Paula Runsten, CEO of Rebaba, takes part in the prince’s mentoring program

In the ninth edition of the Prince Daniels Fellowship mentoring program, ten entrepreneurs were selected to participate.

The purpose of the program, which is an initiative of Prince Daniel and the Royal Academy of Science and Technology (IVA), is for the entrepreneurs to receive support alongside hand-picked mentors from the business community to take their businesses to the next phase.

Paula Runsten, founder of the battery company Rebaba, is one of the chosen ones this time. The company was founded almost three years ago and production started in Lidingö outside Stockholm in the summer of 2025.

“In short, we build energy storage systems from electric car batteries,” says Paula Runsten.

The company buys batteries with 80 to 90 percent remaining capacity, which they say is standard when removed from an electric car. The batteries are then installed into an energy storage system that is resold for use in real estate and industries, for example.

According to Paula Runsten, in such an area of ​​use the batteries have a service life of another ten years.

Last year, the company achieved 40 percent more than its sales target and recently signed a framework agreement with fuel chain OKQ8 for energy storage.

What does being part of the Prince Daniels Fellowship mean to you?

– It means so much. There is so much you can learn from a mentor who has experience scaling and leading large companies. “We are facing a huge upscaling of the company,” she says.

Paula Runsten was paired with Helena Hedblom, CEO of mining equipment manufacturer Epiroc, who will be her mentor throughout the two-year duration of the program.

“We’ve met before and it’s a fantastic game,” says Paula Runsten.

Helena Hedblom is burning for mentoring to share their experiences and act as a sounding board in the early stages of an entrepreneur’s career. That’s why she’s taking part in the mentoring program for the second time.

– It feels good to be able to support and hopefully contribute to the success. In the long term, Swedish industry depends on young entrepreneurs who have the courage to invest and rethink, she says.

– I have had many mentors throughout my career and especially when you find yourself in difficult situations that you have never faced before, the advice was valuable.

She already sees areas where Rebaba and Epiroc can benefit from each other’s ideas and activities.

– We are in the middle of the electrification journey and are driving forward the conversion of our entire machine park. “It is one of the big technological changes that is underway, so there are very similar topics on which I think we will have an exciting dialogue,” says Helena Hedblom.

Read more about mobility and the green transformation of the transport sector at di.se/mobilitet