What The Hamrin Foundation does

The Hamrin Foundation (formal legal name: Carl-Olof och Jenz Hamrins Stiftelse) is a Swedish family-run charitable foundation established on November 30, 1985 by Jenz Hamrin and her daughter Christina Hamrin, headquartered in Jönköping, Småland. The organization promotes scientific research by financially supporting individuals, research groups, institutions, and projects, with two stated focus areas: Media, Democracy and Communication, and Art, Academy and Industry. The foundation maintains a small core staff of four (Chairwoman Lovisa Hamrin, CEO Hanna Ståhl, Investment Manager Carl-Mikael Lindholm, and Project Coordinator Rose-Marie Wickström) and is governed by an extended board. It was originally created via donation of 33% of the Herenco Group to satisfy inheritance and gift tax obligations; Herenco shares were divested in 2016, and since 2021 the foundation has operated a wholly owned real estate subsidiary (Hamhus AB) and retains stakes in listed companies Nolato and Lyko.

The foundation's core "products" are research grants, project development support, visiting researcher programs, and co-sponsored research communication awards. These are delivered through a structured two-step application process (initial 1–2 page project description, then full application), with board review cycles roughly every other month. In 2026 it formalized three new partnership instruments: a Project Development Support grant with Lindholmen Science Park, three annual Research Communication Prizes jointly with Örebro University (100k/75k/50k SEK), and a visiting-researcher agreement with Lund University's Department of Communication at Media Evolution in Malmö. Active research projects include the Sweden Democrats Voters 2026 follow-up study at the Institute for Futures Studies, the TikTok-generationen study at the Institute for Media Studies, resilience-against-information-influence research at the Swedish Defence University, and the Of Public Interest (OPI) platform at the Royal Institute of Art. The foundation has no proprietary technology stack; it runs its own website, LinkedIn presence, and in-house seminar programming.

The foundation is a non-profit stiftelse under Swedish law (organizational number 826001-2581) and generates no commercial revenue. Its economic base is an asset pool of approximately 2,000 MSEK, managed to fund grantmaking and operating costs; cumulative grants of 363 MSEK have been disbursed from 1986 through 2025, with 13 MSEK awarded in 2025. The foundation's customer base consists of Swedish academic researchers and institutions; relationships are maintained through direct engagement, events, and co-development rather than traditional marketing. Geographic scope is Nordic/Sweden-only, with no global expansion claims. The organization completed a strategic review in 2018–2020 that narrowed its scope, and CEO Hanna Ståhl has publicly characterized 2023 as a transformative "startup" year for the foundation.

Name

The Hamrin Foundation

Legal name

Carl-Olof och Jenz Hamrins Stiftelse

Website

https://hamrinfoundation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Hamrin Foundation is a Swedish family-run foundation established in 1985 that promotes scientific research by disbursing grants to researchers, institutions, and projects focused on media, democracy, communication, and art–academia–industry intersections across Sweden.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Research Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Research grant funding
• Scientific research support
• Philanthropic foundation
• Media democracy research
• Interdisciplinary research grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Jönköping, Jonkoping County

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grant Disbursements: The Hamrin Foundation operates as a charitable foundation that disburses grants to support scientific research. They provide financial support to individuals, research groups, institutions and projects within their focus areas of Media, Democracy and Communication and Art, Academy and Industry.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Hamrin Foundation is a family-run Swedish charitable foundation that promotes scientific research by financially supporting individuals, research groups, academic institutions, and projects. Its grantmaking focuses on two thematic areas — Media, Democracy and Communication, and Art, Academia and Industry — and it supplements grants with events, awards, and direct engagement with funded researchers. Since 1985 the foundation has disbursed more than 363 MSEK in grants and manages assets of approximately 2,000 MSEK.

