Ideon - Sweden's oldest science park
Old is not synonymous with boring. Swedens oldest science park Ideon still manages to attract young companies with big ideas. The recipe for success? To continue to invest in further development.
”An environment like this never stands still. Although it has 27 years of history, the park has steadily grown and will continue to do so”, he says.
The decision to build Ideon was based on regional political considerations by the provincial government of the Malmöhuslän, today called Region Skåne. The area was, at the time, going through a major economic crisis and many companies, such as Kockums, went bankrupt. Something had to be done to regain optimism in the region to make it easier for new and small businesses with emphasis on research in southern Sweden.
Sven-Thore Holm was president when Ideon was founded. He worked with the science park for 25 years, and now helps others trying to start up science parks.
Via Lundavision, he works with consulting companies in countries such as China and Russia. He contends that Ideon is a strong international brand name. In Scandinavia, only Oulu can compare with Lund’s science park.
”Both the quality and volume of Ideon is very good. When traveling the world, you see parks that are just industrial areas, that do not serve the same purpose”, he says.
In 1983, ten of Ericsson’s top engineers moved in to Ideon. The task was to develop something that few people thought possible, and even if possible no one would be interested in the product. The plan was to develop a phone that could fit in a jacket pocket. Ericsson was among the first tenants following the company’s success, rumors about Ideon spread.
”Ericsson chose Lund because they saw a growing area and a need to recruit many young students. Today, a total of 5000 are employed in Lund when including Sony Ericsson and ST Ericsson”, says Hans Möller.
Today, around one-third of the companies in Ideon are active in Life science. Among the more famous former tenants are BioInvent, Cellavision and Probi.
”Ideon was built next to Lund University with only 100 meters to the Faculty of Engineering. Another success factor is that Lund University has a large research budget, the largest in Sweden, with all faculties accessing funds totaling EUR 400 million in various areas”, explains Hans Moller.
BioInvent was the second company to move into Ideon. Behind BioInvent was Carl Borrebaeck, currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Lund University with specific responsibility for innovation. He contends that Ideon has meant a lot to Lund.
“It is the largest research park with 300 businesses including a large part in biotech. Today it has grown and become a complete center providing everything necessary. I know it has had an enormous effect on the region, “says Carl Borrebaeck.
When companies with ambition get together in one area they can move in different ways. At Ideon the 110 000 square meters of office and laboratory space provide a dynamic environment. The inspiration for Ideon is taken from the Heriot-Watt research park in Scotland.
“They began with a small-scale container in the city, a container built into an office. That’s when we thought we could start in the barracks”, says Sven-Thure Holm.
Ideon’s homepage speaks for itself: the research park has not remained in the past. Here you will be prompted to follow Ideon on Facebook or via a blog. Research Park is aiming to attract young science companies with great ideas.
“There is always a great amount of activity in this type of environment. The downside is that it might not be so easy to control activities. All are perhaps not ’coachable’, but perhaps that’s part of the attraction”, says Ideon CEO Hans Moller.
How the future will look like is still unknown, but there are plans for expansion. One hopes that Ideon will take over Astrazeneca’s premises in Lund when research there has ended.
”We prefer that the building becomes part of Ideon. The deal has not yet been made so we’ll have to see where we wind up. It would open up enormous opportunities for life-science companies”, says the present CEO of Ideon.
Ideon has given much thought not only to the buildings of the research park. Ideon seriously sees its mission as the attraction of both new and existing growth-oriented, research and development companies. For younger firms, this provides a network of mentors in leadership, business development and financing.
Sven-Thore Holm says he never had a dull day in his working life, and that he is happy with the way Ideon took off under his direction.
”Ideon is characterized by life science companies. These include biotech, but also food technologies. It is a bit like a mirror of the Areas of Excellence at the University of Lund and Lund Institute of Technology. Telecom and software are other strengths. Ideon is a mirror of the research we have here”, he explains.