Lars Svensson WASP Alumni of the Year 2024

The central theme in Lars Svensson’s career has been his motivation to work from initial idea all the way to a useful physical implementation. In this spirit, it felt natural to combine the knowledge from his WASP research work with his background from a forestry farm. His journey from doing a WASP PhD and conducting a Wallenberg Launchpad (WALP) project to being an entrepreneur for a successful forest tech company is impressive to say the least. He is now awarded the WASP Alumni of the Year Award.

Lars has always been interested in physics and technology and did his master’s at Uppsala University in engineering physics. During an exchange period in Colorado, he had the chance to learn more about robotics and autonomous systems, the field in which he later chose to pursue a PhD. In 2016, he started his position at KTH and became part of the first batch of WASP PhD students. In his research work, Lars developed new algorithms for motion planning and control of autonomous cars and trucks in critical situations, for example evasive manoeuvres in slippery road conditions. He evaluated the concepts in full scale experiments on real cars and trucks, and in the process gained experience in the craft of designing and building a full autonomy stack, which would later become the basis for his company NFA.

“Early on during my time as a PhD student, I started nurturing the idea of applying this technology to the forestry sector. I noticed a lot of hype around autonomous driving, but basically nothing was happening in the forestry sector. Why? I could see no technical reason. Perhaps there was an opportunity for a startup to accelerate the adoption of this technology in this field.” says Lars.

Today, Lars is the CEO of Nordic Forestry Automation and leads the company together with his co-founder David Gillsjö, also a WASP Alumni. According to Lars, WASP played a crucial role in the formation of the company:

“I can easily say that without WASP, there wouldn’t be a company. The company is built on the knowledge and skills me and David gained through our research work. In addition, the opportunities and contacts from the ecosystem around WASP has really helped in getting us off the ground. I realized when joining the program that this was different from other research programs, due to its size and the seniority and skill of the people involved. I aspired to take every opportunity brought forward by the program: I took all the courses, summer schools, joined the trips and study visits, did an exchange period at Berkeley, and ran a WALP project. Looking back, having that mentality has really paid off.”

Exchange to Berkeley – a highlight

The exchange at Berkeley was one of the highlights of Lars’ WASP PhD period.

“It had a big impact on my academic work as well as my entrepreneurial journey. I got into collaborations with some of the most prominent research groups in my field at Berkeley and Stanford, which lasted throughout the remainder of my PhD, and had the opportunity to visit and learn from several robotics startups in the Bay Area, which greatly influenced my decision to start NFA later on.”

Lars’ driving force has always been to develop an idea from scratch – all the way from theory, through implementation, to real-world evaluation.

“I truly enjoy the process of making abstract mathematical concepts generate movement and behavior of physical things in the real world – that’s why I’m so drawn to autonomous systems.”

Another rewarding aspect was being part of the research community.

“As a part of the research community, you feel like you are part of something bigger, which is extremely rewarding.”

WALP opened new doors

In 2021, Lars applied for a WALP project, which was crucial in maturing the technology and business model to a stage where they could raise venture capital. WALP stands for Wallenberg Launchpad. Through WALP, researchers are offered support in exploring and validating what impact their idea could make in industry or in society.

“The WALP funding gave us the opportunity, time and peace-of-mind to explore and work on our idea. I learned a lot during this time and met many senior and knowledgeable people. We received great advice, which was crucial for building the company further.”

It was during the WALP project that the founding team of NFA was formed. The project was initiated by Lars together with Max Åstrand, and eventually David Gillsjö joined in. Both Max and David were also WASP PhD students. Toward the end of the project, when time came to raise venture capital and continue to the next step, Max decided to move on. David is now the CTO of NFA and leading the software team.

NFA or Nordic Forestry Automation develops the next generation of operator support systems for forestry machines based on sensor technology from autonomous vehicles, with the aim of enabling more sustainable forestry operations. The company is growing quickly and has received investments from Södra and Sveaskog, two of the largest forestry companies in the world, as well as Navigare Ventures and Almi Invest. The future looks bright.

“Our first product is a pure perception system that supports the driver through enhanced decision support and situational awareness. However, our long-term strategy is to use that same perception stack as a basis for controlling the machine and raising the degree of automation in the machines”

Similarities between being an entrepreneur and a PhD student

Are there any similarities between being an entrepreneur and a PhD student? According to Lars, there are.

“You need to be comfortable with a certain degree of uncertainty and be open to learning new things all the time. As a researcher, part of the job is discovering what works and what doesn’t. If you know everything you will discover beforehand, you’re not doing it right. Once you discover these things, you adapt. That’s very similar to building a company in many aspects.”

Lars Svensson giving his Alumni of the Year presentation, January 2025. Photo: Peter Karlsson, Svarteld.

Motivation Lars Svensson – WASP Alumni of the Year 2024

Apart from conducting excellent research, together with PhD colleagues and the WALP team, he has built a strong company with the vision of raising sustainability in forestry. Since graduating from WASP as an affiliated WASP student, Lars has been engaged in and committed to the WASP community, and excelled in his entrepreneurial ambitions. He is an excellent example of how to successfully combine academic and industrial endeavours.