Incubator

Uppsala Innovation Centre

Uppsala Innovation Centre (UIC) is a leading Swedish incubator and accelerator, consistently ranked among Europe’s top public incubators. Founded in 1999 and located in Uppsala – a city known for its major university and pharma industry cluster – UIC supports startups from idea to growth, with a strong focus on life sciences, medtech, energy, and IT.

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It is a public-private partnership, co-owned by Uppsala municipality, Uppsala University, SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), and local industry. UIC offers a suite of programs: a pre-incubation phase for concept validation, a core incubation phase (up to 2 years) for business development and raising seed capital, and a accelerator phase for scaling up and internationalization. Uniquely, UIC doesn’t take equity but charges a modest fee – hence it’s seen as a neutral player with the startup’s interest at heart.

Startups benefit from individualized coaching by experienced business advisors, free office and lab space, and connections to Uppsala’s rich network of experts (the city hosts big players like GE Healthcare, Pfizer, etc.). Access to lab facilities is a key advantage for biotech startups – UIC arranges subsidized lab rentals through partnerships with SLU and local science parks. Over 20+ years, UIC has nurtured over 1,000 companies.

Alumni include OssDsign (innovative cranial implants, now publicly listed) and ScandiNova (pulsed power systems, a world leader in its niche). The incubator’s portfolio has also seen several acquisitions by international firms. UIC is particularly known for helping research-heavy projects with commercialization – many UIC startups are founded by professors or PhDs aiming to solve real-world problems with their inventions.

They also run UIC “Business Lab” and “Startup Bootcamps” for very early-stage teams, including student entrepreneurs. UIC’s impact is evident: Uppsala punches above its weight in innovation metrics, and UIC has been recognized by UBI Global as a top-5 global incubator in 2019. By coupling Uppsala’s academic prowess with professional business guidance, Uppsala Innovation Centre continues to turn ideas “from lab to market,” driving regional growth and bringing science-based innovations to society.

SwedenUppsalaLife SciencesEnergyIT

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