This June, Viktor Olsson, internationalization lead at Stockholm's KTH Innovation, will travel to Croatia for the Nuqleus Liftoff conference. Though it marks his first visit to the country, the Adriatic scenery is not his draw. Instead, Olsson arrives carrying two decades of Stockholm's deep tech methodology, recognizing that Europe's technology boundaries are shifting and expanding across regions previously overlooked.
Sweden and Croatia share structural similarities that outsiders might overlook. Both operate as smaller markets where founders must adopt a global perspective from inception. Both experience acute centralization: Stockholm generates roughly a quarter of Sweden's economic output and consistently ranks among Europe's leading deep tech hubs, while the remainder of the nation remains comparatively invisible on such rankings.
Yet examining the Central and Eastern European ecosystem reveals a critical gap. While the region possesses substantial scientific talent, converting research breakthroughs into viable enterprises faces systemic obstacles. The missing ingredient is not talent but rather the foundational mindset that characterizes Stockholm's approach—one built on trust, confidentiality, and unconditional support before expecting anything in return.
Olsson's framework inverts conventional thinking by starting with the university's most valuable asset: giving it away freely.
The Professor's Privilege
Across much of Europe, launching a university spin-off demands contentious negotiations surrounding equity distribution and intellectual property claims. Many institutions demand substantial ownership stakes, sometimes rendering new ventures unmarketable from their outset. Sweden operates under a distinct legal structure called the "professor's privilege."
According to Olsson, "When you are a researcher at a Swedish university, including PhD students, you own all of your patentable IP. Even though the university pays your salary and for the lab space, the things that you take and commercialise are yours." This framework eliminates the initial—and frequently most formidable—obstacle.
It changes the entire conversation from 'What can we take from you?' to 'How can we help you succeed?'
Viktor Olsson
This distinction fundamentally transforms how universities and their researchers interact. Olsson emphasizes that "We're not here for a quick transaction; our legacy is built on being a long-term partner in a researcher's journey."
The significance becomes apparent when considering deep tech's distinctive characteristics. Unlike conventional startups, deep tech demands extended timelines and sustained backing. Olsson stresses that the sector "requires patient capital and, more importantly, patient and persistent support. We are prepared to stand by our founders for years, not just months."
Trust is our primary currency. When a researcher knows we have no ulterior motive to grab their IP, they open up. They share the real challenges, the half-baked ideas, the doubts. That's where the real innovation support begins.
Viktor Olsson
Earning the trust
A crucial element distinguishes KTH Innovation's strategy: the organization cannot mandate researcher participation but must instead earn its role through demonstrated value.
"We have to be founder-friendly," Olsson notes. "We need to give them an offer that makes them want to involve us, because we cannot just control and try and take what they're doing."
For Olsson, this represents both philosophical commitment and pragmatic survival. "Being founder-friendly isn't just a slogan for us; it's our survival mechanism. It means our advice has to be world-class, our network has to be genuinely useful, and our process has to be transparent. If we don't add real value, they will simply walk away, and they have every right to do so."
This necessity compels the institution to function as a genuine collaborator rather than a controlling authority, delivering complimentary, confidential guidance without claiming equity stakes. This model has positioned Stockholm as the world's 13th-ranked deep tech ecosystem, with KTH alumni founding three of the city's four AI unicorns during the previous year.
Financing an equity-free machine
Without equity ownership, KTH Innovation sustains operations and demonstrates impact through alternative mechanisms.
The organization draws primary funding from Sweden's Ministry of Education, supplemented by university allocations and European Regional Development Fund resources designated for the Stockholm region.
Though KTH Innovation's foundational support carries no equity requirement, financial assistance remains accessible. For ventures demonstrating readiness for capital deployment, the organization facilitates connections through KTH Ventures, the university's proprietary venture capital operation that backs early-stage enterprises emerging from KTH research.
Think of our innovation support as the foundational stage where we de-risk the project.
Viktor Olsson
Once a team validates their idea and is ready to scale, KTH Ventures can step in as a pre-seed or seed investor. It's a separate vehicle, but it's part of the same supportive philosophy, helping bridge the gap to external capital.
Viktor Olsson
According to Olsson, this dual-stage structure preserves objectivity within the innovation support division. "Our only goal is to make the venture as strong as possible. We don't push them towards KTH Ventures; we prepare them for any investor. If KTH Ventures happens to be the best fit, fantastic. But our job is to serve the founder, not the fund."
Measuring success beyond the balance sheet
Incorporation counts and subsequent capital raised by portfolio companies offer quantifiable success indicators for KTH Innovation. However, Olsson contends that genuine impact emerges through human capital development. The emphasis rests on the process rather than exclusively on outcomes.
"Failure for us doesn't really exist," Olsson states. "We are happy if you take it as far as you can, even if that means you shut it down for good reason. You still learn something, you still develop as a person." He observes that researchers who pursue commercialization before returning to academic roles frequently become more accomplished scientists.
A researcher who tries to build a company and then returns to the lab is a huge asset to the university.
Viktor Olsson
"They bring back an understanding of market needs, project management, and communication that enriches their research and their teaching. It's a win for the entire ecosystem, not a loss on a balance sheet." Researchers develop capabilities in narrative construction, idea packaging, and real-world application thinking that transcend academic publication. This mindset cultivation represents merely one dimension of KTH Innovation's broader philosophy centered on people, community, and extended timelines.
Supporting founders through their intricate trajectories, KTH developed the KTH Innovation Readiness Level, a framework drawing inspiration from NASA's Technology Readiness Level methodology. Rather than concentrating exclusively on technological advancement, it evaluates concepts across six domains: Technology, Customer, Business, Funding, Team, and IP. This comprehensive approach furnishes explicit direction and prevents teams from remaining confined within laboratory settings.
The dimension most frequently overlooked by scientific researchers? "Customer," Olsson states directly. "The market validation aspect, which is usually customer and business, and that's the really most important part."
The myths holding Europe back
Olsson identifies two deeply entrenched misconceptions that obstruct Europe's deep tech advancement.
The initial misconception claims researchers lack entrepreneurial capability. "I think that's not true, and I think especially if you look at a European perspective and if you look at deep tech, it's actually the other way around," he counters.
Who better to lead a deep tech company than the person who has dedicated a decade of their life to the core science? They have a depth of knowledge and a resilience that you can't just hire. Our job is not to replace them with a 'business person', but to surround them with the skills and support they need to become great leaders themselves.
Viktor Olsson
He champions positioning entrepreneurship as an esteemed career component for scientists, fostering arrangements where profitable ventures finance subsequent research, rather than forcing a choice between competing paths.
The second misconception portrays universities as profit-maximizing asset administrators focused on IP control. Olsson instead urges institutions to become visible, engaged ecosystem participants actively constructing founder-favorable conditions.
We need to ask ourselves, how are we a good innovation partner for the founders?
Viktor Olsson
This transformation demands transitioning from protective stances to assertive engagement. With expanding momentum throughout Europe, Olsson maintains cautious optimism while emphasizing collective responsibility. Progress does not depend on awaiting policy directives but rather on ecosystem participants assuming ownership.
"We need to think about how our universities are active participants and enablers for innovation," he concludes. "It is our responsibility, and it's also a way for us to stay relevant."
Source: The Recursive — Events tag
