Two more business coaches join Umeå Biotech Incubator

Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) has strengthened its team with the appointment of two new business coaches - Lisandro Bernardo and Tobias Tovedal.

“There’s significant demand right now for business support, both in the early and late phases of development. We are extremely happy to welcome these two stars to our team”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.

Both Lisandro Bernardo and Tobias Tovedal will work as business coaches in the early stages of the incubator process. This means UBI now has a team of three business coaches assisting clients in the early stages of their development, as well as two more coaches that specialise in supporting businesses in the later stages of their projects.

“It’s exciting to be part of such a driven organisation with a laser-like focus on building successful growth companies. I look forward to being involved in developing the incubator and working with the companies it supports”, says Tobias Tovedal.

Tobias joins UBI from the Department of Computer Science at Umeå University, where he spent the past four years setting up applied research projects in collaboration with Luleå University of Technology and Swedish industry.

“Before that I worked as a project leader right here at UBI - which was an opportunity I jumped at after graduating in technical physics. So I know the incubator and already know I enjoy it here. I believe I will be able to contribute with my knowledge of medical technology and calculation-intensive analysis methods”, he says.

Lisandro Bernardo has a PhD in molecular biology from Umeå University. After a few years working with applied research into diabetes, he switched focus to the green economy - specifically biorefineries. His role was to drive development projects and business development with the goal of developing new processes and solutions for converting biomass into green products. He worked closely with partners in the forestry and chemical industries, as well as various authorities and the academy.

In recent years he has worked as a business coach at Umeå’s Innovation Office and Umeå University Holding.

“My role has been to support researchers in developing the commercial potential of their applied research results. It is important to understand the driving forces and challenges of each case in order to be able to guide and support them in the best possible way on their journey”, says Lisandro Bernardo.

Umeå Biotech Incubator is well known both in Sweden and internationally for its ability to help grow new and existing life science companies, and has previously been named the most innovative life science incubator in Europe.

“Although I have not personally made the journey from an idea to a company myself, I have worked with innovation development and business development in various industries. This experience has given me a broad understanding from several different perspectives about the things that need to be achieved or avoided, as well as what must be transformed from challenge to opportunity in order to push an idea towards commercialisation. It’s exciting to be involved and share my knowledge with the team at UBI”, says Lisandro Bernardo.

Jennie Ekbeck says the new appointments demonstrate that UBI is broadening its competence even further.

“Now we can coach companies in everything from digital health to drug development. We have recruited Lisandro and Tobias to nurture the life science innovations of the future. And demand is high! We’ve noticed that lots more clients want to join the incubator, our premises are basically full and the pressure on laboratory facilities in Umeå is massive. Life science is an industry that is booming in our region - which is great news! The more jobs we can create and industries we can support, the more people and companies that will want to move here”, she says, and continues:

“We are constantly looking to strengthen the team at UBI. The appointments of Lisandro and Tobias mean two more important pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place. Now we are ready to take on 2022”!

For further information, please contact:

Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator
+46 90-15 49 77
jennie.ekbeck@ubi.se