20 Years. Hundreds of Founders. Countless Bold Decisions. And One Queen of Innovation. 👑💛

This year marks 20 years since Malin Jovanovic took the baton at what was then called Föreningen Framtidens Företag – today known as Founders Loft. But her journey alongside entrepreneurs began long before that.

After a stint in the corporate world, Malin quickly realised that long decision-making processes and slow change weren’t really her thing. Through Drivhuset in Gothenburg, and later helping establish Drivhuset in Borås, she found her place in a world where change isn’t just allowed. It’s the whole point. And that’s where she has stayed.

At the office, we call Malin the Queen of Innovation. Not because she loves innovation as a buzzword. But because she has an almost uncanny ability to sniff out what’s waiting around the next corner. New technology. New opportunities. New ways of working. Changes that at first seem far away – and then suddenly, they’re here.

But seeing change coming is one thing. Having the courage to act before everyone else sees it too is something entirely different. And perhaps that is where Malin’s real superpower lies. In the decisions that feel a little too big, a little too early, or a little too scary when they are made. The decisions where you leave behind something that works because you can see that something else will soon be needed.

It’s easy to talk about innovation when you already know how things turned out.

It’s much harder when you’re standing right in the middle of change and actually have to choose. During Malin’s 20 years, Föreningen Framtidens Företag has become Founders Loft. We have changed, built new things, experimented, scrapped ideas, started over and continued to evolve. Today, we are one of Vinnova’s selected Excellence Incubators.

But the most important result of these 20 years cannot be captured in a title, a programme or an organisation. It lives in the people. Hundreds of entrepreneurs who have walked through our doors with an idea that something could – and should – be done differently. Companies that grew. Companies that pivoted. Companies that soared and companies that fell. Founders who doubted, changed direction, got back up and tried again.

And through a very large part of those journeys, Malin has been there.

Curious. Demanding. Courageous. And still searching for the next big thing.

Almost 30 years close to entrepreneurship doesn’t seem to have made her the slightest bit more interested in doing things the way they’ve always been done.

Thank goodness for that.

Malin, thank you for 20 years of courageous decisions, relentless curiosity, entrepreneurs, ideas and change.

Thank you for continuing to sniff out what’s waiting around the next corner.

And for occasionally making the rest of us run to catch up. 😉

A huge congratulations on 20 years at Founders Loft, our Queen of Innovation. 👑💛

We suspect you’re already thinking about what we should do with the next 20. / Team Founders Loft