lu innovation · of lu innovation’s business developers are partly integrated with the strategic...

LU Innovation2018 | THE YEAR IN BRIEF | LUND UNIVERSITY

LU INNOVATION

3 LU INNOVATION

4 A WELL-DEVELOPED SUPPORT SYSTEM

5 INNOVATION AT LUND UNIVERSITY

7 FROM IDEAS TO INNOVATION

8 LU INNOVATION – IN BRIEF

10 OUR SUPPORT

11 OUR FUNDING OPTIONS

12 IDEA DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

13 A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES

14 STUDENT INNOVATION

17 COLLABORATION

18 SWELIFE – FACILITATES CHANGE FOR AN INNOVATIVE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR

20 COLLABORATION AMONG HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN SKÅNE AND BLEKINGE

22 A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES

24 AWARDED INNOVATIONS

25 OUR NETWORK

27 COMPANIES

28 LU HOLDING AB

29 PUBLIC COMPANIES

30 SELECTED PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

32 LU INNOVATION IN FIGURES

INDEX

<-- On the cover: Bylife’s Smart Living Walls are developed to improve well-being indoors. Read more on page 29.

2018 | THE YEAR IN BRIEF

The aim and responsibility of LU Innovation

is to make research available to society and

thus to contribute to sustainable growth.

We help students and researchers to convert

ideas and research findings into successful new

products, services or methods on the market,

as well as to develop collaborative projects.

This is our year 2018 in brief.

THE LINK BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND BUSINESS

/ 2–3 /

LU Innovation

LU INNOVATION

LU Innovation is a well-developed support system that does not only benefit society, it also strength-ens the University. It serves as an important facilita-tor that can provide organizations and companies with unique expertise, and the University with im-portant market know-how and current challeng-es to tackle. It shortens the distance from idea to development, and for researchers and students it enables cooperation and contact with successful entrepreneurs. It is a natural link between academ-ia and business.

CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

Lund University is one of the largest universities in Sweden, with 40 000 students, 7 400 employ-ees – including around 2 700 PhD students. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition. For several hundred years, researchers from Lund have made discoveries and created innovations that have been of great significance for our society.

Although the process of utilizing knowledge has always taken place, it is the responsibility of the University to facilitate and encourage the process – which is what LU Innovation works hard to do every day. The task of LU Innovation is to facilitate the conversion of research into benefits for the individual as well as for society at large.

A WELL-DEVELOPED SUPPORT SYSTEM

Bo Ahrén

Chairman of the board


/ 4–5 /

DIRECTOR’S INTRODUCTION

relevant part of the work at all of the University’s faculties. And we need to ensure that we support all students, PhD students and researchers alike, across all faculties.

But in this challenge also lays our biggest oppor-tunity. It is by mixing different disciplines and competencies that truly innovative ideas emerge and are brought into society, by commercialization or by other means.

With cross-disciplinary and cutting-edge research, Lund University represents a tremendous source of know-how and knowledge and has become a hub for innovations and new ways of thinking. At LU Innovation we strive to create the best precon-ditions for the students and researchers in their pursuit to achieve impact, every day.

Our role is to provide guidance and support through the process of shaping an idea or an inven-tion into a successful innovation. The innovation system at Lund University is a national leader in sev-eral respects, but we still have challenges ahead.

Innovations do not necessarily involve pat-ents and company formation, but rather transfer of know-how. And innovation itself is a mindset rather than a closely regulated process. We need to ensure that this mindset becomes an integral and

Linus Wiebe

Innovation Director at Lund University

INNOVATION AT LUND UNIVERSITY

LU INNOVATION


In 2018, LU Innovation and VentureLab met

hundreds of researchers and students.

On the basis of these meetings, we received

336 new ideas, 206 of which were taken on and

developed by teams composed of researchers or

students, business developers and patent and

legal advisors.

From ideas to innovation

/ 6–7 /

LU INNOVATION

LU INNOVATION – IN BRIEF

LU Innovation is the Lund University hub for innovation and commercialisation. Our aim and responsibility is to make research available to society and thereby contribute to growth. We help students and researchers convert ideas and research results into successful new products, services or methods on the market and to develop colla borative projects. Since 1999 we have through LU Holding invested in 108 new research companies that together have generated more than 4 100 manyears employment and over SEK 1.4 billion in tax revenue.

LU Innovation helps to integrate research, innovation and enterprise. By utilising the knowledge from the University, we can develop collaborations and ideas that help to create more jobs and increased sustain-able growth, while valuable innovations can benefit society more quickly. An important aspect of LU Innovation’s work is providing support to the indi-vidual researcher or student in order to identify and take advantage of opportunities to develop ideas. We do this by providing business development, patent advice, funding, legal and contract issues, as well as key contacts. LU Innovation also helps to find individuals with complementary skills who can support the continued work on the projects. The LU Holding AB company works operationally

to bring innovations to market by investing in and supporting research-based start-up companies.

