We solve complex problems. We build things that last.
Up Strategy Lab is a B2B design and product studio based in Gothenburg, Sweden. We work at the intersection of strategic thinking, deep design craft, and AI fluency - and unlike most studios, we also build and own the products we believe in.
Founded on a simple idea. Grown into something harder to categorise.
Daniel Nilsson and Noel Braganza founded Up Strategy Lab because they wanted to solve problems that mattered - and because they were frustrated by the gap between strategy and execution that most agencies never bothered to close.
The studio grew out of a background in design-driven innovation and research — including work at the MIT Design Lab — and a track record of building multi-million dollar companies on bootstrapped budgets. That combination of academic rigour and commercial pragmatism is still at the core of how we work.
Over time, we found ourselves consistently drawn to the hard problems. The B2B products that most designers had never been near. The businesses with genuine technology that could not communicate its value. The founders who needed a partner that would think alongside them, not just execute a brief.
That is where we live.
Small team. Big range.
We are a lean, distributed studio - a core team in Gothenburg working with a network of trusted collaborators across the globe. Remote by design, not by accident. It means we can bring in the right expertise for every engagement without the overhead of a large agency.
What we believe in
Strategy and design are the same conversation
We do not hand off a strategy for someone else to design, or design something without understanding the business behind it. The thinking and the making happen together.
We work like founders, not vendors
We get obsessive about the problems we take on. We push back when we disagree. We make decisions when clients are too busy to. We care about the outcome, not just the deliverable.
Honesty over comfort
We would rather tell you something is not working than watch you invest in the wrong direction. Direct, warm, and always in your corner — but never just telling you what you want to hear.
We build as well as advise
MuchSkills exists because we saw a problem and built the solution ourselves. That is not a footnote — it is the reason we think differently from studios that have only ever worked on other people's products.
Red Dot Design Award winner
Won for MuchSkills — our own product. Not a client's.
5+ ventures built and launched
MuchSkills, HardSkills, ProtoAnything, Privasea.ai, Nulink.
40+ B2B companies scaled
Across deeptech, industrial AI, SaaS, wireless technology, and more.
Want to join us?
Go to our careers page
Want to know if we are the right fit?
The fastest way to find out is a conversation. No preparation needed – just bring what you are working on and we will take it from there.
Book a meeting
Design and build ambitious B2B digital products.
Visiting address:
Nordhemsgatan 56 | 413 09 | Göteborg | Sweden
Correspondence address:
🏢 Andra Långgatan 7A, 413 03 | Göteborg | Sweden
