Summer reflections
Have you ever helped pigs give birth? I would have answered ‘no’, until this summer. How this happens will be discussed on a future episode :-)
This summer break was a good time to take some distance. We tend to get caught up in target fixation at the detriment of other important things in life, like family and firends.
Some free time enabled more space to explore new ideas, opportunities and experiences.
However being a founder, one never actually switches off…which is something I’ll maybe work on next summer. Having a zoom call on the beach and on a camel farm was the low point of my vacation as I could not be 100% present.
For those that follow BeetleSense, here is a brief update as to what we have been up to the last few weeks.
1.We have been approached by a German research institution to apply for funding for a collaboration for a joint research project.
2. We have applied to a German incubator and have gone through two rounds of screening. An interview will be next step, in August.
3. Version 3 of our eNose is soon to be ready for the wild. This weekend we test in a forest.
4. Mindact.ai introduced us to an amazing innovator that was passing through town. Let’s see what that leads to.
5. Mathias Karlsson and I had a lake side, brainstorm session. Between killing wasp every minute we managed to crystalize some new ideas and concepts.
6. A new advisor with vast experience joined our team. Based in Germany, Marc Junker has broadened our thinking to keep working on our current use case but also to look at wider applications. Based on that we have identified an additional two use cases we are for near term development.
7. We are now half way with the Landskrona Ventures accelerator. Yesterday we discussed a possible new business model of validating business ideas.
8. A drone company that has pushed boundaries, challenged my thinking of what is possible. Its too early to say more but lets see what unfolds.
9. There where a couple of potential investor meetings, but no commitments yet. We just need one yes :-)
For the next two weeks we are conducting intense testing and R&D. We are doing what is necessary to move forward as far a possible with severely limited resources. Its forcing us to be even more creative and resourceful. We need to say a special thank you to Lund University Innovation for supporting us during this critical phase.
Also to our team, every decision, phone call and challenge solved is giving me more and more confidence that we are on to something big. Thank you. Now back to the journey…