Knowledge-sharing Friday with Charlotta Falvin, Chairperson of the Board at Skåne Startups

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you." — Bob Proctor (Author)

Skåne Startups was thrilled to have its very first Knowledge-sharing Friday in 2022, with keynote speaker Charlotta Falvin, the Chairperson of the Board. Hosted by Zhenni Liang, the event welcomed 14 recently-joined team members speaking more than 10 languages. ‘So many great internationals!’ Charlotta was delighted to see a growing number of global talents becoming part of the startup scene and helping Skåne become one of the most vibrant counties in Sweden.

Having been part of the startup sphere for more than decades, the seasoned entrepreneur is keen on giving back to the community and passing down her enterprising spirit to the next generation. Her vigorous passion for entrepreneurship has motivated her to be a board member for more than 10 organisations. She appreciated all the hard work that every member has done and the ecosystem is getting more and more robust.

From A Seed to A Tree

Running a charity is never an easy thing to do. Charlotta began answering the first question by explaining how Skåne Startups became the organisation today by receiving generous support from the community and government. ‘We are a soft organisation and we don’t compete.’ The board members at the charity worked together and gave it a mission, e.g., creating a startup ecosystem. Skåne Startups is like a burning candle -  it always tirelessly strengthens the startup scope and gets along with other players.

The pandemic has pushed many startups into a pool of uncertainty. When talking about the post-Covid projections, Charlotta firmly expressed her optimism towards the economy in the Nordic region. She suggested that companies should ‘be open and willing to reconnect to the connections that have been cut by the restrictions.’

Diversity Matters

‘What can be done to encourage women to be part of entrepreneurship?’ To answer this question, Charlotta used her experiences: as a female entrepreneur, working in a field that is dominated by male counterparts. She is a strong supporter of the Women in Entrepreneurship (WiE) event where participants could share their personal struggles and support each other. ‘Open doors and get the voice heard.’ Charlotta encouraged us to spur more conversations on the agenda and push the boundary.

As the melting pot of Sweden, southern Skåne has attracted professionals across the globe. ‘Startups need to retain those talents.’ She also urged companies to see the importance of hiring international employees and the potential they have.

Stay Tuned & More to Come

Zhenni, the CEO of Skåne Startups, also shared some exciting plans for the upcoming months. ‘We are going to launch a community Slack channel allowing all of the ecosystem players to communicate and exchange ideas.’ Charlotta was excited about the proposal and emphasised that working collaboratively is the key. ‘Being protective can be extremely destructive. We should create a community - a very encouraging environment.’

The event ended with a round of applause and heartfelt laughter. Skåne Startups would like to thank Charlotta Falvin for her kind and generous support in positively influencing the 2021-2022 cohort of the organisation, and they are:

Poliana Dias, She is an aspiring motion designer with almost a decade of marketing and PR experiences from South America, BSc in business management with marketing.

Weixuan Fu, MSc Media and Communication student at Lund University with an academic background in advertisement and even launched his personal brand.

Deniz Altan is an award-winning filmmaker and a life-long learner of human communication, she moved to Sweden and gained MSc in Digital Media from Uppsala University.

Joao Nunes, currently an undergraduate student in International Business at Lund University. He was the Administrative Manager for Lund Formula Student.

Punit Thorat has over 9 years of professional working experience in marketing and communications. Over the years, she has predominantly worked in B2B vertical.

Xavier Chen is a multilingual account manager and digital marketer with approx. 5 years of experience in sales, customer success and business development.

Ashley Schilling is a dietitian from Minnesota with a creative spark who took a bold decision to move to Sweden and started a new career in digital marketing.

Karolina Liljeroth-Dorozynska received her PhD in Physics from Lund University in October 2020. She has a professional background in both physics and finance.

Zarish Adil, MSc in Molecular Biology. She is a scientist with research experiences from South Asia and the Middle East.

Katalin Vikuk, MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lund University with almost a decade of professional experience in Mental Health research.

Zsombor Gazdag-Győri, MSc in Finance at Aarhus University. He co-founded a battery startup and started an investing group in his previous during his studies.

Prudence K., MSc Strategic Leadership at Halmstad University, is an experienced Zimbabwean professional in the financial services and the logistics industry.

Sizwe Ngcobo, graduated from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa in Business Science, he wants to learn more about how entrepreneurs and innovation can change the world.

Ashley Cong Ai, MSc International Business at Stockholm School of Economics with academic experiences from Asia, Europe and the US.