The Foundation

Since the Erling-Persson Foundation was formed in 1999 it has made more than 340 donations totalling SEK 5.8 billion. The long list of recipients includes Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm School of Economics and Fryshuset.

In 1947 Erling Persson established the company that has developed into the global H&M Group we know today. The Erling-Persson Foundation was formed in 1999, in memory of his many achievements in retail and enterprise, financed by donations from the Persson family.

The family is passionate about entrepreneurship as a positive force in society, so supporting education in this area was a natural initial focus for the Foundation. Before long two more areas were added, aimed at equipping society better for the future: support for ­research and for the development of children and young people.

Fotograf: Jonas Fredwall Karlsson/Trunk Archive

To stimulate new thinking and new solutions the Foundation stresses the importance of meetings and collaboration, so it likes to support ­interdisciplinary ventures and projects that link together different ­sectors of society.

The Foundation’s commitment to the projects ­supported is based on confidence that the project ­owner has the capability to expand the boundaries of our shared knowledge and understanding, and a sure and certain belief that knowledge changes and ­i­mproves lives.

More than 330 donations have been made to date, with the Foundation having given SEK 5.8 billion to causes that benefit society. The largest single donation so far, around SEK 600 million, was made to the Nobel Center Foundation in 2022. The donation will enable the construction of the new Nobel Center at Slussen in Stockholm. Along with its contents, the building will inform, inspire and stimulate.

  • 700

    By 31 December 2024 the Foundation had granted funding to 92 projects that promote the development of children and young people, amounting to SEK 700 million in total.

  • 41%

    Nearly half of the total funds distributed by the Foundation, or SEK 2 billion, has been awarded to research projects led by Swedish universities and colleges.

  • 200

    The Foundation receives more than 200 applications for project support every year. Around 150 of these are research applications.

Various entrepreneurship courses have ­together ­received around SEK 1.3 billion, with ­Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm School of Entre­preneurship and the Royal Swedish Academy of ­Engineering Sciences (IVA) major recipients. A ­donation of SEK 75 million from the Foundation also enabled the start of education and research in fashion studies, with the Centre for Fashion Studies now well established at Stockholm University.

In the scientific field, research into type 1 ­diabetes is the area where the Foundation has made its ­largest contribution, amounting to around SEK 400 million to date. Significant support has also been given to research in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular ­disease, antibiotic resistance and neurological ­disease.

Fryshuset was the first children’s and young ­people’s organisation to receive support for its ­activities from the Foundation. So far, its projects have received funding from the Foundation totalling around SEK 195 million, helping Fryshuset to develop into a ­highly valued centre for children and young people within sport, knowledge, leisure activities and more. Organisations for children and young people have together ­received nearly SEK 580 million.

At the end of 2024 donations to the three focus areas were distributed approximately as follows (in SEK): 45 percent to research, 45 percent to education and 10 percent to children and young people.