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Janna Naser, the founder of Alga Insulation, was awarded Froda's Female Entrepreneur of the Future scholarship yesterday during the Tomorrow ́s Founders event. The 19-year-old from Örebro now wants to revolutionize the construction industry by producing insulation from algae.

The Female Entrepreneur of the Future scholarship aims to promote female entrepreneurs in the start-up phase and inspire more women to start businesses. Through the award, Janna now receives SEK 100,000 to invest in the company.

- "It's an incredible honor just to be nominated for Froda's scholarship for future female entrepreneurs. But to also win feels incredibly big. We are in great need of money in the start-up phase and the scholarship will help me realize my visions for Alga Insulation, says Janna Naser, founder of Alga Insulation.

During high school, the 19-year-old started Alga Insulation to address the problem created by algae washed up from the sea, which leads to eutrophication if left behind. Since graduating, she has continued to run the company and, with the help of researchers at RISE, the Research Institute of Sweden, Alga Insulation is developing insulation materials based on seaweed. The method has the potential not only to lead to more sustainable construction but also to help reduce eutrophication in the oceans.

- Janna has distinguished herself with her courage and her ability to gather an impressive network around her vision to revolutionize the construction industry. The construction industry today accounts for a large part of Sweden's total emissions and through Alga Insulation's solution - she not only addresses a critical problem but has also introduced a groundbreaking solution with great potential to change the world for the better, says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

The construction industry currently accounts for more than a fifth of Sweden's total emissions each year. Alga Insulation wants to reduce emissions by revolutionizing how insulation is produced. According to Janna, the hope is that production will be up and running within two years.

- Through our solution, we hope to contribute to the construction industry becoming increasingly sustainable. Demand for insulation materials is increasing and many are adding insulation to reduce high electricity costs. We hope to have a finished product on the market within two years," says Janna Naser.

Jury's motivation
The winner of the Female Entrepreneur of the Future award has not only distinguished herself with her courage, her knowledge and her strong ability to rally an impressive network around her vision, but also demonstrated a strong drive in an industry that is rarely characterized by simplicity when it comes to change. Through her company, she has not only addressed a critical problem, but has also introduced a groundbreaking solution with real potential to change our world for the better.

This year's winner is a role model who has dug gold where others see problems, and we hope this mentality will continue to inspire, and warm up, many generations after her.

About the scholarship
The scholarship is Froda's way of recognizing young female entrepreneurs, and the Future Female Entrepreneur award was established in 2022. The scholarship is worth SEK 100,000 and aims to provide young women who want to or have started a business with capital that enables the realization of their idea.

The assessment criteria for the grant are drive, sustainability, creativity, feasibility, problem solving, the impact the company would have and the impact the money would have on the company.

More than half of Europe's small businesses struggle to access finance. As a step in making business finance more accessible, Froda is expanding its partnership with Visa and scaling up its offering in Europe. This means that more fintech companies and banks can access Froda's card-based embedded lending product and offer business loans to their customers.

More than 50% of Europe's small businesses lack external finance, despite it being a fundamental factor for growth.* In times of economic stress, access to finance becomes even more important. The partnership between Froda and Visa will address this and help SMEs access finance in real time with automated credit decisions and payments through Visa Direct.

- "Card-based embedded lending is an important step in making business finance available to small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. Through our joint effort, we hope to promote innovation and growth in Europe," says Philip Konopik, Regional Managing Director Nordics & Baltics at Visa.

Through the expanded partnership, Visa and Froda aim to bring card-based embedded lending to more players in more markets. The product works in the same way as a traditional business loan, but thanks to Visa's global card infrastructure, card-based embedded lending is both faster and easier to scale to different markets. This creates opportunities for other fintech companies and banks to both scale their operations and expand their offerings.

- The partnership with Visa is a major milestone for us, so it feels great to expand it. We are proud of what we have achieved so far and are convinced that the solution will help entrepreneurs in Europe, Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

Card-based embedded lending was launched in June and is available in Denmark through Lunar and in Germany through Kontist, part of the Ageras Group. In 2024, Visa and Froda plan to expand the product to more markets and partners. This expansion is in line with Froda's vision to provide accessible and innovative financial solutions for small and medium-sized businesses across Europe.