A great deal of the work is required at a very early stage, when the research is still on-going. Two of LU Innovation’s business developers are partly integrated with the strategic research areas, with presence in the research environment.

The LU Innovation office also has junior business developers who spend their trainee programme working operationally on research projects combined with a responsibility for student innovation at VentureLab. The office also supports researchers and students at other higher education institutions in the region through the southern Sweden innovation office, Innovationskontor Syd (IKS).


CUSTOMER FOCUS AND ACCESSIBILITY

PRIDE, PERSEVERANCE AND COURAGE

/ 8–9 /

CORE VALUES

BENEFIT TO SOCIETY

Our activities are based on the

education and research con-

ducted at Lund University by

its researchers and students.

We shall be available to them

and build our cooperation on

mutual exchange, respect and

confidentiality.

As part of a public authority, our

task is to work to ensure that

research is made available to the

public and thereby benefits so-

ciety. The office as a whole shall

strive for increased sustainable

growth rather than higher

proceeds.

DURING 2018 LU INNOVATION AND VENTURELAB HAVE WORKED ON:

The road from idea to viable

company/deal is often long and

almost never straight. This re-

quires perseverance and courage

in our work and that we main-

tain a long-term perspective on

the projects we support.

16 companies founded

74projects that

have received grants

218new ideas

from students

118 new ideas

from researchers

10 investments

through LU Holding

LU INNOVATION

OUR SUPPORT

LU Innovation offers support in various forms. Our ambition is to offer each project the right support at the right time and by structuring the tools and methods available we increase transparency and can set expectations at the appropriate level.

> BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Support and advice for the development of an idea based on the market, competition and, when

needed, patent situation.

> FINANCIAL SUPPORT We offer different forms of financing to support and accelerate the ideas of researchers and students

by testing and verifying their market and technological potential.

> INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Our intellectual property experts provide support and advice on patents and other IP matters such as

copyright and design protection.

> LEGAL SUPPORT We offer legal support for agreements and contracts, e.g. company formations and licensing.

> COMMERCIALISATION We provide support in the process of taking a project from idea to company formation. LU Holding AB

may invest in a company and we can help with licensing deals when the innovation reaches the market through a partner company.

> CONTACTS We have an extensive network of established innovation companies and organisations that can provide

access to unique expertise and new opportunities for business development and market contacts. We also offer support for writing applications for innovation funding.

> EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES We organise inspirational lectures with guest speakers and courses in innovation, IP and entrepreneur-

ship for doctoral students.


/ 10–11 /OUR FUNDING OPTIONS

In the commercialisation process, LU Innovation offers financial support to strengthen the development of the projects by reducing risk and improving market potential. For collaborative projects, funding is available to develop strategic liaisons with businesses and organisations. Investments into new ventures are also pos-sible through the holding company, LU Holding AB.

Financial support is available not only to researchers and students at Lund University, but also to higher education institutions that are part of Innovationskontor Syd (see page 20 for more information).

TEST AND VERIFY AN IDEA

COMMERCIALISE AND ACCELERATE

COLLABORATE

The Exploratory Pre-Seed Programme targets pro-

jects from Life science or Tech with an innovative

potential. To explore this potential, activities out-

side the scope of existing research project can be

funded up to SEK 300 000 by the Exploratory Pre-

Seed Programme.

Investments of up to SEK 500 000 are offered to

new start-up companies by the University’s hold-

ing company, LU Holding AB. There is also accel-

erator funding of up to SEK 300 000 per company

for start-ups with a clear market potential, for

the purpose of accelerating their marketability.

EXPLORE THE INNOVATIVE POTENTIAL OF RESEARCH

Test funding enables an initial assessment of the

commercial potential of an idea. Up to SEK 15 000

can be used for activities such as novelty assess-

ment or early market analysis. Verification funding

is part of the Vinnova programme VFT. Funding of

up to SEK 300 000 can be used for commercial and

technical verification and validation of business

concepts originating from academia.

Verification for collaboration is a funding instru-

ment that aims to encourage collaboration be-

tween academia and external partners.

The aim is to establish long-term strategic liaisons

leading to direct or indirect commercialisation of

research findings. Funding of up to SEK 150 000

can be used to finance salaries of academic part-

ners as well as material and tests.

LU INNOVATION

Is the business viable?

Sus t ain-able plan

Test your idea

Describe your idea

J Is there a need?

J Who might your

customers be?

J Is it possible to

protect your

idea?

J Development of

the concept

J Verify concept

or prototypes

J Marketing

strategies

J Funding to

develop the idea

Funding for idea verification

Legal assistance

Intellectual property rights

J Meet our business

developers

J Discuss the idea

J What possibilities

are there?

Form company

Benefit to society

Licensing deal

IDEA DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

This is the idea development process outlined, illustrating key steps and activities to support research projects in the different phases.


