Life according to Anima: Connected but not distracted

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On one of the first real summer days in May, IT&Telekomföretagen visits member company Anima in Malmö. The office is located in Kockum's old premises and the rooms are named after different submarine models. There are high ceilings, light and airy.

Fredrik Rosén, CFO, greets us in the hall, where a large sign is posted with the text Kronaby Sweden. It is a brand for connected watches that is Anima's main product, and it is growing like crazy.

Anima was founded by a handful of engineers from Sony Mobile after parts of the business were closed down in Lund. Because they had previously worked on mobile phones, they were highly skilled at designing technical solutions at an almost microscopic level. Sony Mobile had also worked on developing various connected watches, but none of them resembled what became Kronaby. With that expertise under its belt, it wasn't difficult to find new capital to set up the company and grow it. Things have moved very quickly, and Anima has taken the entire watch world by storm.

Connected but not distracted

In the Neptun II conference room, Fredrik Rosén talks passionately about the watches. Recently, a promotional video was published presenting the whole concept. Actor Matias Varela is the central figure in the film; he has become the new global face of Kronaby. The idea is to stay connected, but not distracted. The watch is discreetly designed, in every way. At first glance, it looks like a classic model, but it still signals the most important things going on around you by being connected to your phone. With Kronaby, Anima has practically started a revolution towards a world where every person is hidden in front of their own mobile screen.

Fredrik Rosén says that membership of IT&Telekomföretagen has come in handy because the company has grown at such a speed, and there has been an interest in having good agreements in place throughout the process. The biggest challenge for Anima going forward is to retain the excellence the company possesses, and find new talent. The company's interests are therefore fully in line with the advocacy work that IT&Telecom companies are engaged in. Last fall, IT&Telekomföretagen presented a report stating that there will be a shortage of 70,000 IT experts in Sweden. More should come to Sweden, and those who are already here should stay.