Students develop ideas that engage
Students from this year’s first group recognised with UU Innovation’s DRIVE award for developing ideas that inspire engagement.
Students at Uppsala University are developing ideas that grow, engage others and take shape through new ventures. With the DRIVE award, UU Innovation highlights students’ entrepreneurial drive.
UU Innovation supports students, researchers, and staff at Uppsala University who want to develop ideas with the potential to benefit society. Support includes advice, funding, networks, and expert knowledge in intellectual property, assisting the first idea through to a sustainable development journey.
Fifteen students have now received the DRIVE award. It is UU Innovation’s way of recognising students who have succeeded in turning their ideas into something that others want to be part of, contribute to and build on.
These students have started companies, associations, communities and other projects, and have succeeded in creating engagement around what they are building. They come from different educational backgrounds, but share the experience of having received early-stage support from UU Innovation and of having demonstrated clear entrepreneurial drive through what they have created.
These are the students and their initiatives:
- Leon Saidavi, Sandro Pedrotti, Filip Schuller and Paul Kreis have founded CreateU Uppsala, a rapidly growing student entrepreneurship community.
- Alexander Sundquist, Victor Wong, Axel Wohlin and Nils Skog are the initiators of UU AI Society, a student-led AI community with a focus on learning, events and collaborations.
- Jacob Lehmann, Lea Poewe and Elias Foppa have founded Rackis for barn, a non-profit initiative that redistributes quality household items from departing international students to newcomers, while supporting children’s charities.
- Bita Baghestani has founded Mooneva, a company within female technology (femtech) that develops and sells products and services related to menstrual health.
- Vera Wolf has founded Inner Art Ateljé, which offers mindful art experiences aimed at wellbeing.
- Lori Nitzel runs her own advisory business, Nitzel Tax, which supports Americans in Sweden with U.S. tax matters.
- Alexander Winzenburg is developing AI-based services and applications, with both paying customers and new projects under development.
About DRIVE
- DRIVE is UU Innovation’s award for students at Uppsala University who have shown strong drive in developing their ideas and have succeeded in generating engagement from others.
- DRIVE recipients have, for example, attracted external partners, users, customers or other stakeholders who have shown interest and contributed.
- UU Innovation awards DRIVE at least once per semester, and recipients are recognised with a diploma and flowers in connection with an event.
- DRIVE recipients have developed an idea during their studies with support from UU Innovation.