Smart swimwear saving lives
Executive Summary:
Swöm is transforming water safety with innovative smart swimwear designed to prevent drowning. Founded in 2022 by Niclas Ekdahl, the brand combines advanced sensor technology with airbag-inspired engineering to create swimwear that automatically inflates when needed, bringing swimmers to the surface. Swöm’s mission is to set a new global standard for swimwear safety, offering peace of mind to parents while protecting children in the water.
In this article, you’ll discover the inspiration behind Swöm, the cutting-edge technology that powers it, and how the company is navigating safety regulations to bring this groundbreaking solution to market. Niclas Ekdahl shared his incredible journey with the audience at our 3rd K2MATCH Monaco Investor Lounge, leaving a lasting impression with his passion and vision. We’re excited to take a closer look at his venture and share his inspiring story with our readers to help spread the word about this life-changing innovation.
Exclusive K2MATCH Interview with Niclas Ekdahl, Founder of Swöm:
K2MATCH: What is the core vision and mission of your Venture?
Niclas Ekdahl: Our mission is to reduce the number of deaths from drowning. And our vision is to become the standard embedded safety tech in swimwear across the globe.
K2MATCH: What inspired you to start Swöm, and how did your journey unfold from the beginning to where you are now?
Niclas Ekdahl: As a parent I have worried a lot about my children's safety when they swim and play around in the water on their own. So after witnessing a child die from drowning I started thinking about this massive problem and realized that after the children stop using permanently inflated products as support there is essentially nothing keeping them safe when in water. And as an old amateur diver I then realized that using a depth sensor to monitor a child's movement in water would enable me to develop a new type of safety technology. So with Swöm we are able to bring a user back up to the surface in case they are submerged under water for too deep and too long. We use a combination of high caliber sensor technology, our own software and components from the airbag industry to enable this.In the summer of 2022 I started thinking more and more about the problem and a potential solution and found two fantastic co-founder to set up the company and started doing rapid prototyping. We have now developed a fully working Alpha version of the product and have successfully been testing it for a year. At the moment we are working with manufacturers to set up production alongside having the product certified ahead of global launch.
Swöm - Smart Swimwear
K2MATCH: What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them by questioning conventional approaches?
Niclas Ekdahl: We are truly challenging the status quo in regards to water safety and I would argue we are opening up a completely new product category. Some compare our product with inflatable life jackets but there are two fundamental differences. First of all our product inflates if a user is submerged for too deep and too long. This allows a user to swim and play around with our products in water without it inflating. Traditional life jackets are built to inflate as soon as the user is in contact with water and is therefore not useful in water. And secondly, traditional life jackets are typically quite big and bulky. With Swöm we have integrated the inflatable bladder and the sensor technology inside a UV protective swimwear. This makes it possible for the user to have complete freedom of movement in water but with an added safety lawyer in case of a drowning incident. There have of course been challenges along the way although the actual product development track has been great. One challenge, which we embrace wholeheartedly, is the fact that a product like Swöm needs to undergo rigorous third party testing and must comply with the regulations as a personal protection equipment. Therefore we have spent a lot of time and efforts into developing a product which meets the highest safety requirements which in turn takes a lot of time.
K2MATCH: How does Swöm improve the lives of your customers and make a positive impact on the world?
Niclas Ekdahl: We develop smart swimwear which allows a user to wear the product when swimming and playing in water and still maintain complete freedom of movement. But in case of a drowning incident our swimwear inflates to bring the user back up to the surface in case the user has been submerged for too deep and too long. The problem of drowning is much bigger than I first thought. According to statistics in Europe for instance, only cancer and road accidents kill more children each year. So to provide an extra layer of safety for the user and provide some further ease of mind for the parent is our key driver.
K2MATCH: Who are the key members of your team, and how do their unique skills, along with your leadership, drive Swöm's success? How have advisors, partners, and investors supported your vision?
Niclas Ekdahl: I am a serial entrepreneur who has started and scaled a number of tech-centric companies and I have had the pleasure of growing businesses in many corners of the world over the years. At least one has made unicorn status and I am convinced Swöm has the ability to become one as well. I am extremely passionate about the problem we are solving and on top of traditional financial KPIs I find it amazing to add the KPI "number of lives saved" as the core one.
The core tech team consists of my co-founder and CTO Georgi alongside Dick who has a lifetime of experience from developing wearable airbag systems. Before joining Swöm Dick was responsible for the airbag system of the inflatable helmet company Hövding and has previous experience from Volvo and Autoliv. Georgi is one of these tech wizards that can build pretty much anything so I was extremely thrilled when he agreed to join as co-founder and "dropping out" of the Danish Technical University where he was a Post doc and holds a PhD in computer Science. And our third Co-founder is Jakob who is an ex management consultant and a true hustler that gets shit done! During our first month of working together he set up a consumer survey and got thousands of responses providing invaluable insights and have since gotten a few thousand pre-sign ups for our product using own social media channels. We also rely on partners which I will not mention by name due to keeping things secret. But we have been getting amazing help from a leading industrial design company in developing the concept and product alongside manufacturers within the field of maritime safety.
K2MATCH: What have been the most important milestones in Swöm’s journey so far?
Niclas Ekdahl: We started the company in December 2022 so the most significant is the fact that we have made phenomenal progress in a relatively short period of time but to name a few highlights we have:Built and tested an Alpha version of the product and are now setting up production.Raised approximately 700k USD in funding, fairly evenly spread between R&D grants and equity.Filed for patent for the innovation together with leading law firmPerformed a pre-certification study in collaboration with a third party notified bodySigned 4 LOI with potential distribution partners.
