Tech companies bring boat building back to Lindholmen

A startup company that focuses on smart and innovative transport solutions via the waterway is moving into the tech arena The Yard in the unique old shipyard property on Lindholmen.

- The Yard suits us perfectly. It's also nice to reconnect with history and build boats in old shipyards, says Tobias Husberg, founder and CEO of Cstrider, which is one of the latest additions to the membership at The Yard.

The Yard, which is an initiative of, among others, Älvstranden Utveckling AB, opened its doors in January this year and offers a unique concept in Lindholmen for tech startups. Here, members get a large workshop hall combined with office space to work with, or test, various software and hardware. 

Tobias Husberg and the company Cstrider have their roots here on the West Coast and are also part of the incubator program at Innovatum Science Park in Trollhättan. But it is here at The Yard on Lindholmen that they will build their first prototypes and mock-ups of the boats and recreate the shipyard feel for real in the area.

- At The Yard we will build prototype boats and mock-ups, and iterate with real tests - hopefully together with Chalmers, Lindholmen Science Park and RISE (SSPA). So this is no longer the place where only ships were built before, but it is happening again, says Tobias Husberg.

Space technology on water

Cstrider works with smart urban waterborne passenger transport and space technology.

- We build passenger ferries and a complete transportation system that can be adapted and tailored to each city's unique needs. In an environmentally friendly and sustainable way, we provide a solution that can reduce commuting time and support increased quality in city life, says Tobias Husberg.

The choice to become a member of the tech arena The Yard here at Lindholmen was simple.

- In order to be able to build, and eventually get our boats in and out, the size of the surface was important, high ceilings and a large entrance gate were crucial. But being close to the water and the river is also of great importance to enable testing and iteration, both in the short and long term. The fact that the building was then an old shipyard property is just a big bonus, says Tobias Husberg.

The Yard is an initiative from the real estate company Älvstranden Utveckling AB, which owns several unique shipbuilding historic properties in Lindholmen, together with Business Region Gothenburg and Lindholmen Science Park to strengthen both the attractiveness of the area and the business life in Gothenburg.