Mission and governance

Owner's manual

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB (RISE AB) is a limited company and wholly owned by the Swedish state. RISE AB is based on the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, the Swedish Companies Act, the state's ownership policy (Swedish), and guidelines for companies with state ownership. The guidelines are based on the "comply or explain" principle. This means that in cases where RISE AB does not follow the guidelines, it will be explained.

The organisation shall be profitable but shall not pay dividends to the shareholder. The company's registered office is in Gothenburg. RISE's main activities are to conduct industrial research in the form of institutes, testing, certification and training. Read more in the Owner's Manual for RISE (in Swedish).

The RISE group (known collectively as RISE) consists of parent company RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB and a number of wholly owned and partly owned subsidiaries.

Annual general meeting

RISE's highest decision-making body is the AGM. This is where RISE's sole shareholder, the Swedish government, formally exercises its influence. Find the documents from the most recent annual general meeting here (Swedish).

Articles of Association

The owner decides on the company’s business objectives and operating framework through its Articles of Association. The business objectives of state-owned companies are based on decisions by the Riksdag. The Articles of Association for state-owned companies are based on the regulations in the Swedish Companies Act relating to companies with shares admitted to trading on a regulated market, the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, and the State’s ownership policy and guidelines for state-owned enterprises.

Organisation number: 556464-6874

§1 Firma
Bolagets firma är RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB.

§2 Styrelsens säte
Styrelsen ska ha sitt säte i Göteborgs kommun.

§3 Verksamhet
Föremålet för bolagets verksamhet, direkt eller indirekt genom att äga intresse- eller dotterbolag, ska vara att bedriva industriforskning i institutsform, provning, certifiering och utbildning samt att skapa förutsättningar för att utveckla verksamheten så att den, med fokus på forskning, utveckling, innovation och därtill kopplade tjänster, väsentligt bidrar till att stärka det svenska näringslivets konkurrenskraft och verkar för en hållbar tillväxt samt att äga och förvalta lös egendom samt att bedriva därmed förenlig verksamhet.

§4 Aktiekapital
Bolagets aktiekapital ska utgöra lägst tjugomiljoner (20 000 000) kronor och högst åttiomiljoner (80 000 000) kronor.

§5 Antalet aktier
Antalet aktier ska vara lägst tvåhundratusen (200 000) och högst åttahundratusen (800 000).

§6 Styrelse och revisorer
Bolagets styrelse ska, till den del den utses av bolagsstämman, bestå av lägst fem (5) och högst nio (9) ledamöter utan suppleanter. Bolagsstämman ska utse styrelseordföranden. Om ordföranden lämnar sitt uppdrag under mandattiden ska styrelsen inom sig välja ordförande för tiden intill utgången av den bolagsstämma då ny ordförande väljs av stämman.

Bolaget ska ha en (1) eller två (2) auktoriserade revisorer med eller utan en (1)eller två (2) revisorssuppleanter eller ett (1) registrerat revisionsbolag somrevisor.

§7 Kallelse till bolagsstämma
Kallelse till årsstämma samt kallelse till extra bolagsstämma där fråga om ändring av bolagsordningen ska behandlas, utfärdas tidigast sex (6) veckor och senast fyra (4) veckor före stämman. Kallelse till annan extra bolagsstämma ska utfärdas tidigast sex (6) veckor och senast tre (3) veckor före stämman.

Kallelse till bolagsstämma ska skickas med post till aktieägaren samt ska ske genom annonsering i Post- och Inrikes Tidningar samt på bolagets webbplats. Vid tidpunkten för kallelse ska information om att kallelse skett annonseras i Dagens Industri.

§8 Räkenskapsår
Bolagets räkenskapsår ska vara kalenderår.

§9 Vinstutdelning
Aktierna medför inte rätt till utdelning, utan bolagets vinst ska, i den mån den inte reserveras, användas för att främja bolagets ändamål på sätt som anges i § 3 ovan. Någon vinstutdelning från bolaget ska därför inte ske. Vid bolagets likvidation ska bolagets behållna tillgångar fördelas bland aktieägarna.

