Marie Wall is the start-up director at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. She has an MSc in computer science from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. With a wide range of positions in the world of start-ups and the innovation system, she is the bridge between the ministry and the start-up community.
She started her career in IT research, but soon joined the 90’s start-up scene. She participated in a number of start-ups such as Everyday.com (one of the first portals in Sweden), Sendit (mobile internet company, bought by Microsoft), Cypak (printed electronics) and Bosieboo (business to consumer). She has also invested in start-ups through the venture capital company Speedventure and as a business angel. Marie has also spent time in Silicon Valley as a technical attaché and as a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
Before joining the Ministry she was, at the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation System (Vinnova), responsible for the national incubation program, providing financing to incubators and young start-ups. At Vinnova she has also been responsible for setting up the ”Strategic Innovation Programme”, an initiative to create co-operation between industry and academia.
Competition in the digital era is fierce, and Europe is at serious risk of being left behind by the more advanced technological economies of China and the United States. To stay in the competition, Europe should prioritize scaling startups into large European corporations – something we are failing at today. This is important, not only from a purely economic growth perspective but from a more societal perspective. We are slowly losing the control of the future and we fail to realize how much is actually at stake.