- Since the product was launched in June, we have successfully launched it with two partners in two markets and seen a great interest within the industry. We look forward to expanding card-based embedded lending to further markets and giving more entrepreneurs access to finance," says Stella Snickare, VP Froda Embedded.

The product was launched in June and is available in Denmark through Lunar and in Germany through Kontist, part of the Ageras Group.

* Eurostat, Statista, Allianz, Froda

Since 1980, the proportion of female entrepreneurs has increased by just one percentage point and only a quarter of all entrepreneurs in Sweden are women. To encourage more women to start and run businesses, Froda awards the "Female Entrepreneur of the Future" scholarship. This year, the scholarship received almost 200 applications and now the five finalists can be presented: Maria Niclason, Edith Heppich, Lovisa Sunnerholm, Janna Naser and Sabelle Beraki.

The winner of the Female Entrepreneur of the Future scholarship will be presented during Froda's Tomorrow's Founders event on March 7. Tomorrow's Founders is a recurring event organized by Froda that highlights today's and tomorrow's entrepreneurs. The event aims to inspire more people to start their own business in general, as well as to encourage more gender equality and diversity in business in particular. The evening will be chaired by Klara Adolphson and during the event Susanne Najafi (BackingMinds), Sania Claus Demina (sania d'mina) and Dora Palfi (imagi) will talk about their entrepreneurial journeys.

- The purpose of the grant is to help improve the conditions for female entrepreneurs and give more women the opportunity to invest in their ideas. That's why it's great that we have received so many applications and fantastic ideas. All of the finalists are really good examples of the female entrepreneurs of the future," says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

Established in 2022, the scholarship will be awarded for the second time this year. The winner is awarded SEK 100,000 to invest in their business and aims to provide women who want to, or have just started a business, with capital that enables the realization of their idea.

Do you want to be present at the event? Register for the event here: https://tomorrowsfounders2024....

The finalists:

Maria Niclason, After Class
Maria Niclason is a real estate entrepreneur from the US who moved to Sweden to explore new avenues in her entrepreneurship. Today, Maria lives in Järfälla and runs the company After Class, a platform that revolutionizes how parents and teenagers discover and engage in leisure activities. After Class brings together a wide range of classes and courses in areas such as sports, art and technology that make it easier for young people to shape their leisure time and lay the foundation for increased well-being and personal development.

Edith Heppich, Hyggligt
Edith Heppich is a lawyer from Hallsberg whose passion for climate issues led her to invest in sustainable forestry. In 2023, she founded Hyggligt, which wants to change the way we use the forest and make it economically profitable with clear-cut forestry. Hyggligt works to develop solutions that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the effects of climate change and increase biodiversity.

Lovisa Sunnerholm, Enkei
Lovisa Sunnerholm is a marketer who left a successful career, with high positions in multinational companies, to start her own company focused on circular design. In less than a year, her company Enkei has gone from being just an idea, to having produced its first product: a table lamp made of mostly waste and designed to make the sustainable choice the attractive one and highlight circular solutions. In the process, they have also developed a proprietary material based on Europe's third largest source of waste: the construction and demolition industry. The material consists of over 90% waste and instead of conventional concrete sand, Enkei uses ceramic waste from construction sites, tackling the problems of both sand mining and improper disposal of ceramic waste that is currently landfilled.

Janna Naser, Alga Insulation
Janna Naser is the 19-year-old from Örebro who, despite being only 19 years old, has her sights set on revolutionizing the way insulation is produced. During high school, she founded Alga Insulation to address the problem created by seaweed washed up from the sea, which leads to eutrophication if it is put back. Since graduating, she has continued to run the company and, with the help of researchers at RISE, the Research Institute of Sweden, Alga Insulation is developing insulation materials based on seaweed. The method has the potential not only to lead to more sustainable construction but also to help reduce eutrophication in the oceans.

Sabelle Beraki, Bells Toys
Sabelle Beraki is the entrepreneur from the south of Stockholm who has paved the way for a more inclusive and representative toy industry in Sweden. After going her whole life without finding dolls that represented her own identity, she decided to take matters into her own hands and founded Bells Toys. With the goal of improving the confidence and self-esteem of children, Bells Toys manufactures dolls with a focus on diversity and representation and today Sabelle's dolls are sold all over the country.