Gotten over 2000 end-users pre-signed up for the product.
K2MATCH: Have you received any notable awards or recognitions you would like to share?
Niclas Ekdahl: We have after presenting to a panel received approx 200k USD in grants from the Danish Innovation fund.
K2MATCH: Who are your customers, what problems do they face, and how does Swöm provide a solution? What sets your offering apart from your competitors?
Niclas Ekdahl: Our product and technology is built in order to protect people from drowning when they are swimming and playing in water. Initially we focus on children that have started to be on their own in water but from our market research we have seen a lot of use cases also for adults, for instance surfers. Having said that in order to scale globally our intention is to license our technology to the leading swimwear and rash guard brands across the globe thus becoming an embedded safety standard. In short our technology allows us to bring a user who is submerged under the water surface for too deep and too long back up to the surface. By doing this we are essentially creating a brand new product vertical. Naturally trying to protect people from drowning is nothing new and for the use case of protecting children in water there are today many ways this is done. At a very young age parent supervision combined with permanently buoyant or inflated products are most common. However once the children start spending time in water on their own these measures typically decrease leaving the children vulnerable. Some parents thereafter put traditional life vests onto their kids but of course these are made for use on a boat or on dry land, not in water. So while some people compare our product with inflatable life jackets there are two fundamental differences. First of all our product only inflates if a user is submerged for too deep and too long. This allows a user to swim and play around with our products in water without it inflating. Traditional life jacket systems are built to inflate as soon as the user is in contact with water and is therefore not useful in water. And secondly, traditional life jackets are typically quite big and bulky. With Swöm we have integrated the inflatable bladder and the sensor technology inside a UV protective swimwear. This makes it possible for the user to have complete freedom of movement in water but with an added safety layer in case of a drowning incident.
K2MATCH: As a market leader, what is your perspective on current industry trends, challenges, and opportunities? How do you plan to navigate this landscape and position Swöm for success?
Niclas Ekdahl: The industry of wearable safety technology, not least self-inflating products, is growing across the globe and encompasses products such as inflatable motorcycle protection, inflatable avalanche airbags, hip protection for elderly when suddenly falling, inflatable helmets etc. At Swöm we are at the forefront of this trend when it comes to smart, sensor based technology for use in and around water. Our first product is focusing on children but the plan is to offer a wider range of products including protection for active lifestyles such as surfing. And at the same time our technology with an electric inflator in combination with sensor technology enables us to develop products fit for instance for sailing crews where the high risk of water spray is making it challenging to use more traditional life jackets with inflators based on water dissolvent material such as cellulose. As a Nordic company we stand firmly on the legacy of the highest standards of safety and reliability in combination with ground breaking R&D. And furthermore combined with Scandinavian clean and user-friendly design. Our plan is to uphold that tradition.For us the mission of saving lives is fundamental hence we truly believe that licensing our technology to industry-leading brands will allow us to scale globally thus saving more lives whilst enabling strong financial growth. Our vision is to become the embedded safety technology in swimwear and rash guards across the globe.
K2MATCH: What is your revenue model, and how has it evolved to overcome challenges? Can you share key metrics that demonstrate its success?
Niclas Ekdahl: Initially we will market our smart Swimwear (technology) under our own brand and sell it to consumers initially in Europe in order to drive revenue, get further consumer insights and peg up for our technology licensing business. Over time we plan to rely more on licensing of our technology to leading swimwear and rash guard brands with the vision of becoming the embedded safety standard in all swimwear and rash guards across the globe. High volumes and scale is important in order to save as many lives as possible but also in order to get the unit cost down to levels where the product is available to as many as possible. The market we are targeting is worth approximately 30 billion USD per year.
K2MATCH: Can you provide a brief overview of your funding history and current stage? Who are your investors, and how have they supported your growth? What are your next funding needs, and what opportunities do you see ahead?
Niclas Ekdahl: Swöm was incorporated in Denmark in December 2022 after receiving initial funding of 125k USD from the VC incubator Antler. During 2023 we were granted approx 200k USD in soft funding grants from the Danish Innovation fund and have since received further grants in the region of 75k USD. We closed a pre-seed round in January 2024 raising approx 300k USD from six angel investors who in addition to monetary funds have brought us for instance legal, sales and medical expertise. During 2025 our plan is to raise approximately 500.000 USD in a seed round with the main purpose for an initial launch in the Nordic market as well as provide funding for development of the next iteration of the product which will enable the licensing business model.
K2MATCH: Where do you see your company in the next 5-10 years?
Niclas Ekdahl: We are the leading provider of digital safety tech within the maritime sector and the Swöm technology is an embedded safety standard in swimwear and rash guards across the globe.
K2MATCH: What impact do you hope your company will have on the industry or society?
Niclas Ekdahl: Our mission is to reduce the number of deaths from drowning so our hope is that we will have prevented loss of many lives as well as reduced the number of people left permanently brain damaged due to lack of oxygen stemming from a drowning incident.
K2MATCH: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs starting their journey?
Niclas Ekdahl: Set up a clear vision, stay focused on the big picture. Be willing to sacrifice your own time and financial stability, everything will take at least twice as long as you projected.
K2MATCH: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
At Swöm we are addressing a massive global problem with a unique product with consumers showing strong willingness to buy. We have a highly scalable business model through technology licensing targeting a massive global market. And finally we have a very strong team with relevant skills who have achieved greatness in the past.
Explore SWÖM
Contact:
Connect and engage with Niclas on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niclas-ekdahl-a446252
