A platform that enhances control over sensitive data and an AI solution that helps people hear the right voice in noisy environments. Pontus Hjort and Marcus Westin of Stackship AB, and Milton Rohde Dahlberg of VoiceChoice, are this year’s winners of the SKAPA Awards in Dalarna.

Pontus Hjort and Marcus Westin have been awarded the 2026 SKAPA Prize in Dalarna for Stackship, a digital platform that enables organizations to build and run modern applications within their own IT environment. The solution ensures that sensitive and business-critical data remains under the organization’s own control.

Milton Rohde Dahlberg has been awarded the SKAPA Talang i Dalarna 2026 prize, which is aimed at young innovators, for VoiceChoice. It is an AI-driven audio solution that allows users to choose which voices to hear while filtering out distracting background noise.

Stackship's platform provides control over sensitive data

Stackship addresses a growing challenge for the public sector, regulated industries, and critical infrastructure operators. Organizations need to be able to use modern digital services while maintaining control over their data and meeting high security standards.

Stackship has developed a platform that makes it possible to use modern, cloud-like services within an organization’s own IT environment, in its own data centers, or on completely separate networks. This allows organizations to use modern technology without relinquishing control over their data and digital infrastructure.

“Becoming number one in Dalarna feels absolutely fantastic! We’ve made mistakes and had to rethink things along the way, but now we can see that our work is starting to pay off,” says Pontus Hjort, co-founder and CEO of Stackship.

Marcus Westin, co-founder and CTO of Stackship, shares his excitement about the award:
– “It feels almost surreal to be standing here accepting this award. Above all, it’s wonderful recognition that we’ve identified a real need and that what we’re doing matters to others as well,” he says.

VoiceChoice helps people hear the voice of their choice

VoiceChoice addresses a completely different problem. In environments with many people and a lot of background noise, it can be difficult to make out the person you actually want to listen to. This can be particularly challenging for people with, for example, ADHD, autism, or sensory sensitivity.

Milton Rohde Dahlberg aims to solve that problem with VoiceChoice. The idea emerged from an everyday situation in a school setting and has been developed into a working prototype. Using AI, voice recognition, and real-time audio processing, VoiceChoice is designed to identify and highlight a selected voice while muting other sounds. The solution is intended to work with a standard smartphone and noise-canceling headphones.

“This award means a lot in several ways. For one thing, it can help us grow our business and take the next step toward incorporating as a limited liability company; for another, it gives us the opportunity to reach more people. But it’s also an important affirmation that the idea is sound and that what we do has value,” says Milton Rohde Dahlberg of Voice Choice.

Two Examples of Innovation in Dalarna

– This year’s winners demonstrate the breadth of innovation in Dalarna. These are two completely different innovations, but both are based on clear needs and use new technology to solve concrete problems. It’s also exciting to see how many new technology-driven ideas are emerging here in Dalarna,” says Angelica Ekholm, CEO of Dalarna Science Park and chair of the SKAPA jury in Dalarna.

The jury's reasoning

The SKAPA Award in Dalarna: “For their forward-looking contribution to strengthening Sweden’s and Europe’s digital independence, the 2026 Regional SKAPA Award in Dalarna is awarded to Pontus Hjort and Marcus Westin of Stackship AB.”

SKAPA Talang in Dalarna: “For his innovative contribution to solving an everyday yet widespread social problem—the difficulty of hearing the right voice in noisy environments—the 2026 SKAPA Talang in Dalarna award is presented to Milton Rohde Dahlberg for his innovation, VoiceChoice.”