§10 Bolagsstämma
Bolagsstämma ska hållas i Göteborgs kommun eller i Stockholms kommun.

Om bolaget har mer än femtio (50) anställda har riksdagsledamot rätt att, efter anmälan till styrelsen, närvara vid bolagsstämma och i anslutning till denna ställa frågor. Anmälan bör vara styrelsen tillhanda en (1) vecka i förväg. Underrättelse om tid och plats för bolagsstämma ska sändas med brev till riksdagens centralkansli i anslutning till utfärdandet av kallelsen till stämman.

§11 Förbehåll om regeringens medgivande till viss ändring i bolagsordningen
§3 och §9 ovan får inte ändras utan att regeringen har lämnat tillstånd därtill.

RISE Research Council was established in 2016 with the aim of ensuring the industry commitment and influence over RISE's research focus and strategy. The background is that, during the consolidation of RISE AB, the parties (RISE and the former industrial owners) made an influence agreement as compensation for various shareholder contracts that previously existed.

The Research Council's responsibility and main tasks are to guide the RISE board on cross-functional investment projects and the distribution of strategic competence funds. The Council shall also guide RISE on strategic issues concerning research orientation and priority issues for the industry, as well as provide advice on, and management of, certain research issues.

Members of RISE research council:

• Malin Persson (Chairman), Board worker, Accuracy
• Peter Bryntesson, CEO, Fordonskomponentgruppen
• Mikael Åstrand, Director R&D &Innovation, Lantmännen
• Anders Högberg, Research & Partnership director, Orkla ASA
• Petter Bedoire, CTO, SAAB
• Erik Dahlberg, Global Domain Head, R & I Scania
• Björn Ekelund, Corporate Research Director, Ericsson
• Ambra Sannino, Vice President Research & Development, Vattenfall
• Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist, Professor of Business Administration (org. and management), Handelshögskolan GU
• Karin Gäbel, Chief Sustainability Officer, Thomas Concrete Group
• Emma Mattsson, Head of Strategy & Governance Office, Volvo GTT
• Anders Persson, Executive Director Strategy & Innovation, Astra Zeneca
• Pernilla Winhed, Head of Department Enterprise policy and entrepreneurship, LRF
• Joakim Björkdal, Prof Texhnology Management and Economics, Chalmers
• Anna Jonhed, CEO, Rottneros Packaging
• Maria Rosendahl, Head of Industrial Policy, Teknikföretagen
• Joachim Larsson, CTO, SSAB
• Jan Kinnander, Development Director, Fortifikationsverket
• Jessica Nordin, Director of Sustainability, Södra
• Jonas Kamleh, Lead Climate Strategist, Malmö Stad
• Erik Stark, CEO & Sales Manager, Österby gjuteri
• Åke Holmgren, Director Cybersecurity and secure communications, MSB

RISE Board of directors consists of eight elected directors, three ordinary employee representatives and two alternates.

Directors

Jan Wäreby (born 1956), Chair of the Board since January 2017, Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Previously Senior Vice President and Head of Group Function Sales at Ericsson, before which he served as Senior Vice President and Head of the Multimedia Business Unit, and Executive Vice President and Head of Sales and Marketing at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. Degree of Master of Science form Chalmers University of Technology. Chair of the Board of Investment Spiltan AB and Board member of Exportkreditnämnden (EKN), Kebni AB and Agapi Boating AB.

Anna-Karin Stenberg (born 1956), member of the board since 2015, Chair of the Audit Committee. Senior Vice President Business Area Markets Vattenfall, Business Area Controller Vattenfall BA Markets, Vice President Head of Corporate Control, Telia Company AB, CFO Praktikertjänst AB, CFO Vattenfall Nordic, Business Area Controller Atlas Copco, Head of Global Shared Services and Business controller ABB (Corporate Research). Other directorships include Kebni AB and Ellevio. Master of Business Administration specialising in international economics, Linköping University.

