Vinnova gives Livskämpar AB one million kroner for their investment in a digital tool for suicide prevention. The idea was also the first to be supported in DigitalWell Arena's investment in innovation support in the Corona crisis.
In total, Vinnova is now providing SEK 11 million in support to 13 different projects via the call Innovation in the wake of the corona crisis. Since the call for proposals opened in April, a total of 43 projects have been granted funding.
The digital tool that Livskêmpar is developing should act as a companion for people living with or close to suicidality, especially young people. The basis for the idea is the book Handbook for Life Strugglers. From experience, we know that suicides increase in the wake of social crises, and the number of calls to the suicide line has increased significantly since the start of the corona pandemic. Life fighters want to help everyone who is at risk of suicide and suicide attempts by preventing, preventing and preventing with the help of knowledge and modern digital tools.
Marie Niljung, Filippa Gagnér Jenneteg and Susanne Tell in the Life Fighters team all themselves have close experiences of suicide and attempted suicide.
Marie Niljung lost both her parents in suicide.
- That is the whole reason and driving force why I want to change the view of mental illness and save lives. If I had known what I know today, they would not have died that way - we have to spread knowledge about that, says Marie Niljung.
Custom support
According to her, the strength of an app, compared to the book, is that it reaches many more people and can be adapted to the user's needs.
- The app is based on all the knowledge that the Handbook for Life Fighters has, both experience and research. It should talk to the user, but start from the basic knowledge in the book, says Marie Niljung.
She is, of course, very happy about the support from Vinnova:
- This means that we have secured the financing, so we can develop the app together with Sticky Beat. The work is already underway, but now we can really put effort into it.
Just before Vinnova opened the call for tenders, DigitalWell Arena launched its two-million investment in Innovation power in the corona crisis. There, Livskämpar's idea was the first to receive support and was granted funds to develop a concept prototype.
- We thought it was an important topic, and we saw the driving force of the entrepreneur. Other actors have since followed suit, as a form of snowball effect. And the fact that Life Fighters has now received Vinnova support is great fun, says Lina Svensberg, responsible for entrepreneurship and commercialization in DigitalWell Arena.
Värmland crowdfunding
According to Marie Niljung, the support from DigititalWell Arena has been extremely important in taking the idea forward:
- That was the starting point for us to really get started with the concept development. It was also important to have a receipt that someone believed in the idea, and I think it was also important for the legitimacy of the project and the Vinnova application.
However, many have been involved in Life Fighters progressing in their work. Among others, Region Värmland has supported the project with 200,000 kroner in innovation grants and another 200,000 has been collected through a "Värmland variant" of crowdfunding, where both companies and private individuals contributed.
- What is so cool is that both individual companies, private individuals and Region Värmland show that they think this is needed, says Marie Niljung.
