Vinnova chooses SmiLe´s online training program to educate entrepreneurs 

News from SmiLe Incubator, Sweden: Vinnova's Vinter innovation competition will run until April, with the aim of stimulating development of more smart services for diabetics. In order to provide participants with a broad introduction to entrepreneurship in the life sciences, Vinnova has chosen to include SmiLe´s digital education program during the competition period.

SmiLe education program offers online lectures provided by over 20 experts from SmiLe and its partners, such as GE Healthcare and Philips Electronics, and is held over eight weeks of the innovation competition period. Competition participants will thereby receive an introduction to the life science industry and learn the basics in areas such as business models, marketing, communication, corporate governance and funding, as well as regulatory and IP strategies.

SmiLe has run the program in-house with about one hundred participants to date, including those enrolled in the recently started third session. SmiLe, which has its physical operation in Lund, designed the digital program to reach out to even more future entrepreneurs in the life sciences in order to inspire and educate them in the basics of entrepreneurship.

“Some competition participants have previous experience as innovators within the field of health, but not all of them. With SmiLe online program, we saw an opportunity to provide a relevant introduction for those who know that they want to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, while learning about the terms and conditions that apply for innovation within the life sciences. For us, it was important to provide this support in digital format so that participants could choose the time and place of the training program. The ability to choose those modules that seem relevant based on personal background and needs was also important,“ says Cassandra Marshall from Vinnova.

“We are pleased that Vinnova has chosen to provide our training program to competition participants so that they receive a good foundation based on which they can advance their innovations. This strengthens our conviction that the program maintains a high standard and is in high demand in digital format, thereby providing more people with the opportunity to participate. Our program has been warmly received by previous participants, many of whom have moved on with their own projects,” says Lina Boreson, COO of SmiLe Incubator.  

Lund University also uses SmiLe´s digital education program. The program is part of Lund University’s international CanFaster entrepreneur program, which is offered to PhD students and researchers.

“Your offered me a holistic view of the world of bio-entrepreneurship and I am looking forward to making use of all the valuable insights I gained in these eight weeks," - says earlier participant.

For more information, please contact: Lina Boreson, +46 (0)703-781279,
lina@smileincubator.life  

More information about “Vinter”: Vinter is a pilot initiative from Vinnova, aimed at creating conditions in which privacy-sensitive patient data can be securely shared and used, thereby making it available for innovation.
     Vinter is also an innovation competition, aimed at promoting innovation. The first round of the competition focuses on health data from people with diabetes. Service developers who have registered for the competition compete to create smart services to benefit people with diabetes, their relatives and healthcare workers. www.vinnova.se/m/vinter