Klas Bendrik (born 1969), member of the board since April 2018, member of the Audit Committee and chair of the Security Protection Committee. Chief Digital Development Officer in DNV. Previous vice President and Executive Partner, Gartner. Previous Senior Vice President and Group CIO Volvo Car Group AB, director of Volvo Cars, independent director of CAB AB since 2012. Previous positions include, for example, Mölnlycke Health Care, Accenture and ASSA ABLOY in the field of Innovation, IT and Digitalisation. Bachelor of Science from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, and the Swedish Naval Academy (Reserve officer, Captain).

Torbjörn Holmström (born 1955), member of the board since 2017, member of the Remuneration Committee. Chairman of SEEL Swedish Electric Transport Laboratory AB. Board member of Stena Recycling and MAX IV. Chair of Assar Gabrielssons and Volvo Research and Educational Foundation. Previously: CTO, Volvo Group. Chair of Chalmers University of Technology and the Chalmers Foundation. Master of Science Mechanical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology.

Pernilla Jonsson (born 1972), member of the board since 2022. Head of Consumer & Industry Lab at Ericsson Research. Board member of WASP-HS, the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program - Humanities and Society research program, member of Digital Future’s Societal Committee at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Formed multiple advisory boards and innovation advisory boards.

Mikael Hannus (born 1968), member of the board since 2022, member of the Remuneration Committee. Senior Vice President Group Innovation and R&D Stora Enso, Scientific Secretary, The Marcus Wallenberg Prize, member of Svenska Teknikvetenskapsakademien in Finland. Previously Vice President Group R&D, Vice President Biorefinery & Bioenergy and Vice President Energy Stora Enso. Previous chair of board Innventia AB. Other board assignments: Swetree Technologies AB (chair) and Treesearch (chair). Diploma engineer Process Technology Åbo Akademi and eMBA Stockholm School of Economics.

Cristina Petrescu (born 1968), member of the board since 2022, member of the Audit Committee. CEO Healthcare, Seniors and Education Sodexo Sweden. Head of Digital and Innovation, Sodexo Continental Europe. Former Executive Vice President Healthcare, Welfare and Education at Tieto, before that Vice President Energy Utilities at Tieto and Vice President R&D at Tieto Sweden. Board member Softronic AB. Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Computer Engineer from Karlstad University. Has also studied Space Technology at Umeå University in Kiruna and Nuclear Physics, Bucharest University, Romania.

Daniel Johansson Stattin (born 1977), member of the board since 2025, member of the Audit Committee and the Security Protection Committee. Senior Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Finance, Government Offices of Sweden. Formerly authorised public accountant and various roles at PwC. Master of Science in Economics from Umeå University.

Employee representatives, ordinary:

Linda Ikatti (born 1972), member of the board since 2024. Former member of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden 2016 - 2022 and the former companies SP AB and RISE Holding AB. Product auditor in building physics at the Built Environment division. University studies in chemistry, Borås University. Chair of the Union Club.

Marie Sjölinder, (born 1965), Employee Representative, member of the Board since 2021, member of the Security Protection Committee. Senior Researcher and Project Manager at RISE division Digital Systems. PhD in Psychology, Stockholm University.

Mats Lidbeck, (born 1961), member of the Board of Directors since 2024, member of the Audit Committee. Former board member of SP AB and RISE AB. Audit Manager, Division Built Environment. Board member and vice chairman of the Unionen klubben at RISE. Forester, SLU Skinnskatteberg and Bachelor of Science in Measurement and Quality Engineering, Borås University.

Employee representatives, alternates:

Magnus Wikander (born 1977), member of the Board since 2024. Head of Strategic development Maritime Hydrodynamics, division Safety and Transport. Board member of Sweden China Trade Council / Chairman Sweden China Marine Group. Former board member SSPA Sweden AB (merged into RISE in 2024). Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering / M.Sc. Naval Architecture at Chalmers University of Technology.

Paul Otxoterena (born 1978), member of the Board since 2025.

Robert Berg (born 1975), member of the Board since 2025. Senior researcher and project manager in the Life Science division. PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry, Karolinska Institutet.

