Stina Ehrensvärd facts for kids

Stina Ehrensvärd is a super smart Swedish-American inventor and business leader. She started a company called Yubico. She also helped create the YubiKey, which is a special device that helps you log into websites safely.

Stina's Early Life and Education

Stina Ehrensvärd was born in the United States. Her parents were both architects. Her dad studied city planning and computer art at the University of Washington in Seattle. After that, her family moved to Lund, Sweden. Stina grew up there with her three brothers and sisters.

Studying Design in Sweden

Later, Stina went to college in Stockholm. She studied industrial design at the Konstfack University. This is where she learned how to design useful and cool products. While in college, she met Jakob Ehrensvärd. He loved electronics, and they later got married. They now have three children.

Creating New Inventions

Stina and Jakob started working together, mixing her design skills with his computer knowledge.

First Big Idea: Cypak

Their first big invention was called Cypak. It was a smart packaging system for medicines. Even though it was a great idea, it didn't become a big product.

Starting Yubico and the YubiKey

In 2007, Stina and Jakob started their own company, Yubico. They began making the YubiKey. This small device helps people log into their online accounts safely. The YubiKey quickly became very popular around the world. Millions of people started using it, including many of the biggest internet companies.

Moving to Silicon Valley

In 2011, Stina and Jakob moved to Palo Alto, California. This area is known as Silicon Valley, a famous place for technology companies. They wanted Yubico to be part of this exciting tech scene.

Making Online Security Better

Yubico is a leader in making online logins more secure.

Helping Create FIDO U2F

Yubico helped create an important internet standard called FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F). They worked with Google on this. This standard makes it easier and safer to log in to websites.

Yubico's Smart Ideas

Stina's company, Yubico, came up with the idea that one security device could work for many different online services. This means you don't need a different password or secret for each website. Yubico also created other cool security tools. These include special one-time passwords and smart cards that work with USB ports.

Awards and Inspiration

Stina Ehrensvärd often gives talks about internet safety and starting a business.

Recognized for Her Work

In 2013, Inc. magazine named her one of the "10 Women to Watch in Tech." The next year, Yubico won the Swedish Innovation Award. In 2016, Stina received the KTH Great Prize. This is one of the most important awards for inventors and business leaders in Sweden.

Stina's Advice

In 2013, Stina was interviewed by The NextWomen magazine. She talked about using the YubiKey for the first time with Google. When asked for advice, she said, "We women are trained in our DNA to please. I have stopped trying to please everyone, but to instead follow my dreams."

Stina continues to work hard to make secure login easy for everyone. She dreams of a future where one YubiKey can be used for all online services.

Supporting Important Causes

Yubico, Stina's company, also supports important causes. For example, they donated 500 special security keys to activists during the Hong Kong protests. These keys helped the activists communicate more safely.