report 2024, which was launched at the end of last week. During the year, we at Dalarna Science Park have carried out 23 development projects. We have admitted 11 new companies to the incubator and we have attracted 48 established companies to participate in our development programs. We have also had time to carry out 49 visits to municipalities and we have offered 69 open lectures and workshops. Highlights of the year include the celebration of the incubator's 20th anniversary. The result of the incubator's work so far is that the companies that have gone through the incubator since its inception had a combined turnover of SEK 1.2 billion in the last full financial year. In addition, these companies have together created nearly 600 jobs.
In 2024, we have also launched the Circular Industry Accelerator, Sweden's first of its kind. The aim is to promote sustainability by matching industry's waste streams with innovative startups. Other good news from the year is that Dalarna Innovation Days broke records with over 1,700 registrations!
It is my hope that all these efforts show how it is possible to turn around regional development. It is proven that it is through collaboration that we achieve success, reminding us that the future is something we create together. When political decisions, private initiatives and a strong collective will to change go hand in hand, the most desired Christmas presents may end up under the tree.
My Christmas greeting is that we can now take Christmas with the true feeling that Dalarna is Sweden's next growth region!
I look forward to an exciting and certainly transformative 2025 with major global changes on the agenda. In Dalarna, we will continue to work to create new companies from burning ideas, stimulate the county's large companies to continue to innovate and thus consolidate our position as a growth region.
Thank you for this year and see you in 2025!