/ 12–13 /A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES

e TigerQResearchers Jonas Larsson and David Yudovich

from Stem Cell Center first contacted LU Innova-

tion in 2017 and their idea took off with a fly-

ing start. In 2018 LU Innovation helped them to

conduct customer pilot studies, apply for a pat-

ent and start a company. Today TigerQ is based

at SmiLe Incubator and offers a full scope gene

editing analysis solution that combines propri-

etary sequencing algorithms together with cost-

effective, immediate access.

f Rask MedicalResearcher and physician Erik Rask had the idea

of a mobile ECG system. With the help from

the business developers at LU Innovation, a

prototype consisting of both hardware and soft-

ware is now ready to be used in pilot studies

at Skåne University Hospital. If everything goes

according to plan, the mobile ECG system will

be on the market in 2019. The company, Rask

Medical, was founded in 2018 and LU Holding

became part-owner.

e WordDiagnosticsKatarina Kjell, Oscar Kjell and Sverker Sikström

at the Department of Psychology wanted to use

artificial intelligence (AI) to combine patients’

word answers, rating scale scores and other clini-

cally relevant information to support clinicians in

diagnosing psychiatric disorders. They won first

prize with this idea at Lund University and Spar-

banken Skåne’s 2018 Award for Future Innova-

tions. WordDiagnostics.com was also awarded

2018 Startup of the year in the Venture Cup, a

nationwide competition.

LU INNOVATION

STUDENT INNOVATION

There is an increasing interest in student innovation and entrepreneurship. Generally closer to market and by nature often fast paced, student ideas are in focus. VentureLab works to encourage entrepreneurship and to help students and recent graduates who are considering starting their own business. Since its inception in 2001, VentureLab has helped thousands of students turn their ideas into reality, and the service has been part of LU Innovation since 2016.

VentureLab empowers students to create the future they want. It organises inspirational events that intro-duce students to entrepreneurship as an alternative career path. VentureLab also offers free and confi-dential business development and an incubator that includes a kick-start programme during the first three months of incubation, called the Ignite programme. VentureLab, together with Bisnode Sweden, host-ed the event “Lund Innovation Challenge” (LIC). The event was financed by Bisnode and with sur-plus funds from LIC 2017. VentureLab ran the event while Bisnode supported the event by granting ac-cess to their data. The event took place 16-18 No-vember at Ideon Agora in Lund with approximately 100 students participating.

Since 2017, together with SLU Holding, VentureLab has started to build up VentureLab@SLU to inspire students at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sci-ences in Alnarp (SLU). The aim is also to lay ground-work for finding synergy effects between students from Lund University and SLU. In 2018 VentureLab@SLU arranged inspirational lectures on themes such as sustainability and, together with the Sten K. John-son Centre for Entrepreneurship, a seminar in food innovation as a part of the Trendspotting@LU series. In 2018, VentureLab received more than 300 student ideas, 67 projects took part in the incubation pro-gramme and 1 received investment from LU Holding.


We have seen a lot of interesting projects and truly driven students during 2018. For example, there is Eslam Salah Dardir with his team at Lupinta who has discovered a way to develop vegan prod-ucts from locally lupin beans, rich in plant protein and fibers and a more sustainable solution. Another example is Therése Wintélius who chal-lenges the fear of visiting a dentist. Her idea is to develop new and fun dental instruments prevent-ing fear in children.

/ 14–15 /

f VågaChristian Boysen with his team at Våga is a part

of the VentureLab incubator, and Christian also

received Leapfrogs this year. They are working

with a system and certification in order for night-

clubs, restaurants and other big events and fes-

tivals to become more aware of how to prevent

and handle sexual harassments and assaults.

LEAPFROGS – initiated by LU Innovation and finan-ced by Innovationskontor Syd (IKS) – started as a programme to foster entrepreneurship in students. For seven years, Leapfrogs has provided support to a total of 259 students. With funding from Leap-frogs, students are able to work full time on a busi-ness idea for three months during the summer. In 2018 we received over 190 business ideas from stu-dents in the region and 35 of them were granted support funding of SEK 30 000 each.

e SuntribeJulia Beyer, Karl Roos ad Hampus Tarras-Whal-

berg at Suntribe has developed a new genera-

tion of sun protection. Their zinc-based

sunscreens are highly effective and safe for

both the body and the environment. The pro-

ject moved in at Venturelab during mid 2017

and has since then had an amazing journey with

finan cing support through both LU Innovation

& Leapfrogs. During spring 2018 Julia became

part of “Amazon Female Entrepreneurs of the

Future” which really helped the company in the

right direction. Products are now sold all over

the world.

LU INNOVATION


/ 16–17 /

Collaboration

LU Innovation has continued its collaborative

initiatives throughout 2018. It is fundamental

for us to work closely to industrial networks

and the innovation system but also to exchange

knowledge and experiences within the academia.