Product overview

The Hamrin Foundation is a family-run Swedish foundation (established 1985) that promotes scientific research through financial support to individuals, research groups, institutions, and projects. The foundation operates primarily as a research funder rather than a product company, managing grant programs focused on two areas: Media, Democracy and Communication, and Art, Academia and Industry. Their core offerings include research grants, project development support, visiting researcher programs, and annual research communication awards. The foundation has disbursed over 350 million SEK since founding and manages assets of approximately 2,000 MSEK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Grants and Funding Programs
• Project Development Support (Projektutvecklingsstöd)
• Research Communication Awards (Forskningskommunikationspris)
• Visiting Researcher Program
• Seminars and Events

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 350 million SEK disbursed in grants since founding in 1985
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2026Long-term collaboration supporting research on democracy challenges and futures studies. Multiple projects including Sweden Democrats Voters 2026 study and new research environment starting 2026. The foundation funds pilot projects, research programs, and supports IFFS's unique approach combining traditional research with artistic methods.
• Lindholmen Science Park (Medier & demokrati)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Joint development of Project Development Support grants - financial support creating conditions for research ideas to be developed, refined and advanced toward implementation. Focus on strengthening media landscape and democracy.
• Lund UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2026Agreement to fund visiting researchers in journalism at the Department of Communication, strengthening research environment and safeguarding confidence in journalism's role in democracy. Journalism program located at Media Evolution in Malmö.
• Örebro UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 January 2026Joint initiative awarding three annual prizes for outstanding research communication: external prize (100,000 SEK), journalist prize (75,000 SEK), and internal prize (50,000 SEK) for Örebro University researchers.
• Royal Institute of Art Stockholm (Kungl. Konsthögskolan)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding support for Of Public Interest (OPI) platform research infrastructure. Project led by Jonas Dahlberg focusing on artistic values in living environments, conducted within OPI Lab research environment.
• International Youth Think Tank (IYTT)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding for Participation 2.0 project developing youth leadership and local democracy methods. Youth Fellows program since 2019 developing youth-led activities promoting active participation.
• Centre for Aesthetics and Business Creativity (ABC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner3-year Visiting Researcher Program supporting establishment and internationalization of the centre. Enables short-term visits by international researchers and supports PostDoc positions including LUDICH project with Lund University.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Carl Bennet AB: Swedish family-owned investment company with associated philanthropic activities via the Carl Bennet Foundation. Comparable family-controlled Swedish capital base funding research and societal causes.
• Vinnova: Sweden's innovation agency funding research and innovation. Comparable as a Swedish grantmaking entity supporting academia-industry collaboration, though publicly funded rather than private foundation.
• Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet): Government agency funding Swedish research across all disciplines. Provides context for the broader Swedish research-funding landscape in which The Hamrin Foundation operates, though government rather than private.

Direct peers

• Riksbankens Jubileumsfond: Swedish research foundation funding humanities and social sciences research, including media and democracy-related work. Highly comparable mission overlap with The Hamrin Foundation's media/democracy focus.
• Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation: Family-controlled Swedish foundation supporting research and education. Comparable private foundation structure, Sweden-only mandate, and academic grantmaking focus.
• Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation: Sweden's largest private research foundation, funding basic research at top Swedish universities. Directly comparable in mandate (Swedish scientific research grantmaking), scale (multi-billion SEK assets), and family-foundation structure.
• Erling-Persson Foundation: Swedish family foundation funding medical research and scientific purposes. Comparable private Swedish foundation with research grantmaking as core activity.
• Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF): Swedish foundation funding strategic research across natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. Comparable in operating model (Swedish private research foundation distributing grants to academic institutions).
• Marcus Wallenberg Foundation for International Scientific Collaboration: Swedish family foundation funding international scientific collaboration. Comparable in family-foundation model and Swedish research-grantmaking scope, though with more international orientation.
• Torsten Söderberg Foundation: Swedish family foundation supporting scientific research, primarily in medicine and economics. Comparable private foundation structure, Swedish-only mandate, and academic research grantmaking model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-hamrin-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Hamrin Foundation