VentureLab@SLU Student Award

Win 10.000 SEK with your idea!

About VentureLab@SLU Student Award

Are you studying at SLU or pursuing your PhD? Then you can compete with your idea!
A business idea in any field – either an improvement of something already on the market or a completely new solution. You can submit multiple applications with different ideas; in that case, please send separate applications for each idea.

The application period is open from august 29 until november 16, where we would like to see a brief description of your idea based on the NABC model, which you can find more information about under Resources.

Questions: venturelab@slu.se
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Är du student eller doktorand på SLU? Då kan du vara med och tävla med din idé!

En affärsidé inom valfritt område - som förbättrar något som finns på marknaden idag eller är en helt ny lösning. Du kan skicka in flera ansökningar med olika idéer, skicka i sådana fall flera separata anmälningar. 

Anmälan är öppen mellan 29 augusti till 16 november, där du anger en kort beskrivning av idén utifrån NABC modellen, som du hittar mer information om under Resurser

Frågor: venturelab@slu.se

Winner in Ultuna autumn 2025

It was a great pleasure for the jury to award this autumn’s innovation prize for SLU students to Edward Rinaldo.
Edward Rinaldo has developed a concept for producing environmentally friendly solid cleaning soap from used frying oil collected from restaurants. Edward sees several environmental benefits with his product.

- Today, used frying oil from Swedish restaurants is exported to be converted into bioenergy abroad. I want to start a domestic soap production where we give the raw material an extended life cycle. We will use paper packaging instead of plastic, and by making the soap in solid form we can further reduce transportation and climate impact.

Winner in Alnarp autumn 2025

Lena Strassburg’s innovative idea for developing a growing substrate impressed the jury and was awarded SEK 10,000.

Peat is a good growing substrate, but the environmental consequences of peat extraction makes it an unsustainable option. The solution Lena is now developing is a peat-free growing substrate based on residual streams from agriculture.

The goal is to offer the horticultural sector a substrate with the same high performance as peat but without the negative impact on the climate. Lena will now continue developing her idea with support from VentureLab@SLU/SLU Holding.

The VentureLab@SLU Student Award in Alnarp is a competition where all students at SLU’s campus in Alnarp can compete with their business ideas. The prize of SEK 10,000 is financed by Region Skåne.

Winner spring 2025

Paulina Witting - Flexobirth

In connection with Thesis Day at Ultuna, the VentureLab@SLU Student Award was presented for the first time. Congratulations to the winner, Paulina Witting, who was awarded SEK 10,000 for her innovative idea.

The VentureLab@SLU Student Award is a business idea competition aimed at all students at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. In their submissions, students develop solutions that improve something already on the market or present a completely new innovation.

This year’s award goes to Paulina Witting and her idea, Flexobirth, which has great potential to simplify veterinarians’ work in cases of dystocia/malpositions in horses and farm animals. The problem is common, and currently there are few effective solutions for repositioning the fetus. Paulina has developed a technical solution, and she will now explore opportunities to realize it.

- It’s exciting to be the first winner of the VentureLab@SLU Student Award. I came up with the idea during my veterinary studies. Now I plan to work with SLU Holding to take the next steps in the innovation process, says Paulina Witting.

- Flexobirth is an exciting idea with a high level of innovation and great potential to save many animals’ lives. Among all the submissions, Paulina’s idea stood out by combining practical applicability with a feasible technical solution, says Hanna Josefsson, head of VentureLab@SLU and member of the jury.