It's been some weeks since CEO Nicolina Fransson at OmMej pitched her way to victory in Pinc Capital, winning the prize of 50.000:-. We wanted to hear what has happened since that, if she has any advise for other female entrepreneurs, and what the future looks like for OmMej.
Who is Nicolina Fransson, and what does your company do?
First and foremost, I´m a mother of two amazing girls of 12 and 14 years that teaches me a lot, both about myself (mostly my flaws) but also about how it is to grow up in 2020. I´m a stubborn adrenaline junkie. In my private life, I use that adrenaline to run far and ride quirky, wild horses, in my work life I let the adrenaline drive my egalitarianism and thirst for knowledge. All my work life I have had one foot in the clinical world and one in the developmental- and research world. My company, OmMej, provides a service that addresses problems such as the ever-growing mental ill health and the enormous human suffering and considerable financial costs it imposes on society. OmMej is a digital platform for all agencies and welfare organizations where they can at an early stage collect and illustrate the perspectives of both individual and large groups of children. This facilitates decision making in preventive and co-creative societal interventions.
What did it mean for OmMej to win Pinc Capital and to be a part of NFIM?
It is a great privilege to be among so many amazing women - both founders and investors! To win and to be a part of NFIM is important because the world needs to get over it and get used to women taking their place and delivering so many fantastic innovations. We know that it is harder for women to succeed in what still is a man’s world – I prefer to turn the argument around: DESPITE working in a man’s world, women succeed, get capital, get access to power - we do it anyway. With THAT determination, courage and perseverance, who would NOT want to bet on us?!
What challenges is OmMej facing in the future?
We know that the welfare sector must be digitized in order for us as users of the welfare system to get better service faster, more coordinated and equal care. In Sweden, there are still many barriers for implementing new technology and digitization, mainly issues with data security and protecting personal integrity. There is a great fear of making mistakes and sometimes that fear creates decisions based on a feeling of ”better safe than sorry”. We continuously work to make OmMej as safe and secure as possible both for the individual but also for the public services that use the service.
So what will OmMej be focusing on in the near future?
We are a fantastic team and have all the skills and opportunities to focus on our next milestone – to make OmMej available for children and adolescents and their families that are not yet in the scope of public services. We always strive to identify the right preventive measures as early as possible, for individuals as well as for large groups of children. With this step, we are creating an even better service, with the ambition to give families the care and support they might need and facilitate collaboration between organizations, making children the main character in their own care.
Tell us about your career journey!
I have spent many years working with development and drive change from within municipalities and public services. Today, with OmMej, it sometimes feels like I have gone over to the "dark side" when I now try to make change happen from outside the traditional welfare system, in the form and shape of a business. I am still an advocate of the welfare system being the best tool for helping individuals – but we must increasingly find solutions wherever they can be found – the benefits of the welfare system is so important that speed has become a factor - we must act as fast, safe and efficient we can to provide for the needs of the individual.
Do you have any tips for other female entrepreneurs?
Love to learn new things! Be open and curious! There is no shame in not knowing – ask, ask, ask (I didn’t even know what a CRM - system was when I started out…)! Be encouraging and give, do not focus on short term gains, focus on giving, being open and inclusive and others will want to give back. Last but not least, if you can - work twice as hard as anyone else!
Once again, congratulations on the Pinc Capital victory Nicolina! We are very happy to have both you and OmMej in the house.
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