LU INNOVATION

Swelife supports collaboration within academia, industry and healthcare, with the goal to strengthen Life Science in Sweden and to improve public health. It is a strategic innovation programme, funded by the Swedish Government via the Swedish innovation agency, Vinnova, and by the partners of the programme.

Swelife is a facilitator. Through a long-term national perspective, our work aims to contribute to these effects:

e The knowledge and resources within life science in Sweden are utilised nationally through collaboration and coordination, as a sharing economy.

e Sweden offers good conditions for sustainable growth and international competitiveness in the life sci-ence sector.

e Swedish citizens have access to innovative, equal and personalised healthcare.

Lund University, via LU Innovation, is the administrative base for the programme’s office. Swelife is funded by Vinnova and a number of collaborative partners.

SWELIFE – FACILITATES CHANGE FOR AN INNOVATIVE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR IN SWEDEN


/ 18–19 /

h PROJECT EXAMPLES IN 2018

e INNOVATION PROJECTS Swelife has financed 30 projects with SEK 49

million in 2018. In May, 22 projects received a combined SEK 20.5 million from the Swelife-Medtech-4Health Projekt för bättre hälsa steg 1 (Projects for better health, step 1). In October, 8 projects received SEK 34 million from the Pro-jekt för bättre hälsa steg 2 (Projects for better health, step 2), an accelerator programme.

e TESTA CENTER The Testa Center opened in August 2018. The

goal is to build a creative and open environ-ment, where academic groups, start-ups and larger companies can verify technical or biologi-cal projects in an authentic bioprocessing facility.

Swelife has contributed a total of SEK 8.4 mil-lion to support projects wanting to use Testa Center. Ilya Pharma and BioLamina are among the first companies to use Testa Center with support from Swelife. With Swelife’s support, the facility will develop durable working meth-ods and procedures for how verification pro-jects are acquired, implemented and spread.

e NATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT FOR CANCER, PART OF THE SWEPER PROJECT The project aims to create more effective pa-

tient follow-up and thereby improve the quality of cancer care. It will make it easier to fol-low the individual’s medical history. In addi-tion, valuable data for research and follow-up of medicines are gathered in a structured and standardised manner, from both the healthcare system and the individual. The decision support will work nationally and is structured to handle many different types of diseases.

e TRANSLATION OF EUPATI TOOLBOX The EU EUPATI project is a web-based educa-

tional tool for patients who want to under-stand and contribute to the development of new treatment methods and drugs. Swelife has funded a translation of the toolbox into Swedish and will, in collaboration with Swed-ish patients, ensure the material is adapted to Swedish conditions, with references to Swedish laws and regulations.

e SUPPORT TO APPLY FOR EIC PILOT Twice in 2018, Swelife called for applications

for up to SEK100 000 in support for applica-tions for the EIC Pilot programme. With this support, Swelife wants to help reduce the threshold for Swedish SMEs active in the life science area to apply for funds from EIC Pilot.

EIC Pilot, which is part of Horizon 2020, supports top-class SMEs with bright ideas and ambition to scale up internationally.

e GENOMIC MEDICINE SWEDEN Genomic Medicine Sweden is an initiative that

aims to prepare a plan for a new type of infra-structure within Swedish Healthcare that imple-ments Precision Medicine at a national level. In 2017-18, Swelife invested SEK 2 million in a feasibility study, and in 2018 the initiative re-ceived further funding from the Swedish inno-vation agency, Vinnova, to progress to the next phase of the project.

Read more at swelife.se

LU INNOVATION

By the start of 2018, Malmö University received full accreditation as a research university. With this decision, they also established their own innova-tion office, and is now able to set up a holding company. Consequently, Malmö University is now a collaboration partner with Innovation Office South, and we share the process of VFT-funding during 2018-2019. In 2018 we have focused to further develop our process, and to establish a internation-alization support, to further improve our offer to students and researchers.

In 2018, 8 projects within IKS were granted SEK2.4 million through the Exploratory Pre-Seed Programme. The programme was originally funded by the Ministry of Education and Research, as an ingredient in the special effort to bridge the gap between basic research and commercialisation of research results within life science. However, this year the programme targeted research projects in the life science and tech sector with a commercial or innovation potential. We received 18 applica-tions, requesting a total of SEK 5.2 million.

Two of the projects supported by IKS in 2018 were Debricked and Saga Surgical.

Lund University runs the southern Sweden innovation office, Innovationskontor Syd (IKS), through LU Innovation. The platform was initiated in 2010 and includes the Blekinge Institute of Technology and Kristianstad University. IKS do also have a strong collaboration with its former member Malmö University. During 2018, IKS supported 79 research projects through grants amounting to a total of approximatelySEK 8.1 million.

