Startup and Innovation Activities at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE)

Updated

SSE highlights startup and innovation work mainly through SSE Business Lab, which welcomes new groups of startups—including experienced founders turning industry problems into businesses—and through research-driven initiatives such as the House of Innovation. The site frames these activities as part of SSE’s broader mission: education and research conducted “in close dialogue with business and society,” with programs and research “grounded in science and designed to address real-world challenges.” If you want to see how SSE connects entrepreneurship to research and industry, the Business Lab and House of Innovation are the two most visible entry points on hhs.se.

SSE Business Lab: what the site shows

According to SSE’s news section, the Business Lab’s fall cohort includes founders with backgrounds across insurance, manufacturing, AI, and entertainment, and features “a company operating between Stockholm and Los Angeles.” The site describes these as experienced founders “turning industry challenges into new businesses.”

That tells you two practical things about the program’s profile:

  • It is not limited to student side projects. The highlighted group includes people with prior industry experience.
  • It is sector-agnostic in practice. The examples span traditional industries (insurance, manufacturing) and newer fields (AI, entertainment), plus a cross-border setup.

The site does not publish cohort size, equity terms, funding amounts, or application deadlines in the material available here, so treat those as things to confirm directly with the Business Lab rather than assume.

Research-to-innovation: the House of Innovation example

A concrete illustration of SSE’s innovation research is a new interactive platform developed at the House of Innovation. Per the site, it lets users explore more than 900,000 research publications on gene and cell therapies and “see where that knowledge goes next”—tracking how research moves from scientific discovery toward treatments, patents, and policy.

This is a useful example of what “innovation” means at SSE beyond startups: mapping how knowledge travels from lab to market and regulation. If your interest is research commercialization or innovation policy rather than founding a company, this type of project is the closer match.

How the pieces fit together

Activity What it involves Who it suits
SSE Business Lab Startup cohorts; experienced founders addressing industry challenges Founders building companies
House of Innovation projects Research platforms tracing discovery → treatments, patents, policy Researchers, policy and innovation analysts
Overall SSE mission Research-based education in dialogue with business and society Prospective students and partners

The common thread is SSE’s stated approach of working “in close dialogue with business and society”—startups and research platforms are presented as two expressions of the same connection rather than separate tracks.

What to check before acting

  • For founders: confirm current cohort timing, eligibility, and what the Lab provides, since the site’s news item describes a cohort but not program terms.
  • For researchers or students: look at House of Innovation project pages for the specific platform and related publications.
  • For general orientation: the site’s “In focus,” “Latest news,” and “Life at SSE” sections are where new startup and innovation announcements appear, so they are the fastest way to see current activity.

One caveat: the available page material covers news and descriptions, not admissions criteria or costs for these programs. Verify specifics with SSE directly before relying on them for an application decision.