Meet the Team: Sara M. Rakstang

Name

Sara

Role

CEO & Founder

When you joined the team

I started Repasdo in 2021, but honestly? I had the idea back in 2018/2019 and started to think about it a lot.

Describe your job in three words

Culture, Structure, Capital (can I say one more? FUTURE)

How do you describe the work we do at Repasdo?

I think we are bringing a solution that used to be dedicated to an elite segment of customers and provides it to every stakeholder. We are working with practicality, tangibility and usability of technology. The textile industry as a sector has over 98% of small and medium-sized players through the value chain, and I feel that we are building a bridge to a much-needed future!

We are also building Repasdo on the same concept of inclusivity. Repasdo is a tech startup with an office and base in Innlandet at Gründerparken in Brumunddal. Our CTO lives in Oslo and our CPO in Florence. We have built an international concept from day one and believe in our Innland-identity as part of our decentralized DNA. While we have developed the tech part in Norway, we have also developed our network and ecosystem of manufacturers in Italy, and we have learned quite a lot from that through the whole development process.

What's the most unexpected skill you've developed while working here?

I have worked for over 20 years in international businesses-to-government and business-to-business segments from oil and gas to automobiles, renewables and HighTech. I came to Norway in 2018, worked as COO in a high-tech company for 2 years and then started Repasdo. I think the most important thing I learned was the value of people, inclusivity and innovative thinking. And one more thing: There is no such thing as “The Right Idea” or “The Right Solution”. The only solid fact is the problems in the market, and as long as our ideas and solutions cannot solve them, they need to be changed, adjusted or optimized. What else? Yes, financing a startup is a REALLLYYYYYYYYY BIG JOB!

What's some random facts about you that most people wouldn't guess?

Well, I love classical music and opera as much as metal and folk metal. I am an ambitious businesswoman who loves to wander for hours in the forest and pick berries, and mushrooms and bake bread. As a Persian woman with a heritage of Persian cuisines, I love boiled-salted fish or 'Blandaball'! And my favourite Norwegian writers are Karl Ove Knausgård and Jon Fosse.

What's your favourite app or tool that you can't live without?

It has to be YR, the weather app!

What's one thing you can't start your workday without?

Coffee and a good big smile!