This week was the start-up meeting for the eighth round of the Forest Business Accelerator. As before, the program has caused several start-ups with forest innovations to apply to Västernorrland, Sweden.
Behind the program stands the incubator BizMaker in collaboration with SCA, IBM and RISE through Processum Biorefinery Cluster. This year's participants work within a broad spectrum, from the development of peat substitutes, optimization of wind turbines, digital tools for managing residual products, a cellulosic product for air purification to dyeing textiles from forest products.
For the companies participating in the accelerator, the program is a way to develop their business idea, and to validate and test it in collaboration with BizMaker and the partner companies. For the participating, it is also a mutual benefit to collaborate with innovative start-ups.
“Over the years, the Forest Business Accelerator has been fine-tuned to, even better, meet the needs of the sustainable entrepreneurs of the future. The connection to the circular economy and the role of companies in the green transition in general is becoming increasingly clear,” says Pelle Berglund responsible for the Forest Business Accelerator at Bizmaker.
Daniel Pluntky från Collecct together with Pelle Berglund, Bizmaker and Hans Johansson, SCA R&D Centre.
“It will be interesting to collaborate with this year's participants in the accelerator. We who arrange the accelerator can help these young companies to develop their business to meet the real needs of the market. SCA and other program managers also benefit from this in the long run, apart from the fact that we get a lot of thoughts and input from the companies,” says Hans Johansson, senior research specialist at the SCA R&D Centre.
Participating companies in the Forest Business Accelerator 2024
Allogro - Develops horticulture products from residual material in the forest industry, including peat substitutes, with a focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Alder Olmai Supernatural Colours - Creates an alternative that creates natural colors from residual products from the forest.
Algorithm Energy - Software solutions for optimization and advanced management of wind energy.
Adsorbi - Develops cellulose-based materials that capture air pollution, and reduce the climate impact from air purification.
Collecct - A digital platform that gives the user control over waste and residual material.
About The Forest Business Accelerator
The Forest Business Accelerator is a collaboration between the incubator BizMaker, SCA, IBM and RISE through Processum Biorefinery Cluster. The accelerator is running this year for the eighth time. The companies that are admitted to the program work intensively for six months with business development support from BizMaker and get to develop and verify their business ideas together with SCA, IBM and RISE Processum. The aim is to create new business opportunities and a greener world by combining forests, digitalization and entrepreneurship.