THE HOUSE OF INNOVATION (HOI) AT THE STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (SSE) IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATION ENVIRONMENT COMBINING RESEARCH, EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND VENTURING. BUILDING ON THE RICH HISTORY OF THE STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, THE RESEARCH HOUSE AIMS TO TAKE THE SCHOOL’S BEST-IN-CLASS INTERACTION WITH BUSINESS AND SOCIETY INTO THE FUTURE.
Dating back to the early 1900s, the Stockholm School of Economics is the oldest business school in the Nordic region. Its mission — to strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness through scientific education and research — has remained unchanged since its founding.
Under the leadership of Professor Magnus Mähring, holder of the Erling Persson Chair in Entrepreneurship and Digital Innovation, HoI has since its inception in 2017 grown into one of Europe’s leading research environments within its fields. It currently delivers about 65 courses per year at the bachelor, master, PhD, and Executive MBA levels, organizes over 50 seminars and other knowledge-exchange events annually, and hosts major national and international conferences and workshops, both for practitioners and scholars. HoI is also home to SSE’s venturing activities and incorporates the school’s incubator, SSE Business Lab, and its investment fund, SSE Ventures. The academic core of the House of Innovation is SSE’s newest department, the Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology (DEIT).
“Thanks to generous support from donors and deliberate efforts, HoI has been able develop a strong faculty body with high individual expertise across our different research areas, while also building a collegial, collaborative, curious and welcoming research environment. HoI’s centers not only have distinct and sometimes unique profiles in their own right — they also enable cross-disciplinary collaborations and initiatives on impactful and timely topics, such as technology-driven innovation for sustainability in the forestry industry, or the future of food,” says Magnus Mähring.
A HOUSE WITHOUT WALLS
Much of the long-term stability and development of the House of Innovation, including its business incubator activities, has been made possible through the enduring support of the Erling-Persson Foundation. This partnership also made possible the renovation of Norrtullsgatan 2 — the 3,341-square-meter property in central Stockholm that now brings together researchers, students, professional services staff, entrepreneurs and frequently visiting investors under one roof.
HoI has proven to be a scalable research and innovation environment that has expanded through a set of related research centers, platforms, and initiatives: the Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg Center for Innovative and Sustainable Business Development; the Scania Center for Innovation and Operational Excellence; the MISUM Sustainable Business Development Platform; the Center for Transformative Innovation; the Center for Data Analytics; the Initiative for Art and Innovation; and the Initiative for AI and the Future of Work.
While these entities have their own specialized research interests, target audiences, deliverables, and governance structures, they are bound together by an overarching strategy for the entire House, driven by a joint sense of community, reflecting the essence of the House’s informal slogan: a house without walls. The underlying philosophy is that intermingling researchers with different scholarly profiles — and collocating them with entrepreneurs, students, and staff from different professional backgrounds — fosters collegiality and innovation. It also reflects the belief that academia does not have to be an ivory tower, but can function as an open, impactful knowledge hub where different sectors of society meet, exchange ideas and knowledge, and collaboratively generate the best ideas for the future.
SWEDISH ROOTS WITH A FULLY INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK
SSE has undergone a profound internationalization over the last decade, and the House of Innovation has been one of the key drivers of this development.
Faculty and postdoctoral fellows come from more than 20 countries, with many having completed their doctoral training somewhere other than their country of birth, or Sweden. Research collaborations are both national — such as through the national WASP-HS research program or the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation — and international, with expanding collaborations at institutions such as Stanford University (USA) and University of Cambridge (UK).
The saying “all business is local” carries some truth, but almost all research is international in nature. HoI researchers collaborate with peers across universities and countries, and their work is cited and used by scholars around the world. To attract Swedish students, an international profile is essential; to attract international students, it is crucial to provide both world-class education and a full, 360-degree experience of Sweden’s culture and society. The inflow of top international students is necessary to compete with other top-tier business schools, and these students are vital contributors to Sweden’s competitiveness in the global economy.
VENTURING AT SSE AND THE HOUSE OF INNOVATION
The SSE Business Lab, SSE’s incubator, has sometimes been called the “unicorn factory” in media. Since its inception in 2001, the incubator has supported start-ups such as Klarna, Voi Technology, Budbee, and Legora, which have grown into multi billion-krona companies. To date, the incubator has supported more than 350 companies with a collective valuation exceeding 100 billion SEK, and with over 40 billion SEK raised.
But the strength of SSE Business Lab lies not only in producing unicorns. It also consistently supports high-quality, long-lasting companies that develop solid business models and continue to thrive over time. Across all companies incubated since 2001, more than 50 percent are still active and about 6 percent have been acquired — figures far higher than statistically expected among start-ups. Among more than 3,000 others, the incubator is ranked number 8 in Europe by the Financial Times and is the only Nordic hub to make it in the top 10.
SSE Ventures, is an early-stage venture capital fund connected to SSE Business Lab and SSE. The fund supports the Business Lab’s vision — to create a world of exceptional leaders who are role models and create impact through entrepreneurship — by investing in the companies admitted to the incubator.