COLLABORATION AMONG HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN SKÅNE AND BLEKINGE

IKS – THE COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM FOR INNOVATION The objective of the innovation office is to build know-how in business development, project management, risk evaluation and intellectual property at the uni-versities, to assist students and researchers in the utilisation of research-based knowledge for national societal growth, aided by partners in the surrounding innovation system. The IKS platform has an extended responsibility for providing an innovation support structure which includes the universities in Skåne and Blekinge, and its priorities are therefore to:

e Establish and support innovation management at all universities within IKS

e Use ideas and entrepreneurs as the point of departure

e Expand competence, infrastructure and innovation support

Our cross-disciplinary collaboration contributes to the sharing of experiences that reinforce not only our joint development but also each institution’s structure for the development of innovation. Through the innovation office we offer models, methods and tools to improve the conditions for ongoing projects and support through business coaching, patent expertise and legal advice.


/ 20–21 /

f Seconds (Secure Connected Devices)Debricked AB, a company established 2018 based

on a Vinnova-funded research project, received

the Accelerator Grant of SEK 300 000. The start-

ing point is that many companies use open

source in the development of connected devices,

and with large scale product portfolios, and with

a large number of versions, it is a complex issue

to keep track of vulnerabilities. Debricked de-

velops a solution which is an automated service

that runs in the cloud, with a web-based user in-

terface. It captures information about vulnera-

bilities and helps our customers find out if their

software or products are affected. This is done

automatically and with the help of advanced al-

gorithms and AI.

Prostate Biopsy Needle eThe Prostate Biopsy Needle project was registered

at LU Innovation in late 2014, and the company

Saga Surgical AB was established in 2016. The

project received SEK 300 000 VFT-funding during

2015, and received the Accelerator Grant of SEK

300 000 during 2018. The starting point for the

project is prostate cancer, which is one of the

world’s most common cancers. During biopsy, via

the rectum with local anesthesia, anesthetic nee-

dle and biopsy needle bring large amounts of

bacteria into the body, therefore antibiotics are

always given. With increasing antibiotic resist-

ance, infection risk is now increasing rapidly. Saga

Surgical has developed a new solution consisting

of a biopsy needle, a biopsy gun and an anesthetic

needle, based on a novel needle design that dras-

tically reduces infection risk and costs.

LU INNOVATION

A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES

Good ideas need to be nurtured to develop. LU Innovation continuously works with collaborative initiatives in order to promote idea development and utilisation. It is of course fundamental for us to work closely with industrial networks and the innovation system but also to exchange knowledge and experiences within academia. In 2018 we were part of several successful collaborations, a few of which are presented here.

e VENTURELAB AND BISNODE EVENT: HACKATHON On 16–18 November, Ideon was the centre of attention as more than 100 students participated in the

hackathon, Lund Innovation Challenge – a collaboration between VentureLab and Bisnode. The event aimed to inspire students to think outside the box and use Bisnode data to generate new ideas. Over the weekend, students from different faculties worked together to come up with new ideas and apply their knowledge through interdisciplinary collaboration.

e CLIMATE KIC ACCELERATOR Climate-KIC Accelerator is the only EU acceleration programme focused on climate impact through

cleantech commercialisation. In 2018, 4 companies with connection to Lund University were funded by the programme with a total of € 145 000.

Two successful Climate-KIC Accelerator projects are Elonroad, a system developer for electric roads that

enables continuous charging of vehicles, and Vultus, a market leader in spectral analysis for farming, specialising in nitrogen analysis from satellite data.


FINANCERS:

/ 22-23 /

e CLIMATE-KIC GREENHOUSE Climate-KIC Greenhouse is a pre-incubation programme for new student entrepreneurs who have a

climate business idea and the motivation to make it happen. In 2018, 4 start-ups were funded through Lund University with a total of € 10 000.

Two of the projects where solar cell related and both were also part of the Climate-KIC Climathon.

These were SolarX-bike which develops solar-powered charging stations for bicycles and GRØNBID which develops a community purchasing platform for house owners to collectively buy solar panel installations.

e NORDIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP HUBS Nordic Entrepreneurship Hubs is an Interreg-financed project in which students at Lund University, the

Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA) have access to the facilities of VentureLab (LU), Skylab (DTU) and Material Design Lab (KEA).

The goal is to support student experimentation and entrepreneurship in Sweden and Denmark by forming a network of hubs, combining all our entrepreneurial facilities and resources. A joint develop-ment programme for early start-ups has also been established.

e SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY In 2018, LU Innovation hosted the final project conference: Science for Society – Bridging the Gap! Over

150 PhD students and postdocs from Sweden, Denmark and Norway visited Lund for a lunch-to lunch conference at the beginning of November. The conference offered inspiring seminars and talks on how research can be employed outside academia as well as two hands-on workshops.

