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THINGS is Sweden’s first co-working space for hardware startups. The focus is on high growth areas such as Internet of Things, wearables, 3D scanning and printing and medtech. The project is initiated by the incubator STING, which is also behind the co-working space SUP-46.
Welcome to the article about the new co-working space THINGS. Before you go any further, STING is the local hero and supporter and helped us bring this article to life though our local-support program. STING is the leading Swedish incubator that enables people to turn their ideas into sustainable businesses. Hope you will enjoy the article.
THINGS is an environment for startups and industry partners to meet and collaborate. The aim is to facilitate creation of symbiotic relationships in which each part benefit from the other part’s advantages.
The project is initiated by Pär Hedberg, CEO of STING, and Magnus Melander, who is a guru within IOT. Soon after the idea emerged Linda Krondahl was called upon and asked to run the place. Linda Krondahl has great experience within the field and the choice was therefore obvious.
“I have worked my way through the full process from idea to production, sales and logistics, and know how challenging these things can be. Compared to running a pure software business, you have a whole extra set of issues you need to manage,” she explains
Taking her own experiences into consideration she clearly sees the need for a hardware hub
“If we collect 150-200 people in this house who either are somewhere in the process or already have been in it, we can build a great brain trust of knowledge and experience that all members can benefit from.”
Clear-cut benefits
Thomas Uppgård, co-founder and CEO at Evothings, one of the startup members of the hub, does not doubt how they can benefit from THINGS.
“THINGS enables us to get in touch with potential partners and customers faster and more efficiently compared to if we were not at THINGS. It would be possible to do it without THINGS, but it would take longer and require much more effort,” he explains
Evothings is a company streamlining mobile application development for the Internet of Things and Industrial Internet, and the choice to join THINGS was thus evident, he states.
Another member of the hub is the startup Moggles, who are creating a virtual reality headset for smartphones. CEO and co-founder Daniel Sandvik thinks it is a great idea to gather hardware startups
“We think there will be a lot of synergies from each others businesses, but also that we can help each other during the process since we all go thru the same phases more or less,” he elaborates.
Collaborating with industry partners provides shortcuts
Besides the possibility to tap into each others’ experiences Linda Krondahl also emphasises the unique benefits of working side by side with industry partners
“Sometimes it can take you months to reach the right contact in a large corporation like our partners – here we have a door open from day 1, and our partners are just as interested in putting their ear to the ground to see what’s next by meeting with our members.”
Finally, THINGS also put physical equipment at the members’ disposal
“Another benefit is access to our internal workshop, where you should be able to create your first prototype. If you miss any machinery in the house itself, we have a cooperation with the Prototype labs at KTH with any tools you could possibly need,” she informs
At Mogglers this has great value
“The space has all the things we need. We are prototyping a lot and look forward to use the prototype lab that will be set up shortly,” Daniel Sandvik says
Ambition, extroversion and potential
THINGS is welcoming startups who have hardware as part of their solution, with global ambitions and potential, and traction and proof of concept.
“We want companies and people who are externally focused and want to contribute to a vibrant THINGS community,” Linda Krohndal explains and ascertains that there are also clear expectations to the industry partners
“They should be relevant to our members and what they do. Also, they should be active in their engagement in THINGS and each other, and open to cooperation with our members and the community,” she finishes
