Saeid Esmaeilzadeh

Saeid Esmaeilzadeh was born in Tehran in 1974. His family fled to Sweden from Iran when he was eight years old. Esmaeilzadeh grew up in Husby, a suburb northwest of Stockholm.

He started his academic career at Stockholm University where he studied Chemistry and History of Religion. In 2000, he defended his PhD thesis: Crystal Chemistry of Manganese Tantalum Oxides, and two years later he became Sweden’s youngest associate professor at the age of 28. Throughout the years, Esmaeilzadeh has been renowned for his success as a serial entrepreneur working within the fields of biotechnology, clean-tech and information technology. Esmaeilzadeh has received significant praise, awards and distinctions for his research and for his role as a co-founder of the business group, Serendipity Group.

In 2008, he was awarded the Chemistry Technology Prize for his work with materials development, and in 2010 he received the ‘Innovative Pioneer of the Year’ award together with his business partner Ashkan Pouya. In 2011, he was even named ‘Stockholmer of the Month’ and was mentioned as one of 50 Swedes who is going to change the world.