How many problems have we tried to solve today?

We are living in a period of new inflection points and witnessing technological shifts that will enter history books and impact society for centuries—be it the transition to renewable energy or the rise of AI. These changes are driven by innovation across continents and fields of expertise, with many inventors and their supporters beating the odds of an economic downturn to ensure solutions see the light of day.

And we’re doing that at a historic pace. Companies and inventors were responsible for an all-time record in Europe, with 199,275 patent applications in 2023. It’s interesting to see how patent applications reflect areas that are increasingly becoming more relevant as we strive to tackle new societal challenges, such as technologies supporting the energy transition.

Securing that our inventions are recognized and protected internationally takes time. As with every young company, we’re still at the beginning of our innovation journey. While I’m proud to be the Einride inventor with the most patents filed to date, I am rooting for others to take over – like our systems engineer Sebastian Holmqvist, already with six filed patents under his name, or our data scientist Jenny Eriksson, who’s currently #7 on the list of women with the most patents filed in Sweden thanks to her contributions during her five years at Scania.

As Sebastian put it during an office celebration, as inventors, we’re constantly trying to solve problems. Most of our ideas never make it out of our minds – it’s just how the process works. But we also have to nurture a culture where employees across the board feel encouraged to come up with new and unique solutions. Innovation thrives in environments where exchanging ideas with colleagues and leaders is at the center, allowing ideas to mature, be challenged, improve.

Our numbers are encouraging, with nearly 10% of Einride employees contributing to invention disclosures last year. It fills me with honor that Einride is among the companies driving innovation and continuing a long-standing tradition of inventions coming out of Sweden, a small country known for the Celsius temperature scale, the pacemaker, the zipper, safety matches and significant developments to the telephone.

2023 was the best year for Swedish inventions, with the country achieving second place in the number of filed patents per inhabitant. If we look beyond the headlines, we see that almost 40% of applications were filed by Ericsson and their continuous work in improving telecommunications. It's quite a feat. It also means that the rest of us need to step up.

As technological shifts gain momentum, we have the opportunity to expand our innovative prowess and carve our names and inventions into the future. The number of challenges we’ll face depends on our ability to solve hard problems today.

Robert Falck

CEO and Founder at Einride