PRESS RELEASE

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. is pleased to announce the winner of the Anders Wall Award for Exceptional Entrepreneurship: CELLINK. Among the four companies that made onstage presentations during the Innovate46 conference on October 11, the jury selected Erik Gatenholm, Founder & CEO of CELLINK, as the winner based on the following five criteria:

  • The entrepreneur possesses exceptional entrepreneurial capacity and ability to create and lead a successful business.
  • The entrepreneur is an exemplary ambassador for entrepreneurship.
  • The entrepreneur has identified and created a product, technology or service, which generates increased customer satisfaction, or has recognized an innovative market niche.
  • The company possesses a high probability to succeed in the United States.
  • The technology, product, or service has a proven traction on the U.S. market and possesses a high probability to scale on the American market.

The entrepreneur behind CELLINK, Erik Gatenholm, received a check for $25,000 from Anders Walls Stiftelse.
“I’m very thankful for the tremendous opportunity. Thank you to Dr. Wall and SACCNY,” says Gatenholm. “This is confirmation that we´re doing something right. As an entrepreneur you go from success to success—those are your peaks. Then you have very long or deep dips. You have to keep getting back up again and again. This honor is amazing and the feeling is going to last us a long time.”

The jury consisted of: Jury Chair, Cathinka E. Wahlstrom, Senior Managing Director Financial Services N.A., Accenture; Leslie Blodgett, Creator and Former CEO, Bare Escentuals/Bare Minerals; Niclas Dellham, Representative, Anders Walls Stiftelse; Dana Settle, Founding Partner, Greycroft Partners; Marcus Liu, Head of Startup, Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth; and Wendy Xiao Schadeck, VC, NorthZone.

The other nominated companies that made onstage presentations at Innovate46 were Acast, Bontouch, and Qapital.

 

Erik Gatenholm
Founder & CEO

 

About CELLINK

CELLINK is the first bioink company in the world that focuses on the development and commercialization of bioprinting technologies that allows researchers to 3D print human organs and tissues for the development of pharmaceutical and cosmetic treatments.

CELLINK’s innovative and patent pending bioink is a biomaterial innovation that enables human cells to grow and thrive such as they would in the natural human body environment. Today, the company’s disruptive technology platform is being utilized to print tissues such as cartilage, skin, and even fully functional cancer tumors that can then be used to develop new cancer treatments. The company has, within 12 months, been able to commercialize products in more than 30 countries and sold to more than hundreds of prestigious labs around the world, such as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and FDA. CELLINK is truly revolutionizing the world of medicine.

 


 

Contact
Anna Throne-Holst
Executive Director – President, The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
E-mail: anna.throne-holst@saccny.org, tel: +1 212 838 5530

Yasmina Backström
Head of Communications, The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
E-mail: yasmina.backstrom@saccny.org, tel: +1 212 838 5530