To learn more, be inspired and create new relationships for the future, The Hamrin Foundation has organised an inspirational trip to Israel. The trip included leaders from Herenco, The Hamrin Foundation and external guests.
In October 2021, The Hamrin Foundation invited Roberth Friedman, Country Manager Sweden at the Israeli Ministry of Economy, for a day on the theme of Israel. The goal then was to learn more and be inspired by the journey “from milk and honey, to high technology and money”. To further immerse themselves and meet people who are part of the transformation, The Hamrin Foundation, along with nine people, went to Israel in the spring of 2022.
During their days in Israel, the group visited everything from universities to startups and investors. To get to know the country of Israel, the participants also visited Jerusalem and a Holocaust memorial museum.
Understanding Israel’s history and how the country has been shaped is essential to understanding its innovation ecosystem. It was therefore very important to spend time in Old Jerusalem, Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Tel Aviv White City, given that these are integral parts of Israel’s national character. It was an intensive but well-planned programme where we met with stakeholders from academia, industry and government,” says Einav Peretz-Andersson, Business Developer at The Hamrin Foundation.
“Think big”
Ulf Rostedt, CEO of Herenco Invest, was one of the participants from Herenco, and for him the trip was a way to fill the idea bank with new inspiration.
I think their entrepreneurial thinking is very much in line with our own. In addition, I also take away the importance of creating the right meeting places and that it is important to “Think big” from the start, have fun, create short profitable projects where the team is everything, says Ulf Rostedt.
Courage to invest
The fact that the link between academia and industry differs between Sweden and Israel is an insight that the participants took home with them. Another is the importance of daring to invest early in an idea.
We see that there is a clear model in Israel of commercialisation from academia to market. There is a lot of interest in developing partnerships with larger companies in Europe that know manufacturing and market while those we met have the innovation. Curiosity, straightforwardness and drive – we have that in both Småland and Israel! We also see that there are many people who want to do more than run a business, the purpose should be bigger and for example contribute to improving society. It is also something that rhymes well with our Green Bag, says Lovisa Hamrin, chairman of The Hamrin Foundation and owner and chairman of Herenco, adding:
We are especially grateful that our friends Eva Schelin (CEO KK Foundation), Lars Hultman (CEO SSF (Foundation for Strategic Research)) and Joakim Amorim (Program Director SSF) were able to join us on the trip. We look forward to visiting more countries and people from whom we can learn and be inspired.