CEO

Malin Frenning (born 1967), CEO at RISE since 2023. Previously Executive Vice President and Head of Infrastructure, AFRY, CEO County Council of Stockholm and several positions TeliaSonera Group. Board member of SJ and Polhem Infra. Mech Eng and Honorary Dr Technical University of Luleå.

Auditors

YE, head auditor Jennifer Rock-Baley

As a state-owned company with a specific social mission, our owner and board of directors set goals that address both the direct results of our operations and the indirect effects on society at large, i.e. how we contribute to social benefit.

Mission goals, set by the Government Offices

Revenue from competitive research funds in relation to total revenue, excluding strategic competence funds, shall be at least 30%.

Revenue from small and medium-sized companies in relation to total business revenue must exceed 35%.

In the RISE customer survey, the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) must achieve at least 75% positive responses.

In the RISE customer survey, the Innovation Partner Capacity index must achieve at least 78% positive responses.

Turnover from projects with interdisciplinary involvement in relation to total turnover from RISE's project portfolio must be within the range of 35-55%.

The occupancy rate at RISE test and demonstration facilities shall be within the range of 60-80%.

Society goals for societal benefit, set by the RISE Board

• Sustainable future: measures how we have contributed to Agenda 2030. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals set the overall direction and here we measure how we contribute to the global goals. At least 80% of RISE's turnover must be activities that contribute to Agenda 2030.
• Society's challenges: measures how well our activities are linked to society's challenges as defined in the research bill. At least 90% of RISE's turnover must be derived from societal challenges.

Performance goals, set by the RISE Board

• Satisfied customers: We meet and exceed our customers' expectations through value-creating solutions. Satisfied customer index (SCI) > 75.
• Committed employees: Our employees are engaged and the average value of questions in the employee survey on the Engagement Index should be at least 4.
• Economically sustainable business: We have a healthy economy that promotes long-term. Operating margin > 3 percent.
• Environmentally sustainable business: By 2030, we will reduce emissions in our own operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 42% and reduce indirect emissions in our value chain (Scope 3) by 25%, with 2022 as the base year.
• Socially sustainable activities: We have a healthy and safe organisation that promotes diversity and equality. An average of questions in the employee survey should be at least 4.

Read more in our Annual and Sustainability report found amongst our financial reports.

Our values are a central part of our strategy and the basis for a culture where we perform better together.

We are more than 3,000 passionate researchers, technicians, project managers, engineers and other bright minds with a wide range of competences. And this is needed when we, together with customers and partners from industry, the public sector and academia, take on some of society's most important and toughest challenges.

Our values help us cultivate a culture characterised by:

• Trust
• Curiosity
• Collaboration
• Value creation

This is how we create an open and inclusive climate for multiple perspectives, build networks and create value based on the needs of the world around us.

Our strategy is based on the needs that exist in the world around us and the expectations that business and the public sector have of us. The strategy is a tool for creating growth. It is based on the mission we have from our owner, and it helps us accelerate the transition.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals set the overall direction for a sustainable future by 2030. At RISE, these goals serve as the guiding star for all the work we do, and the vision for what we want to achieve together with our customers and partners.

The strategy for achieving our goals and contributing to sustainable growth in Sweden is about offering science-based solutions that strengthen the competitiveness of the business sector and contribute to sustainable transition. To anticipate future needs, our strategic initiatives are identified in co-creation with our customers. Through the RISE Research Council, we also receive guidance on strategic issues regarding research focus and priorities in the business sector. 

The initiatives are continuously reassessed in line with new opportunities and challenges that affect business and the public sector. This is necessary to ensure that we remain relevant to our customers. 

RISE's strategy work is based on macro trends, i.e. global long-term driving forces that are observable now and will most likely have a significant influence on the future:

• the green transition
• shifting demographics
• focus on security
• digital, autonomous and intelligent
• people in transformation 

RISE's 2025-2029 strategy emphasises, among other things, the importance of the role of technology infrastructures for concept development, verification and validation. By constantly investing in the development of relevant test and demonstration environments and promoting the establishment of new ones where required, RISE enables Swedish industry to gain a head start.

