The hub of Uppsala Innovation Arena is Uppsala Innovation Centre, an incubator without walls. Start-up companies in the program, often focused on cross-disciplinary innovations, are free to locate their operations where it suits them best. Developing a life science company in an incubator without offices or laboratories – is that possible?

– No problem at all, says Per Bengtsson, CEO of Uppsala Innovation Centre. Local universities and companies have an abundance of facilities and these have been made available to the start-ups, together with the specialists to operate them if necessary, in our program UIC Resource.

Business coaches from all industrial sectors

The centre builds its incubation strategy around business coaches, for which the startup companies pay. One characteristic of Uppsala’s innovation arena is its business coaches, experienced men and women from all industries.

- Transforming innovations into products on the market has been my daily business for many years and in many functions, says Camilla Huse Bondesson, business coach to Denator AB. - As a business coach, I bring my experiences and my local and international networks to the company, both being of equal importance. Sharing this experience with an entrepreneurial company not only speeds up their way to market. It is also a stimulating challenge for me.
 
– We believe that the cross-disciplinary approach should be mirrored in our incubation process, explains Per Bengtsson. He also adds that the centre never takes equity in it companies. – We don’t want to mix exit perspectives with company growth perspectives. Instead we advise companies about seed and venture funding, and provide contacts with suitable partners.

Apart from the innovation centre, other arena players include Uppsala University Innovation, SLU Holding, Uppsala BIO and Uppsala Seed Capital.

ModPro is a good example of an Uppsala innovation success story.