LU INNOVATION

AWARDED INNOVATIONS

Together with Sparbanken Skåne, LU Innovation awards a total of SEK 200 000 tofuture innovations every year. The aim of the Lund University and Sparbanken Skåne’sAward for Future Innovations is to promote an innovationfriendly culture within theUniversity, and to encourage more new ideas that can lead to future innovations.

There are two categories, Employee and Student, and in each category one first prize and two honorary awards are handed out. In 2018 we received 85 entries from students and researchers at Lund University.

“The Award for Future Innovations has meant a great deal to me. The prize has opened com-pletely new doors in my life that I never even imagined. I have always wanted to do some-thing that actually means something and that could lead to a slightly better world, but I felt that all my ideas were worthless and not worth pursuing. The same thing would probably have happened with PassiveRail if I hadn’t applied for the 2018 Award for Future Innovations. The fact is that I only applied for fun but when I was summoned for an interview and eventu-ally awarded the Innovation Prize, I realised that entrepreneurship is a potential career! Since then, the award has given me the self-confidence and energy I needed to try and

realise my idea. I can honestly say that if it weren’t for the prize, I would probably still be doubting my ideas and would never have realised that entrepre-neurship is perfect for me.” Anton Moberg

Oscar Kjell, Katarina Kjell, Sverker Sikström, Department of Psychology ”WordDiagnostics.com”

WINNER OF 2018 – EMPLOYEE

WordDiagnostics.com uses words and artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose mental health, especially depression and anxiety, with increased reliability. More info about the project at page 13.

Anton Moberg ”PassiveTrack MagLev”

WINNER OF 2018 – STUDENT

Passive Track MagLev combines different modern technologies in order to modernize the rail network. Magnetic levitation is making the train hover slightly above the track but contrary to current technolo-gies, the rail is kept free from electronics. It is cheaper, faster and more environment friendly.


/ 24-25 /OUR NETWORK

In order to successfully commercialise academic research findings, LU Innovation collaborates with other partners, such as business incubators and var-ious types of funding bodies, for grants and seed funding. We work closely with partners in businessdevelopment and with various industrial networks. The projects developed in LU Innovation’s processes – idea to business – often have a long road ahead

BUSINESS ADVICE AND CONTACTS:

FUNDING:

INCUBATORS:

before becoming truly profitable. It is therefore very important to maintain contact with others working in the innovation sector to receive advice and exchange experiences, especially when the project is transformed into a company. Below is a selection of the partners in our network which can offer ad-ditional support to the projects and companies that pass through LU Innovation:

LU INNOVATION


Companies

/ 26–27 /

In 2018, 16 companies were founded from ideas

supported by LU Innovation. The LU Holding

AB company became an active shareholder in

10 of these. In 2017, former and current port

folio companies raised a total of SEK 1 billion in

venture capital.

LU INNOVATION

LU HOLDING AB

“Our innovation activities are doing extreme-ly well at the moment. Several factors, both internal and external, have influenced devel-opments. One factor is the move towards a culture change within the University. Some re-search, but not all, is best utilised through com-mercialisation and this view is becoming more widespread and accepted. An increasing num-ber of researchers and students want to see their ideas converted into products and services, and are looking for help along the way.”

Torbjörn von Schantz

Vice-Chancellor, Lund University

LU Holding AB invests in projects with significant international market potential and a unique concept that competitively solves a clear customer need. LU Holding AB invests at an early stage when the risk is considerable. Once the companies attract ex-ternal investments, exit occurs by selling shares or by industrial sale. The market place for the listed company could be Nasdaq OMX or Spotlight Stock-market. Any return on the shares is reinvested in new commercialisation projects and portfolio com-panies. Since 1999, LU Holding AB has invested in 108 companies and is currently a part-owner (up to 20% equity interest) of 61 companies. In 2017, the former and current portfolio companies raised a total of SEK 1 billion in venture capital.

For more information about the portfolio com-panies, visit our website: www.innovation.lu.se.

10 new companies were added to the portfolio last year: Abarceo Pharma, Asgard Therapeutics, Bylife, Concidera Health, Cyclicor, Debricked, Eduxia Ut-bildning, Rask Medical, Suturion and UmanSense.

INVESTMENTLU Holding AB can offer initial funding of up to SEK 500 000 in the form of equity capital. In addition to the financial support, LU Holding engages in board work to help provide young companies with experi-ence, contacts and strategic decisions. An investment from LU Holding also gives the companies credibility and access to a network of potential investors, con-tacts and partners, which is of great importance for these start-up companies.


/ 28–29 /NEW CORPORATE INVESTMENTS

In 2018, 10 new ventures were added to the portfolio as a result of LU HoldingAB investments.

Eduxia Utbildning AB offers Edux, a subscription service for study resources in the form of e-books. Edux currently offers medical textbooks and online courses.

Rask Medical AB is developing an ECG module for arrhythmia detection to use outside hospitals.

