MIMclip inventor

Mats Björnetun on his trajectory from hot rods to cross-country safety devices

- Mats Bjornetun

Under the MIMsafe brand, my company is the industry leader within the field of crash-tested dog cages, gates and universal cargo nets. We also produce MIMclips, the frangible devices which allow cross-country fences to “collapse” safely to help prevent falls. These became mandatory on 1 January 2021 on all fences to which they can be fitted at all FEI events.

Originally I was a farmer. I wasn’t interested in studying at school, but I was interested in motorcycles and hot rods, and was involved in dragracing. Engineering and building things fascinated me.

In 1986, I started MIM Construction AB in my barnin Frändefors in Sweden, with a partner. Our aim was to solve automotive functional design problems for neighbours – and our goal was just to survive.

Four years later we were invited to Germany to visit Volkswagen, who have been clients ever since, alongside the likes of Audi and Porsche. That was so far ahead of the goals I had set that, since then, I have only had fun. If there are two different projects in view, I have always chosen the one that looks more fun.