Sepehr Mousavi: Cultivating innovations

They have received a host of prizes and awards, which is not hard to understand when you meet Sepehr. With infectious energy, he talks convincingly about the idea and the technology, plans for the future, and the constant search for new smart solutions to realise their dream of modern, accessible agriculture. Despite the advanced technology used, we feel that we understand how everything is connected when Sepehr takes us to the cultivation room in the basement of the Dagens Nyheter Tower, where Swegreen has its innovation lab. The plants speak their own language.

The dream of efficient agriculture

Ideas and innovations rarely emerge in a vacuum, but are frequently the result of various experiences and encounters with others. The story of Swegreen reminds us of this fact, not least through Sepehr’s own account of how his path led him to Sweden ten years ago, after he had decided he wanted to work on something more meaningful. Green technology and sustainability brought him all the way here – from Iran via the USA, Switzerland, London, Singapore, and Dubai. His story highlights the qualities that often characterise an entrepreneur: courage, curiosity about the unknown, and a willingness to test new ground. These qualities are not entirely unlike those of a scientist.

Sepehr’s ideas about a new way of farming go back to his grandfather’s farm in Iran and wondering why the labour of growing wheat, cotton, and pistachios could not be done more efficiently.

As a child, it was very exciting to see how people worked in agriculture. I always wondered why it had to be so hard. Why can’t we make it easier and more automatic? When my grandfather told me about the water shortage, I didn’t understand a thing. I thought, “Why doesn’t he fill the bathtub and take water from home to the crops in the big car?”

Perhaps Sepehr’s curiosity and drive to explore new territory can also be explained by the fact that he and his family later had to flee the war from Iran’s capital, Tehran. His life story makes it clear that he is unafraid of new things, new people, new countries, new languages, and new knowledge. Nothing is difficult enough.

A unique ecosystem

Sepehr chose to move to Sweden for a career change and started studying agroecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences with energy and optimism for the future, which also stay with us after our meeting. Choosing Sweden can be seen as the result of the realisation that “sustainability is taken seriously here”, but also of his curiosity as to why such a small country has been able to grow several large, and now international, companies such as Ikea, Volvo, Tetra Pak, and Ericsson.

Sepehr’s curiosity about the successful climate for innovation and entrepreneurship has been partially satisfied. What stands out is that in Sweden, unlike in many other countries, there are support and structures to promote entrepreneurship. This realisation has emerged primarily through the collaborative projects that Swegreen has been involved in.

It is therefore unsurprising that Sepehr is now a member of the assessment group for granting innovation projects at Sweden’s innovation agency, Vinnova. The desire to give back and contribute to a competitive, sustainable Sweden is unmistakable.

Old solutions find new purposes

Sepehr repeatedly stresses that it is important to understand that innovation and running a start-up requires a lot of work. You have to be willing and used to trying new solutions, but also to finding new purposes for old solutions. You need to be able to handle multiple roles and be willing to wear different caps. You need to be prepared to cross boundaries and dare to try new paths to get the job done. 

Swegreen’s innovation lab is itself a symbol of how old solutions can find new purposes and uses. In the basement of the Dagens Nyheter Tower in Stockholm, three floors below ground in the old newspaper archive – no longer in use since everything is now stored digitally – Sepehr and his colleagues share the space with testbeds for new vertical farms, as the technology of localised, resource-efficient cultivation of salad greens is known. 

I used to be in nice offices on the top floor and now I’m here in the basement on level minus three. So maybe it was a downgrade, but now I’m working on something important!

Sepehr explains his interest in vertical farming by saying that in his search for ways to contribute to a sustainable society, he was captivated by the book The Vertical Farm by Professor Dickson Despommier of Columbia University. The book emphasises the need to look at things differently in order to rethink and reimagine.

Goals and means

For collaboration to be interesting, different types of expertise need to be recognised, and both parties need to understand that they have much to learn from each other. And for collaboration to work, equal parts curiosity and drive are required. Sepehr thinks that it may be less of a job and more of a lifestyle. The fact that researchers are expected to publish is not questioned within the company. Instead, it is actually a good thing that it takes time to publish in a scientific journal, as it makes the company less vulnerable if trade secrets were to be leaked in a publication. For Swegreen, the most important is learning from the process and learning how they can speed up their development process.

In the start-up world, you do everything superfast because there’s so much competition out there. You have to be fast and you have to use your upper-hands. But in the research world, it can take longer, because they’re not used to working at that speed and being on the edge. Because it can also take time to build a lab, for example, to buy equipment and do procurement.

Swegreen has been involved in several collaborative projects. Sepehr laughs and says “it’s my fault” while explaining – more seriously – that “it’s in our DNA to collaborate with different universities and research institutes”. While their experiences of collaboration vary, Swegreen has found it easier to connect with the smaller universities where the firebrands are easier to identify. If there is one person who says “yes, this is really exciting”, then I can go and talk to that person, who may also be in a position to make decisions themselves. It helps a lot.

While Sepehr and his colleagues have learnt about research and researchers’ aims, the researchers have learnt about the goals and conditions of entrepreneurs. Although he has no time to do a PhD at the moment, it is something that Sepehr is considering and finds appealing – at some point in the future. Collaboration may perhaps also be seen as a way of opening up pathways in and out of academia, and an opportunity for more – alternative – career paths.

Right money, right project

Various collaborative projects have given the company the opportunity to develop new ways of applying technical solutions, but also the funds to start up operations. For researchers, such projects have provided access to a testbed, but also the opportunity to develop their own centre at Mälardalen University, the Farm for Future Centre, to continue research and build up expertise in vertical farming. This has given both Mälardalen University and Swegreen an important position and legitimacy. Sepehr says it is important to be honest with each other and realise that both parties need to see a “win-win”. 

It has been easy to work with Mälardalen University, and not least with Monica Odlare, Baran Çürüklü, and their research teams. Mutual understanding and respect for each other has emerged, and Sepehr describes it as a willingness to try to help each other in a way that goes beyond – in this case – a project funded by the Knowledge Foundation. Collaboration not only builds on professional relationships but also develops them and can lead to new friendships.

Small businesses, big opportunities

For small companies and start-ups like Swegreen, collaboration is an opportunity to grow and develop. It is a way of acquiring knowledge that is much cheaper and more valuable than hiring a consultant, for example. At the same time, Sepehr emphasises that it is important to understand that companies sometimes have to turn down collaborative projects, not because they do not want to participate, but because they lack funding that allows them to allocate time and resources in the way researchers may want and need. Collaboration also has its challenges, such as the fact that resources are always limited.

Another challenge is related to the expectation that collaboration will lead not only to innovation but also to growth and jobs. After a while, a small company reaches the point where it needs to consider whether to expand internationally. Sweden has a relatively small market for Swegreen’s innovations, says Sepehr. How start-ups can develop in collaboration with other actors is in itself a question deserving more research and knowledge creation.

Perhaps this is not part of the mandate given to the Knowledge Foundation or Vinnova. They help innovations come to life, but then the company itself must take responsibility for further development. This needs to be considered, the need for a support system for companies that are no longer start-ups but are about to become scale-ups.

However, Sepehr is doing what he has done all his life: he is not waiting for anyone else to solve problems. He is in the process of packing his bags once again. This time, he is moving to the US West Coast to pursue his dream of future farming. And perhaps Swegreen’s international journey will inspire new structures and support here at home.

This text is translated from Swedish. Original text: Maria Grafström and Anna Jonsson. Photos: Sebastian Borg.