Want to raise capital and negotiate smarter? Or are you looking to invest? Sign up for the FDS courses!

Pressmeddelande — 3 September 2026 08:16

Want to raise capital and negotiate smarter? Or are you looking to invest? Sign up for the FDS courses!

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GU Ventures shares news and information about its activities, portfolio companies and alumni companies:

(Go to the Swedish version here.)

Whether you are building a startup, supporting founders as a board member, business developer or mentor, or investing in startups yourself, the FDS courses provide practical tools to strengthen your expertise in startup capitalisation and make better financial decisions. Author and serial entrepreneur Per Hulthén has conducted research in the field and, in collaboration with GU Ventures, written a handbook that has just been launched. FDS is now offering two new course opportunities focusing on raising capital and negotiation techniques – first come, first served!

The FDS Course is now back. It builds on our recently launched FDS Handbook, but goes one step further by applying the FDS methodology to startup companies, investments and teams. At the same time, a new advanced course in negotiation techniques is being introduced, featuring practical negotiation exercises. See the upcoming course dates and download the digital handbook here.

"The first FDS course we organised with Per generated so much interest that it was fully booked within a week, and an additional course date was quickly added to meet the demand," says Klementina Österberg, CEO of GU Ventures, and continues:

"Even those of us who work with these issues every day with our startups and have made numerous investments felt that we gained a great deal from taking the course. There are so many nuances and new developments within venture capital that we needed to update our knowledge. It was also particularly valuable to take the course alongside other entrepreneurs, investors and business developers and discuss our different perspectives."

During two intensive days of the main capitalisation course, called the "FDS Course", you will learn how to work strategically with financing and capitalisation, understand the investor perspective, prepare for different growth phases and exits, and build a stronger financial foundation for long-term success.

During the subsequent two-day negotiation training course, you will gain valuable hands-on experience through a number of realistic cases in which participants negotiate with one another and explore in greater depth how negotiations can develop when raising capital.

A new group discount is also being introduced for the September course:

Join us in Gothenburg on 24–25 September and strengthen the financial expertise you bring to startups!

Register for the course here: fds.education/courses.

Registration closes on 15 September!

FDS Course – 24–25 SeptemberKonsistorierummet, University of Gothenburg

Two intensive days focusing on how to deliberately design a startup's financial structure. The course has been updated based on the new handbook and takes participants further into the practical work of financing, ownership and value creation.

FDS Negotiation Training – 20–21 OctoberÅgrenska Villan, University of Gothenburg

A practical two-day training course in which participants work with negotiation scenarios that startups may encounter at different stages of their development. These include the allocation of ownership between founders, seed and angel investment rounds, venture capital rounds, pilot projects, expansion rounds and company acquisitions.

Download the handbook and prepare

The FDS Handbook has been developed within the KRAFT project and co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund via the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Region Västra Götaland and GU Ventures. This funding makes it possible to offer the digital version of the handbook free of charge.

Download the FDS Handbook:fds.education/handbook

About Financial Design for Startups (FDS)

Financial Design for Startups (FDS) is a research-based educational programme for entrepreneurs, incubator coaches, business developers, board members, mentors, as well as investors and others working with startups. FDS was created by Per Hulthén and is offered by him through his company Autlook in collaboration with GU Ventures, with the aim of strengthening expertise in long-term startup capitalisation and value creation.

FDS combines research from the Exit Value Study programme (EVS 1–3) with several decades of practical experience in startup investment, fundraising and entrepreneurship.

The programme has been made possible through funding from several partners, including Vinnova and GU Ventures, while the educational material has been developed within the KRAFT project, which is co-funded by the European Union through the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Region Västra Götaland and GU Ventures.

Read more: https://www.fds.education/

GU Ventures builds companies from groundbreaking ideas that can shape a better tomorrow. It is ranked among the world's top 20 university-linked incubators by the UBI Global Index. We finance and develop new innovative business ideas connected to the University of Gothenburg, one of Northern Europe's largest universities. Our mission is to commercialize these innovations, ensuring that research and expertise are utilized to drive business renewal, create jobs, and foster sustainable growth. Our passionate team of company builders, financial experts, IP specialists, and legal professionals is dedicated to supporting our companies and ensuring their success.

Since its inception in 1995, GU Ventures has developed more than 200 new companies, 15 of which have been listed. Our portfolio consists of around 100 holdings and a number of projects.

In the latest survey, 87% of the companies align with the UN's global sustainability goals. GU Ventures is fully owned by the Swedish state and managed by the University of Gothenburg. Learn more at: www.guventures.com.