Creating Creative Destruction
(2026) INTM01 20261Innovation Engineering
- Abstract
- This thesis compares the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund, Sweden, and Toronto, Canada to examine whether Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a non-profit accelerator founded in Toronto, would fit within Lund's ecosystem. Two research questions are addressed: what similarities and differences exist between the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund and Toronto, and how a CDL site would mesh with Lund's entrepreneurial context.
A literature review of national culture, entrepreneurial ecosystems and startup support organizations (SSOs) was conducted to construct a framework covering points related to pro-entrepreneurship cultural dimensions, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and SSOs. This framework was then used to structure a case study built on 22... (More) - This thesis compares the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund, Sweden, and Toronto, Canada to examine whether Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a non-profit accelerator founded in Toronto, would fit within Lund's ecosystem. Two research questions are addressed: what similarities and differences exist between the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund and Toronto, and how a CDL site would mesh with Lund's entrepreneurial context.
A literature review of national culture, entrepreneurial ecosystems and startup support organizations (SSOs) was conducted to construct a framework covering points related to pro-entrepreneurship cultural dimensions, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and SSOs. This framework was then used to structure a case study built on 22 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the two locations.
Lund and Toronto were found to share high risk aversion, ongoing brain drain, strong spaces for collaboration, high number of SSOs, strong support for early stages of startups and challenges in providing scale-up formats. The two locations differ in their policies for incentivizing risk-taking, attitudes toward change, friction between academia and entrepreneurial actors, which funnels are used to generate talent, the role of the universities, generating synergies across fragmented ecosystem sectors, matching the entrepreneurial activity with the number of SSOs, amount of entrepreneurial recycling and challenges regarding how the universities handle IP. Building on these findings, the analysis concludes that CDL would complement Lund’s existing SSOs, primarily by offering coaching and a faster, more demanding program. Specifically, an advanced materials stream, connected to Industrial Engineering and Management at LTH and building on momentum from MAX IV and the European Spallation Source, is recommended as the strongest fit, with university buy-in identified as the biggest remaining barrier. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- Creative Destruction Lab kan hitta sin plats i Lund
Skulle Torontogrundade Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) kunna fungera i Lund? Ett examensarbete i innovationsteknik vid LTH har jämfört Lunds och Torontos entreprenöriella klimat genom 22 intervjuer och landar i en konkret rekommendation: CDL kan fungera som en satsning på avancerade material i Lund.
Var åttonde vecka samlas grundare och mentorer i den kanadensiska acceleratorn Creative Destruction Lab. I slutet på varje möte lämnar grundarna rummet och mentorerna ställs inför en enkel fråga: vill ni fortsätta stötta det här bolaget? Räcker ingen upp handen åker startupen ur programmet. Sedan starten 2012 har bolagen som gått igenom CDL tillsammans tagit in över 11 miljarder dollar... (More) - Creative Destruction Lab kan hitta sin plats i Lund
Skulle Torontogrundade Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) kunna fungera i Lund? Ett examensarbete i innovationsteknik vid LTH har jämfört Lunds och Torontos entreprenöriella klimat genom 22 intervjuer och landar i en konkret rekommendation: CDL kan fungera som en satsning på avancerade material i Lund.
Var åttonde vecka samlas grundare och mentorer i den kanadensiska acceleratorn Creative Destruction Lab. I slutet på varje möte lämnar grundarna rummet och mentorerna ställs inför en enkel fråga: vill ni fortsätta stötta det här bolaget? Räcker ingen upp handen åker startupen ur programmet. Sedan starten 2012 har bolagen som gått igenom CDL tillsammans tagit in över 11 miljarder dollar och programmet finns nu över hela världen.
Tanken bakom CDL är att forskare kan sakna expertis inom kommersialisering. Många lovande idéer faller inte på tekniken, utan på att ta den tekniken ut på marknaden. Det har tidigare funnits idéer om att starta en CDL-nod i Lund, men ingen har undersökt om eller hur den skulle passa in i stadens entreprenöriella landskap vilket detta examensarbete tar sig an.
Genom 22 intervjuer med personer från universitet, näringsliv och stödorganisationer för startups i både Lund och Toronto har detta examensarbete kartlagt likheter och skillnader mellan städernas startup-klimat. Båda platserna har starka universitet, en riskavert kultur och en kompetensflykt till grannmarknader.
Skillnaderna är också flera. Lund lutar sig tyngre mot det egna universitetet för att skapa talang, medan Toronto kan utnyttja flera lärosäten och sin starka invandring. Toronto lyckas dessutom bättre koppla samman de olika delarna av sitt ekosystem och Lund har problem med friktion mellan den akademiska och entreprenöriella sfären.
Slutsatsen är att CDL skulle kunna fylla en lucka i Lund. Dels genom coachning, som visade sig vara den mest efterfrågade resursen i Toronto, men också genom att hjälpa bolag växa förbi de tidiga faserna, något båda städerna har det svårt med idag. Viktigast är dock vilken inriktning som väljs. Rapporten pekar ut avancerade material som det bästa alternativet eftersom ingen annan CDL-nod i Europa satsar på det området och Lund har redan styrkor där tack vare, bland annat, forskningsanläggningarna MAX IV och European Spallation Source. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9248915
- author
- Hedlund, August LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Att Skapa Creative Destruction
- course
- INTM01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Entrepreneurial ecosystems, Startup support organizations, Accelerators, Creative Destruction Lab, National culture, Lund, Toronto
- language
- English
- id
- 9248915
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-25 10:16:59
- date last changed
- 2026-08-27 14:20:02
@misc{9248915,
abstract = {{This thesis compares the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund, Sweden, and Toronto, Canada to examine whether Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a non-profit accelerator founded in Toronto, would fit within Lund's ecosystem. Two research questions are addressed: what similarities and differences exist between the entrepreneurial contexts of Lund and Toronto, and how a CDL site would mesh with Lund's entrepreneurial context.
A literature review of national culture, entrepreneurial ecosystems and startup support organizations (SSOs) was conducted to construct a framework covering points related to pro-entrepreneurship cultural dimensions, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and SSOs. This framework was then used to structure a case study built on 22 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the two locations.
Lund and Toronto were found to share high risk aversion, ongoing brain drain, strong spaces for collaboration, high number of SSOs, strong support for early stages of startups and challenges in providing scale-up formats. The two locations differ in their policies for incentivizing risk-taking, attitudes toward change, friction between academia and entrepreneurial actors, which funnels are used to generate talent, the role of the universities, generating synergies across fragmented ecosystem sectors, matching the entrepreneurial activity with the number of SSOs, amount of entrepreneurial recycling and challenges regarding how the universities handle IP. Building on these findings, the analysis concludes that CDL would complement Lund’s existing SSOs, primarily by offering coaching and a faster, more demanding program. Specifically, an advanced materials stream, connected to Industrial Engineering and Management at LTH and building on momentum from MAX IV and the European Spallation Source, is recommended as the strongest fit, with university buy-in identified as the biggest remaining barrier.}},
author = {{Hedlund, August}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Creating Creative Destruction}},
year = {{2026}},
}