Ten years on, five SmiLe companies employ over 100 people

Karin von Wachenfeldt -Truly Translational, Christine Dahlman Jacobsen - Nattaro Labs, Thomas Larsson - Adoit Science, Johan Evenäs - Red Glead Discovery and Ebba Fåhraeus - SmiLe Incubator. Attended digitally: Mårten Svensson - Emmace Consultings

Tremendous congratulations to the five SmiLe companies celebrating ten years this year! Together, their annual sales total over SEK 90 million and they employ more than 100 people. At the most recent SmiLe community event, the entrepreneurs described their experiences from the past decade as successful company builders.

SmiLe Incubator’s alumni companies Adroit Science, Emmace Consulting, Nattaro Lab, Red Glead Discovery and Truly Translational were all founded in 2011 in Lund, Sweden, and belong to the group of companies that have developed from exciting business ideas into profitable life science companies in just a short period of time. Most of the companies evolved from the closure of AstraZeneca. We invited some of their founders to share their journeys to success with SmiLe’s startup companies and others in our community.

All of them stated that they never regretted becoming entrepreneurs – it’s the most exciting adventure they’ve ever embarked on professionally. Most of them were internationally focused right from the start, since Sweden is such a small market, and they were familiar with working from an international perspective dating back to their time at AstraZeneca. In addition, other SmiLe companies were among their first customers and many of the companies collaborate on customer projects. In response to a question from the audience, they unanimously agreed that the only thing they would have done differently was to have dared to invest even more at an earlier point in time; in retrospect, they believe that they may have made even greater progress after ten years. Other common experiences include the importance of creating a good corporate culture, adopting core values and daring to delegate. Actively leveraging their own and others’ networks is also crucial.

They felt that the opportunity to discuss matters and grow together with people in the same situation was crucial for success – and one of the best parts of belonging to SmiLe. They also emphasized the importance of being in a nurturing environment with experts and business coaches.

“It’s great to be here, ten years after these brave and talented entrepreneurs dared to make the leap from jobs at big companies to a somewhat more unpredictable future. All of the companies have needed our laboratories. They are extremely inspiring and important role models for all startup companies at SmiLe,” says Ebba Fåhraeus, CEO of SmiLe Incubator, who led the discussion.

For more information, please contact: Ebba Fåhraeus, CEO of SmiLe Incubator, +46 (0)73 4000433, ebba@smileincubator.life

The following companies are celebrating ten years:

Adroit Science – offers expertise in characterization of powder to be formulated into medicinal products. About a year ago the company was acquired by Malmö-based Magle Chemoswed.

Emmace Consulting – offers rare niche expertise in testing inhalers with respect to dose and particle size distribution of inhaled medications. Recognized as specialists in this field by the FDA.

Nattaro Labs – sells services and unique bed bug control products, including a detection trap and a tape that renders bed bugs harmless.

Red Glead Discovery – offers extensive expertise in early drug discovery and acts as its customers’ external development department.

Truly Translational – provides a full service offering to drug development companies, assisting them with preclinical studies and consulting to take their drug candidates into clinical trials.