Impact Pioneers’ convenes in Stockholm to boost capacity in the global ecosystem for Impact Entrepreneurship

United by work of enabling entrepreneurship, and by a shared drive to promote sustainable development, 63 leaders from 22 countries convened in Stockholm for the 'Sweden week' component of Impact Pioneers ‘24. The week was the culmination of a pilot initiative that sets out to create exchange across innovation ecosystems and to jointly promote the nurture and growth of Impact Entrepreneurship.
Bild: Malin Nerby

Impact Pioneers ‘24 is a pilot initiative that seeks to build international partnership and exchange across ecosystems for entrepreneurship and innovation. It is developed by The Swedish Institute in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy and a network of partner organisations who share an aspiration to promote international exhange and collaboration in these domains. 

In response to a global call for applications in May, nearly 1,400 individuals applied to join the programme. After a rigorous selection process that evaluated applicants based on experience, networks, and motivation, 63 participants from 22 countries across three regions were chosen to form the pilot cohort. Given a programme outlook explore systemic solutions, the group gathered representatives from organisations across public and private sector as well as academia and civil society.

Impact Pioneers ’24 brought together participants from different countries and sectors, but all united by their work to strengthen the conditions for entrepreneurship in their countries. Pictured here, from right to left: Tijay Jeghelian Impact Hub Yerevan (Armenia), together with Hanna Zenkova from NGO Techbureau (Ukraine) and Akvile Akvile Dobromilskyte from Innovation Agency Lithuania/Startup Lituania (Lithuania). Image credit: Malin Nerby

Enabling Impact Entrepreneurship: Digital Sessions and Sweden Week

Together, the participants exchanged experiences and knowledge around the overarching theme of ‘Enabling Impact Entrepreneurship’ throughout the programme. Different facets of the topic has been explored during the 10 week programme period (Aug-Nov), with weekly digital sessions leading up to the Sweden week (Oct 21-25). The digital sessions have featured guest speakers from the Swedish ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation, and covered a range of topics, from personal leadership development to sharing of practical frameworks and tools for impact business ideation, measurement, growth and scaling.

Pictured here, from left to right, James Owino from Anza Village/Startup Grind Nairobi (Kenya), Kanatkit Thongpool from Ubon Ratchathani University Science Park (Thailand) and Toomas Toodu from PĂ€rnu County Development Center (Estonia). Picture: Malin Nerby. Image credit: Malin Nerby

The Sweden week component of the programme included visits local ecosystem hubs such as Epicenter, Norrsken and STING and the participants also attended the event TECHARENA Zero, where the cohort co-hosted an international pavillion and took part in roundtable discussions. The tour’s networking component was further highlighted with networking lunches connecting participants with actors from the Team Sweden network such as VINNOVA (Sweden’s Agency for Innovation), SIDA (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and Swedfund as well as actors across the ecosystem, such as Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship, Stockholm University, SSE Business Lab and Linköping Science park. 

Reflecting on the experience, Nindi Kusama (CEO of the impact incubator Ylabs in Indonesia) shares: “This has been a great networking opportunity for me, and one of the most interesting things I noted this week is that the Swedish ecosystem has really supportive stakeholders. I am inspired by the government policies encouraging entrepreneurship here. I look forward to learning more about these policies and see if some could also be promoted in Indonesia. Other than that, the program has offered me several useful frameworks and connections with new people and speakers, whose knowledge I look forward to sharing back in in Indonesia.”  

Nindi Kusama (far right). Back in Indonesia she is focusing on preparing a resourceful and supportive ecosystem for anyone, especially youths, who wants to leverage science, technology and social entrepreneurship to create impact initiatives from 0 to 1. Pictured here with Grace Okoro Isaac (Ecosystem builder, Nigeria) and Thi My Huong Nguyen (University of Danang, Vietnam). Image credit: Malin Nerby.

Pernilla Löfling, Head of Internationalisation at Dalarna Science Park was among 3 Swedish participants in the programme reflects on her takeaways, as a representative for the Swedish ecosystem: “We are quite strong in both innovation and sustainability in Dalarna, but we need to take the next step in terms of internationalization. This involves building networks, among other things. This was a fantastic opportunity to connect with a global network, while contributing with knowledge and experiences from our region”.

Pernilla Löfling, Head of Internationalisation at Dalarna Science park. Pictured here, at Epicenter, in conversation with VINNOVA and participants from the ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation in Thailand. Image credit: Malin Nerby.

Looking Ahead: Future Possibilities and New Partnerships

As the week concluded, the sentiment among the participants was one of hope and anticipation. Through the exchange of ideas and firsthand experiences, they have shared networks, inspiration and practical tools to support their work back home. Discussion on new concrete collaborations has already started, both among participants and with organisations in the Swedish ecosystem.

Participants of Impact Pioneers took part in the tech and sustainability event Techarena Zero in Stockholm. Pictured here, from left to right: Andrei Figol (Associate Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Officer, UNHCR, Poland), Anna Petrova (Founder of Startup Ukraine), Henrik Kutberg (Startup Policy Strategist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Estonia) and Galina Söndergaard (Director of Grants and Strategic Partnerships NGO Impact Force, Ukraine). Image credit: Malin Nerby.

So what’s next? Filippa MalmegĂ„rd, Programme Manager for Impact Pioneers ’24 explains: “As we conclude the pilot coming weeks, we look forward to learning from participant and partner feedback and ideas, to see how to best develop the concept further”.

The goal and outlook? Filippa MalmegĂ„rd further elaborates: “The well developed Swedish ecosystem for impact entrepreneurship offers great opportunities to contribute. At the same time, as a small country and economy, we also have a lot to gain from supporting the ecosystem here with an international outlook. Hence, this programme is based on the idea of true partnership: the more we support each other, the greater our collective support for entrepreneurs to bring more impact to the world”.

November 5th marked the final gathering of the programme. Early feedback from participants suggests appreciation for the pilot initiative, a feeling that is mutual, Filippa MalmegĂ„rd concludes: “We wrap this pilot, thankful for all fantastic contributions of insights and experiences from the first programme cohort. They have been true pioneers in exploring this with us! Looking ahead, we are excited and hopeful to see what innovative and meaningful new partnerships that may be born from this, to support both personal leadership development across group, as well as the collective impact across the global ecosystem.”

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