Suturion AB is developing a sewing-machine the size of a stapler, capable of suturing the abdominal wall after surgery, both faster and more precisely than traditional techniques.

UmanSense AB develops innovative solutions for medical challenges by combining medicine with mobile technology and mathematical science. They are currently working on a solution to help stroke patients receive proper treatment in time.

Further changesFurther changes in the portfolio involved LU Holding AB exiting 3 former portfolio companies and one subsidiary company:

e Ximantis e Techmentum – industrial salee Intenz Bioscience – liquidation process initiated

after industrial sale of its asset Enza Bioteche Sigrun (subsidiary company) – liquidation.

Abarceo AB, a spin-out of Lund University Diabetes Center, is dedicated to developing novel therapeu-tics for type-2 diabetes based upon a deep molecu-lar and genetic understanding of the disease.

Asgard Therapeutics AB specialises in the use of direct cell reprogramming technologies for cancer immunotherapy. They develop new strategies for immunotherapy against solid tumours and blood cancers, beyond the treatments currently available.

Bylife AB was started at the student incubator VentureLab. Bylife’s Smart Living Walls are devel-oped to improve well-being indoors. Through IoT, Bylife can monitor the indoor environment and ensure optimal conditions for the plants.

Concidera Health AB works to enable and op-timize medical follow-up after childhood cancer through web-based decision support systems.

Cyclicor AB focuses on the development of safer and more sustainable polymers through patent-pro-tected and non-toxic technology. They have started commercial development of their first product, a polycarbonate plastic resin without bisphenols.

Debricked AB offers a solution that allows compa-nies to reach and maintain high security awareness, and to manage product security in a cost-efficient way.

https://innovation.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ba6ca76f8dfcf2c37bb9d7a03&id=e3cc59d75f&e=80572c774b

https://sv.bab.la/lexikon/engelsk-svensk/subsidiary-company

LU INNOVATION

LU Holding AB supports newly founded companies both operationally and financiallyin order to bring the innovations to market. As an early investor in the portfolio companies, LU Holding AB adds valuable credibility to the companies as they try to attractfurther external financing. Here are some examples of portfolio companies thatdemonstrated the commercial potential of research from Lund University in 2018.

SELECTED PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

The success story continues for Gedea Biotech, which is developing an antibiotic-free treatment of vaginal infections. They have started the first clinical study, raised SEK 20 million in capital and received funding from both VINNOVA and Horizon 2020. Gedea Biotech was also selected for the EIT Euro-pean Health Catapult, a competition that identifies and accelerates promising European start-ups, where they made it into the top 3 in the biotech category and won the Crowd Award.

Another successful portfolio company is Arthro Therapeutics. In 2018 they have treated 100 osteoarthritis patients a week with the online pro-gramme Joint Academy. They raised SEK 65 million in investment capital and are now planning an in-ternational expansion.

Lumito, founded in 2010, recently changed direc-tion and now specializes in imaging techno logy for medical research with technologies based on upconverting nanoparticles. With this unique and patented technology, diagnostics for tissue samples can be significantly improved through shorter ana-lytical times and higher quality analysis. It also pro-vides completely new opportunities to search for multiple disease indications in the same tissue sec-tion. In 2018 Lumito raised SEK 20 million and was listed on NGM Nordic MTF.

Many of the newcomers in our portfolio have had a very good year. Scientific EdTech is one example. Based on many years of research within learning and educational science, they are devel-oping a learning app covering basic mathematical


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knowledge for children in the earliest school years. Research shows the software is more efficient than the study material used today. Scientific EdTech have raised SEK 3.5 million and even though the app is not yet fully developed they already have pay-ing customers.

Sinntaxis, founded in 2017, is developing the first medical therapy to restore functional abilities after stroke. Sinntaxis has patented and validated a class of molecules for stroke recovery, and will start a trial in 2019. During the year they also secured an option for a Phase 2-ready molecule developed by Astra Zeneca.

Brantu started in the incubator at VentureLab. Now based in Cairo, they successfully launched elprices – an e-commerce marketplace that offers special bulk shopping prices in addition to exclusive retail dis-counts in the Middle East. During the year Brantu raised almost SEK 11 million in investment capital.

MedVasc, a portfolio company since 2017, has developed an instrument for a safer, less pain-ful and more cost-effective treatment of varicose veins. Varicose vein disease affects 25-30% of the population worldwide. The solution developed by MedVasc is a patent-protected medical instrument, which delivers pain free local anaesthesia. In 2018, MedVasc completed a prototype and established a partnership with ARAN, a leading Israeli product de-sign and development firm.

LU INNOVATION

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

We measure our performance in three main areas, which are all critical to our success.

1) Our pipeline – meaning the number of ideas we work with, how many become commercialisation projects, how many patents we help file, how many companies are formed and how many of these we take equity in.

2) Our contribution to growth – looking at the companies we have been shareholder of over the years and how they grow with regard to turnover, employees and capital raised.

