The first fire extinguisher designed to fit on the kitchen counter

The winner of this year’s Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship will be announced today. Andreas Westberg will receive SEK 250,000 for his ‘Firemill’ innovation – a totally new kind of fire extinguisher that is so small, it can fit on the kitchen counter.

At this time of year, we start lighting more candles in the Nordics, which is the main cause of fires in December. But stoves pose the biggest risk throughout the rest of the year, according to the Swedish Fire Protection Association. Up until now, no fire extinguisher has been designed to stand in the kitchen where it is most likely to be needed. Nor has there been an extinguisher that we can practice using before a fire happens. That inspired the innovator, Andreas Westberg, to design a complement to the fire extinguishers that are currently on the market. Today he will receive the Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship for his innovative ‘Firemill,’ and an opportunity to scale up production.

The happy winner explains how the scholarship money will be used:

“We will be using the money to make the product known in Sweden, and as a springboard for international expansion. It comes in very handy at this stage of our development,” says Andreas Westberg, Firemill.

A member of the Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship’s jury, Niklas Rudemo, says the Acceleration Scholarship creates leverage for the winners:

“The attention can open doors to investors and new customers,” says Niklas Rudemo, CEO and founder of Qoorp and Business Development Manager at SICS.

Under “Årets julklapp” (Christmas present of the year) on Firemill’s website, you can find information (in Swedish) about a new model that will be launched in time for Christmas.

“Firemill would probably be the perfect gift for the first Sunday in advent. It would reduce the number of call-outs for the fire and rescue service in December, as well as every other month of the year,” says Kerstin von Bergen, project manager for the Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship at Invest Stockholm.

Jury citation

“The winner of this year’s scholarship has taken a vital but often neglected everyday product and created an innovative, well-designed and simple gadget with a high degree of usefulness and ‘cool’ factor. Despite a minimum of resources, successful teamwork with AGA has led to an impressively rapid distribution of the product and company growth. With this innovation, the fire extinguisher has stepped into the spotlight, where this beautiful combination of design and function is always in the right place at the right time. The jury believes this is just the beginning of a rapid global acceleration. The winner of the 2018 Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship is Andreas Westberg for his innovative product, Firemill.”

Would you like to know more about the Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship? Contact project manager Kerstin von Bergen on: +46 (0)70-472 80 54, kerstin.von.bergen@stockholm.se

Firemill’s founder, Andreas Westberg, is available for interviews on: 
+46 (0)70 766 10 44, andreas@firemill.se

About the Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship

The Stockholm Acceleration Scholarship has been enabled by a donation from the Agne Johanssons Minnesfond Foundation and aims to stimulate and encourage innovators to further develop or scale-up their products. The scholarship of SEK 250,000 is awarded to one of the last five years’ finalists of the Stockholm Innovation Scholarship, following an application process and jury assessment. The jury members are Donnie SC Lygonis (Business Development coach, KTH Innovation), Henrik Hussfelt (entrepreneur with an IT/technology focus, Hussfelt Consulting AB), Niklas Rudemo (CEO and founder of Qoorp and Business Development Manager at SICS), and Ylva Ryngebo (CEO and founder of MID AB and Board member of the Agne Johanssons Minnesfond Foundation).

About Firemill

Firemill is the world’s first rapid fire extinguisher. It is powered by a regular CO₂ cylinder and activated with a twist. It is easy to refill, and you can practice so you’ll know what to do if a fire does happen. It serves as a complement to your fire extinguisher and is designed to stand in the kitchen where it is most likely to be needed. Firemill has been invented, developed and manufactured in Stockholm. The aluminum case has a matte finish, with polyethylene and leather details. It holds a regular CO₂ cylinder from AGA that you can simply replace when empty.