IKDC and the School of Industrial Design has been the breeding ground for multiple famous entrepreneurs, such as Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin who founded Hövding, the airbag helmet and Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, founder of Niklas Zennström backed Orbital Systems. Alumni also include people like Isabelle Olsson who is head industrial design for Google’s Home and Wearable products.

The school of renowed for it’s high quality and accepts only 30 students each year. It is led by Claus-Christian Eckhardt.

“He has experience from international businesses and high-profile design for famous brands, but is driven by a passion and there were resources for implementing projects,”

– says Mehrdad Mahdjoubi to Sydsvenskan when talking about how his time at IKDC.

The donation, which is over €33 million will go towards the Lund University School of Industrial Design. The education, which is held at the IKDC center in Lund has already earlier gotten grants on a yearly basis from Ingvar Kamprad, but now the foundation has decided to make a large contribution, with the aim of making that money sustain the education and research going forward.

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Started in 2006, Hövding launched a new kind of helmet for cyclists: the airbag helmet. The company was founded by the students Anna Haupt och Terese Alstin. Hövding started out as a master’s thesis and today the helmets are available in fifteen markets around Europe and also in Japan.

With both it’s founders having left operational roles at the company, it’s journey has not been without it’s ups and downs. The current CEO Fredrik Carling, has moved the company in a strongly market oriented direction, prepared it for the IPO and further expansion.

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New share issue and IPO

Now, Hövding announced that the company plans to IPO at First North this coming summer. The company is currently raising € 6.5 million in new funding. The existing owners will invest in Hövding along with two new investors, one of which is an institutional investor. The largest shareholders are Industrifonden, Indigo Capital Partners and LMK Industri. Later in summer, the plan is to go public.

“We believe that the IPO will benefit the company, then it will get access to the capital required for market expansion”, says Nicholas Jakobsson, Investment Manager at Industrifonden.

Fredrik Carling, CEO of Hövding, declared that the money will be used on sales activities and marketing. According to Dagens Industri and 8till5, the company has already raised 80 percent of the investment round.

Hövding has had a long journey, and not without some controversies. But recently the second generation of the helmet has been released, and there are plans to take it further then just bicycles related. With the current IPO plans the company aims at further expansion and growth.

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The concept of Hövding, a cycle helmet that people would be happy to wear – whether they had to or not, was inspired by imposition of a law in Sweden making helmet use mandatory for children up to the age of 15.  The project, pioneered by Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, two students studying Industrial Design at the University of Lund, resulted in the concept of an airbag helmet. After a series of awards, including Innovationsbron’s Ideas Grant and the Venture Cup 2006, Hövding Sweden AB was founded.

After the first version of the helmet sold out across European markets and online, the firm decided it was time for something better (though not necessarily bigger). New versions of the helmet are officially released next year, but can be pre-ordered online in the meantime.

So what’s new in version 2.0? The new helmet is adapted for a greater variety of bicycle models, including collapsible and easy-to-assemble bikes. The company guarantees the same level of safety as with the first design, but with better comfort and bike-versatility.

The Business Cycle

This exciting news follows another announcement: that 50% of Hövdings founder group, Anna Haupt, is leaving the company. Haupt has been part of the firm since its initiation in 2006, and been on the board since 2010, but as we know, things don’t always run smoothly and friction and change within a business team is inevitable.

“The  CEO of Hövding  and I no longer share the same vision for the company,”  she reveals to 8till5 SydSvenskan.

Fellow board member and chairman since 2010, Örjan Johansson, elaborates:

“Anna and the management do not share the same opinion concerning the company’s direction. We on the board have struggled with how to deal with this for a long time  and tried to find solutions, but we have finally had a discussion with Anna and come to an agreement.”

This isn’t goodbye: Haupt will remain involved in the firm as a shareholder and board-member, although she is relinquishing her operational role.

What path will Hövding cycle down next? Haupt had been working on establishing the firm in the US market, but Johansson admits that this is low on their current list of priorities.

“We are established in fifteen countries in Europe... We have experienced a manifold increase in volume compared to last year. The US is further away...”

We wish them the best of luck with whatever path they choose!
Be sure to read more on both stories at 8till5

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Hövdings solution, to create an invisible helmet that acts like an airbag, has had a long way from idea to reality. It is however now ready to scale up, and can frequently be seen on the streets in the region – if you know what to look for.

The aim with the investment is to continue its expansion and growth. The investment will make Indigo Capital Partners the largest investor besides Industrifonden.

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