Over 230 students applied for this year’s edition of SommarMatchen, an entrepreneurship program where students get the opportunity to work on business ideas from researchers at Linköping University. “This program has been a fantastic opportunity for us to receive valuable input on the customer needs related to our business idea,” says participant and researcher Erik Telldén.
Twenty selected students spent five weeks during the summer developing ten ideas originating from research at Linköping University. The students recently held their final presentations.
“The purpose of SommarMatchen is to give researchers answers as to whether there is a market need for the proposed product. In many cases, this leads to the business idea changing direction to better fit the market, or to the formation of new companies,” says Magnus Krogh, lead coach at LEAD.
One of this summer’s participants was Gayathri Naranath, who is studying for a Master of Science in Engineering in Media Technology in Norrköping. Together with fellow student Filip Nyström, she had the opportunity to help the researchers behind the startup Dubblett conduct a market validation of their AI solution aimed at Swedish municipalities.
“For me, it was very valuable to work on a real case related to AI, since it is part of our courses. I also gained a better understanding of entrepreneurship and made new contacts, which I will benefit from when entering the job market,” she says.
Researcher Erik Telldén, who is behind Dubblett, is also grateful for his participation in the entrepreneurship program.
“In the early stages of a business idea or startup journey, there is rarely time or money for market validation, so I am very grateful for the hard work the students carried out during the summer. We received both surprising insights and contacts with potential future customers,” he says.
Researchers can now register for the 2025 edition of SommarMatchen; read more here.
Applications for students are now closed. Sign up for our mailing list to receive information when registration opens next year.
Photo: Thor Balkhed and Emma Krantz