3) Our finances – making money is not a goal in itself for the holding company. However, a strong financial position helps us achieve our goals by being able to better support the projects we are involved in.

The table below gives an overview of the outcome of the last five years activities based on the number of ideas, patent applications that have been submitted and new companies that have been formed and invested in.

PIPELINE

Ideas: The number of identified ideas where a first initial evaluation indicates it is worth pursuing.

Commercialisation projects: The number of ideas that have at some point throughout the year been worked on actively.

Patent applications: The number of patents filed, including PCT applications based on earlier priority.

Company formations: The number of companies formed from the commercialisation projects being worked on by LU Innovation.

New portfolio companies: The number of companies where LU Holding AB has taken an equity share.

LU INNOVATION IN FIGURES / 32–33 /

Figure 1) Pipeline

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

New ideas Teachers/Researchers 119 104 125 116 118

New ideas Students 133 126 220 279 218

Commercialisation projects 84 81 103 139 206

Companies formed 15 10 20 15 16

New portfolio companies 5 6 6 12 10

Patent applications* 16 23 18 14 6

* of which international PCT applications 7 7 12 4 0


Figure 4) Finances LU Holding AB

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Adjusted equity (MSEK) 38,9 51,1 54,9 56,6 79,1

Financial liquidity (percentage) 434 846 585 487 629

Financial solidity (percentage) 87 95 92 90 90

ACCUMULATED GROWTH (LU Holding AB’s portfolio companies 1999–2017)

The figure shows the accumulated growth for the companies that LU Holding AB has invested in since 1999. The graph shows that these companies have employed over 4 100 full-time equivalents, raised over SEK 5.8 billion in venture capital, had an accumulated turnover of SEK 3.2 billion and contributed SEK 1.4 billion in tax revenue. For the companies that LU Holding AB invests in, it is often a long road from brilliant idea to profitable company, and the effect of the investment is therefore often delayed, as is also demon-strated by the graph.

0

800

400

200

1 000

1 200

600

20152013 2014 2016

Figure 2) Growth (LU Holding AB’s portfolio companies 2013–2017)

L Net Sales (MSEK) L Employees (FTE)

L Capital Raised (MSEK) L Tax Revenues (MSEK)

GROWTH (LU Holding AB’s portfolio companies 2013–2017)

Figure 2 shows the combined annual figures for all companies in which LU Holding AB has held equity overthe years. In 2017 the portfolio companies had a total net turnover of SEK 313 million, paid SEK 176 million in tax revenue and employed over 407 full-time equivalents (FTE). The portfolio companies raised a total of SEK 1 billion in venture capital.

2017

Figure 3) Accumulated growth (LU Holding AB’s portfolio companies 1999–2017)

1999 2003 2007 20122000 2004 2008 20132001 2005 2009 20142002 2006 20112010 2015 2016 20170

2 000

1 000

3 000

4 000

7 000

6 000

5 000

L Net Sales (MSEK) L Employees (FTE)

L Capital Raised (MSEK) L Tax Revenues (MSEK)

LU INNOVATION

Sölvegatan 16 · Box 117 · SE-221 00 Lund / Sweden · www.innovation.lu.se

LU INNOVATION

Graphic production: Bergström & Co, Lund · Photo on cover: Ola Andrén, Bylife · Other photos: Kennet Ruona: 4:1, 5, 8:2, 12, 14, 20, 23:1, 35:2 · Gunnar Menander: 4, 28

Magnus Bergström: 8:1 · Johan Bävman: 11:1 · Håkan Röjder: 11:2 · David Fernández / EyeEm: 13:1 · Mutlu Kurtbas / iStock: 13:2 · Jonathan Rados / Unsplash: 13:3

Gilaxia / iStock: 15:1 · EyeEm: 15:2 · Maskot Bildbyrå: 18 · TEK Image / Science photo: 21:1 · WilshireImages: 21:2 · Joakim Skog: 22 · Ezra Jeffrey Comeau / Unsplash: 30:1

Camille Chambefort: 31:1 Debibishop: 31:2 · Printed by MediaTryck. Printed on environmentally friendly paper using environmentally friendly methods.


LU INNOVATION – THE L INK BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND BUSINESS

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LU INNOVATION

LU Innovation is Lund University’s central innovation support unit. We help researchers and students to

convert research findings and ideas into new successful products, services or methods.

Through LU Holding – the investment side of our innovation activities – the University can enter into

part ownership of research-based companies. Since 1999, LU Holding has contributed to the creation

of 108 new companies, which together have employed over 4 100 full-time equivalents and generated

more than SEK 1.4 billion in total tax revenues.

LUND UNIVERSITY

Box 117

SE–221 00 Lund

Sweden

Phone +46 46 222 00 00

www.innovation.lu.se

lu innovation · of lu innovation’s business developers are partly integrated with the strategic...

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