SmiLe strengthens team with international business expertise

Lund, Sweden – SmiLe Incubator has welcomed Åke Bengtsson, Lotta Ljungberg and Kåre Engkilde to further strengthen the business coach team. They will contribute their extensive experience from several industries and focus areas to SmiLe’s incubator companies and alumni members. The new coaches offer expertise in quality management and regulatory compliance as well as strategic support in the commercialization of biotech, business development, scale-up, and more.

In her role as business coach, Lotta Ljungberg will add expertise and support the startups in quality management, regulatory compliance, as well as aid them in design and development disciplines when registering their products. Lotta has worked in the medtech industry since 1992 and she has extensive experience in aligning market strategy with regulatory strategy, both crucial skills in the beginning of a company’s growth. In the past she has worked for companies such as HemoCue, CellaVision, and Elos Medtech AB. Lotta has a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Lund University.

As Senior Business Advisor, Åke Bengtsson will work closely with SmiLe coaches to provide expertise and strategic support in business development and scale-up, especially for more advanced member and alumni companies. Åke has 30 years of experience in several different industries where he has served in C-level positions at mid-size international organizations like PartnerTech, Haldex, and Gunnebo. His expertise covers general management, strategy execution, and managing investor relations in complex transactions as well as experience in private equity.  Åke holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Scandinavian Management Institute in Copenhagen.

As Senior Business Advisor, Kåre Engkilde will provide expertise and strategic support in drug development, pre-clinical and clinical studies, as well as commercialization of biotech, with his input  particularly focused on biotech, medtech, and diagnostic companies. He’s served in leadership positions in multiple life science companies, most recently as the CEO of Amniotics. There, he not only attracted funding for several rounds and IPO, but he also secured and structured the patent portfolio, product pipeline & clinical/regulatory progress. He has previously worked at Agilent Technologies, heading up Medical and Clinical Affairs for the Pathology business, leading the Immunology Area at Bioneer, and driving biomarker and translational areas at Leo Pharma.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome so many new industry experts to our already very senior team. With extensive experience from very different focus areas, their expertise will add to the diverse mix of competencies available, both to our member companies but also our alumni members that need support in scaling up their business”, says Lina Olsen Boreson, COO of SmiLe Incubator.

For more information: Lina Olsen Boreson, COO of Smile Incubator,  lina@smileincubator.life,  +46 703 781279