Group strategic focus areas

In order to meet the needs of the world around us, over the next few years RISE will focus on six Group strategic focus areas that cut across the organisation. The areas are based on relevant external factors and are deemed to be particularly important for RISE to prioritise in building expertise and offerings.

• Energy supply and electrification
• Industrial transition
• Urban transition
• Transformation through digitalisation and AI
• Health and life science
• Total defence

Strategic competence funds (SC funds)

One important objective for RISE research institutes is to contribute to the ongoing competitiveness and renewal of Swedish industry. Through strategic competence funds, RISE has the opportunity to develop various offers to the private and public sectors.

The appropriation to RISE is used for strategic competence development, restructuring expenses and for current operating expenses within the framework of RISE's mission in the Swedish innovation system. The aim is to develop strategic expertise and capacity in order to continue to be an attractive partner to industry and the public sector in research and innovation activities.

The appropriation for the RISE group for the full year 2024 amounted to SEK 759 million in accordance with the Swedish Government’s bill 2020/21:60 Expenditure Area 24.

Some of the appropriation was distributed by the RISE Board to Swerim AB. In addition to this appropriation, special initiatives were targeted in accordance with the aforementioned bill and the research and innovation policy bill 2020/21:60 in three areas:

• Climate of SEK 5 million
• Digitalisation of SEK 15 million 
• Society's transition of SEK 55 million

Finally, RISE received a supplement of SEK 30 million aimed at metrology activities in accordance with the spring amendment budget for 2024, Bill 2023/24:99.

Financing system

The financing system is impact-oriented and is designed to support the development of industry research institute’s strategies. For the period 2009-2017, resources were placed at the disposal of the boards within the RISE institute groups, with the parent company for RISE establishing the overriding owner focus of facilitating sustainable growth in Sweden by strengthening competitiveness and innovation in the business community.

The design of the financing system has been governed by the Swedish Government’s appropriation directions and Government Bill 2008/09:50 – A Boost to Research and Innovation. These documents have been supplemented with the following principles:

• Responsibility delegated to implementing units
• Simplicity and transparency
• An industry-independent financing system

Taken together, these boundary conditions are important components of the owner governance process that are intended to ensure that RISE Research Institutes of Sweden is a world leader in the development and renewal of commerce and industry and contributes to sustainable development.

This system means that the grant in its entirety is earnings-related, based on normalised earnings as fixed by parent company RISE. Normalised earnings are defined as the organisation’s most recently reported turnover minus their Strategic Competence (SC) fund allocation and extraordinary items.

The purpose of dividing SC funds according to the principle of normalised earnings is to reward the individual industry research institute’s business-related activities in accordance with the Research and Innovation Bill.

One of RISE’s tasks is to develop an impact measurement system in order to assess how investments made by the institutes lead to the results expected of the increased funding.

This impact measurement system is based on a study conducted by the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis in 2013; Public support to innovation - a multi-method approach to evaluate RTOs the case of RISE. In addition to this, RISE reports annually to the Swedish Ministry of Climate and Enterprise based on KPIs stated in the State’s ownership instructions.

• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2023
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2022
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2021
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2020
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2019
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2018
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2017
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2016
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2015
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2014
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2013
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2012
• Användning av strategiska kompetensmedel för 2011

Policyer

En policy är ett styrande dokument som på en övergripande nivå anger ramarna för vår verksamhet och hur medarbetare ska agera i vissa frågor. Varje policy beslutas av styrelsen. Ladda ner våra policys som PDF.

• Work environment policy
• Financial risk policy (In Swedish)
• Sustainability policy 
• Information security policy
• Inclusion policy
• Communication policy (In Swedish)
• Quality policy (In Swedish)
• Environmental policy
• Security policy (In Swedish)
• Code of conduct for employees
• Code of conduct for suppliers

Andra styrande dokument

• Gender Equality Plan
• Personal data processing

• Insurance letter - liability insurance
• Insurance letter - transports (in Swedish)
• RISE's proof of registration (in Swedish).

Contact us if you have any further questions regarding insurance letters or certificates.