Pär Hedberg, CEO and founder of STING and founder of Propel Capital, has been awarded the business weekly Veckans Affärers “Innovation Promotor of the Year”. The Swedish Innovation Award is given out to draw attention to Swedish innovations that have reached commercial success and the people who make it possible.

– We wanted to create an innovative ecosystem to best support entrepreneurs to build international growth companies: business development support from experienced coaches, funding from Propel Capital and STING Business Angels, and our recruitment service, which is the best in Sweden when it comes to support startups in building successful team. But what I’m most proud of is that I have successfully attracted such a strong team with amazing people to STING who have made all this possible, says Pär Hedberg.

The jury for the Swedish Innovation Award, where the Innovation Promotor of the Year was one of the prizes, consisted of Jill Bederoff, Veckans Affärer; Erik Eklund, SIS; John Elvesjö, Tobii; Magnus Lundin, SISP; Maureen McKelvey, Gothenburg School of Economics, and Martha Sjögren, North Zone.

The motivation read: “S/he is a tireless, creative and passionate person and together with his super strong team a master at taking ideas all the way to the finish line. ‘Good enough’ does not exist for this person who has done more for Sweden’s entrepreneurial ecosystem than any other.”

Hedberg has among many other things also been the initiator of startup hubs SUP46, THINGS and H2. As founder and CEO of STING, he has since 2002 supported more than 200 startups in developing their ideas into successful growth companies. 72 percent of them are still active and growing. Among them are Yubico, VideoPlaza, Volumental, Watty, Dreams and Sellpy. Together, all STING companies have a revenue of 1.1 billion SEK, of which 90 percent comes from exports, and they have created more than 1,200 jobs.

About Veckans Affärers Swedish Innovation Award
For the ninth consecutive year, Veckans Affärers Swedish Innovation Award. The award is given about to draw attention to Swedish innovations that have reached commercial success and the people who make it possible. The winners were announced at Future Day on 30 November during an event at 7A Odenplan. The award was presented together with SIS, Swedish Standards Institute, and SISP, Swedish Incubators & Science Parks.