Our Way 1
BY SOFIA LUNDGREN PHOTO INNOVATIONSTRAPPAN INNOVA
TION DAY INNOVATION DAY inspires ENTREPRENEURS YOUNG Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg received an unusual present on her 80th birthday – her very own Innovation Day to support, inspire and encourage young people to see the possibilities of a career in the equine sector. The 2018 Innovation Day proved to be the starting shot for a host of exciting enterprises, and one year later it was time to announce a winner from among their number. I t was ATG, Svensk Travsport and the Swedish Horse Industry Foundation (HNS), together with the Stockholm School of Economics, that considered a full day dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation to be a suitable gift for one of trotting’s greatest personalities, Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg. The inaugural Innovation Day 2018 gathered just over one hundred young people in search of inspiration and resulted in the formation of 15 companies that went on to develop and finetune their ideas over the course of the year in the Innovation Staircase project. The Innovation Staircase is managed by the Center for Sports and Business at the Stockholm School of Economics and enjoys close links to Junior Achievement Sweden. THE INNOVATION Staircase provides JA Sweden entrepreneurs with tools and mentoring for going from concept to company. The inspiration these budding entrepreneurs receive on Innovation Day is step one on the staircase, after which come idea generation, development and, neatly rounding things off, final, which takes place at the following year’s Innovation Day. SO THE Innovation Day in 2019 was both a beginning – for the JA Sweden entrepreneurs of 2020, who will now be offered support on the Innovation Staircase – and a culmination for those who began their journey in 2018. The total number of young people seeking inspiration at Margareta’s Innovation Day had more than doubled and they were able to listen to inspirational lectures from entrepreneurs such as Pontus Ekstam (JA Sweden) and Johanna Ingelsson (CEO and founder of Equestrian Stockholm). A number of prizes were awarded to the companies that developed during 2019, the most prestigious of which was the Equestrian JA of the Year Award. This was won by Flyingepodden, which is described as a modern, entertaining channel for news on the equine sector, which is also intended to disseminate new knowledge to the equine community. The founders of Flyingepodden, Agnes Rudin, Cathrine Oppegaard and Anastasia Mäkitalo, who attend the Flyinge Equestrian Upper Secondary School, thereby won a customised course in communication that will allow Flyingepodden to grow even more. OUR WAY MENHAMMAR 9 OUR WAY THE WINNER! The podcast Flyingepodden is the winner of 2019 Equine JA. A well-attended Innovation Day at Solvalla. PHOTO: KANAL 75