ABOUT BLING | BLING Startup

A new business state of mind

We are the friends and network needed to realize dreams of entrepreneurship – from idea to acceleration. We meet individuals and entrepreneurs on their terms and support them based on their needs and conditions.

BLING started in 2014 with the conviction that entrepreneurship is a key to self-realization and empowerment. At the same time, it is a method for breaking exclusion. However, many people lack the contacts, networks and resources needed to start and run businesses successfully.

We overcome structural barriers in society and democratize Swedish business. We open doors to new opportunities, both for entrepreneurs, investors and society at large.

We are for anyone with ideas, but who lacks access to the often-closed spaces, networks and contexts needed to realize them. We support everything from tech companies to non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs.

Our vision is an inclusive, innovative and competitive business community on equal terms – a business community that reflects the diversity of society. Together with our partners, members and other friends, we challenge exclusionary structures, prejudices and norms around entrepreneurship.

OUR CORNERSTONES

Empowerment

We highlight role models who inspire. We organize events, trainings and lectures that provide tools and knowledge to use in your career and entrepreneurship. Our podcast plays an important role, as does the För-orten competition.

Incubation

We coach and mentor entrepreneurs. Completely free of charge. We provide capital, tools and networks to develop their ideas. Our members are welcome to physical workplaces and meeting places in Kista. Through the competition För-orten, participants also have the opportunity to win capital for their business.

Acceleration

We offer programs, capital and tools to entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, including through the BLING Capital initiative.

Our backstory

BLING started as a project under the company Akadeva, with support from Rotary and Vinnova, among others, to counteract exclusion through good leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation. One of the project’s insights was how entrepreneurial learning helped to release the individual’s drive and motivation. The project also provided insights into how a lack of networks, knowledge and resources create barriers to achieving entrepreneurial success. The project also showed the opposite – what a huge potential there is to develop and strengthen our society when the right tools are in place.

These insights were confirmed by the personal experiences of founders Adnan Yousuf, Deqa Abukar and Arash Sofla, leading to the launch of BLING in late 2014.

Right from the start, we worked need-driven and with a target group perspective both within the team and together with our entrepreneurs. Gradually, we built an organisation that started with empowerment, where the focus was on mentoring, courses, inspiration and role models. As the needs of our entrepreneurs changed, we built the organisation further. We launched an incubator to provide more focused support to those entrepreneurs further along in their journey, and then an accelerator for those starting to scale up their companies.

BLING TODAY

Today, we continue to operate and develop our organisation with the same method and vision of democratizing entrepreneurship, where no talent is lost. We do this by working for the underrepresented and making equal access to opportunities available to all entrepreneurs. This activates an otherwise overlooked potential and creates a catalyst for social and economic development.

The team today consists of the founders Deqa Abukar and Adnan Yousuf, Hasti Barzanji (Business Developer) and Amir Sebdani (Business Developer and Project Manager).

Information about the BLING Capital team can be found here.