Wilma Martinsson
Innovator
WarM Bucket
Sweden
Economic
Farming
Rural village
The innovation journey
Wilma Martinsson has invented a heat isolator for water buckets used for watering horses. Without a heat isolator, water can otherwise turn to ice during the winter. Wilma’s business, WarM Bucket, produces and sells buckets all over the Nordic countries.
Wilma started WarM Bucket in 2018 as a Young Enterprise Business (UF-företag), which is a course students can take in upper secondary school in Sweden. The course typically serves as a training scenario where the student runs a business.
The course promotes entrepreneurial behaviour in teenagers. Wilma’s business success was instant and she had to pause her studies to focus on her business and satisfy the growing demand for the product. After high school, she turned her Young Enterprise Business it into an actual business, where she now works part-time.
The innovation impact
Keeping water for horses ice-free during the coldest times of the year can be a serious challenge in the Nordic countries. There are several solutions on the market that require electricity. However, installing cables or buying expensive battery-powered tubs is not always feasible. WarM Bucket is a simple solution. It consist of insulation for the water bucket that keeps the water ice-free for longer. This property of the product is time efficient for the owner and allows horses access to their water for longer periods of time during the winter. WarM Bucket won several awards during the company’s first year of operations.
At a regional young entrepreneur exhibition, she won the categories for ‘best innovation’, ‘best product’, and ‘best craftmanship’. In the national round of the exhibition, she won the categories for ‘best product’, ‘highest growth’, and this year’s ‘creative young business’. In 2022, Wilma received the Anders Wall Stipend, a prestigious stipend that is awarded to young entrepreneurs.