TOUCHING BASE WITH SVANTE BENGTSSON

Svante Bengtsson was one of the finalists in the 2011 Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. His company Rehact produces a cooling, warming and ventilation system for buildings that cuts energy use by 85 per cent by transferring air between inside and outside.  

Svante Bengtsson, photo by Roy Beusker

How are you? Any new developments at Rehact?

Rehact is doing very well. We closed an investment round in early December and two weeks later learned that we had won the Green Mentorship Award by Niklas Zennström. So I'm currently in London for a mentorship meeting and strategy planning for 2012-13. These two next years will be very exiting years for Rehact.

How do you look back on participating in the Green Challenge, and would you recommend it to other entrepreneurs?

Yes we would. It was very inspiring to be in Amsterdam and meet the jury first hand. Many interesting experiences and possible future cooperation leads came out of that week in Amsterdam.

What did you learn by participating in the Green Challenge?

I learnt that the interest for green innovation is so much larger than we initially thought. The possible market for our product is basically the world and it was great hearing that from the very qualified members of the jury.

Did you encounter new possibilities by entering the Green Challenge?

Yes, we did. Right now we are in a funding process so winning the money would have been nice, but we now have many connections that we can draw upon to get the business rolling faster.

What is your motivation to keep doing what you do?

I live to see our system become the new standard in how you provide heating and cooling for buildings. Today so much energy is wasted on inefficient systems and I want to change that. I want to be there when the revolution comes.

What is the best advice you never got?

Most advice is good and well meant but still not always applicable for you at the stage your company is at. So the advice never said would be "Don't follow this advice" :-).