Company History

The basic humanitarian view is profound and has a long tradition within Etac. It has its origin in the pioneering social efforts of Elise Ottesen-Jensen, founder of our company RFSU, in the early 1930’s. To finance the educational mission, RFSU started to sell a few technical aids. These products were, however, not very attractive. In 1972 this gave birth to the idea of developing own, attractive and functional products of better quality under the name RFSU Rehab.

Already from the start the products were developed with the user’s needs as basis and in close cooperation with industrial designers. The result was products with form and function which by far surpassed the standard at the time.

Therapists were hired to provide better in-house knowledge of the user’s everyday life. This is a decision we are very glad to have taken. They knew what was missing in the healthcare business, and soon many new technical aids were produced. Our home care products became an immediate success.

In 1977 a young man working on the family farm had an accident with a tractor which overturned. The accident resulted in a spinal injury. His active nature was incompatible with the wheelchairs of the time and soon he started to make his own wheelchairs. Etac recognized his skill and hired him as a Product Manager. With his experience and knowledge as basis Etac developed and introduced one of the first active wheelchairs to the market.

In 1985 the company launched the first four-wheeled walker Nova, which set the standard for walkers today. Now Etac produces a wide range of walkers.

RFSU Rehab and Etac were sister companies until they merged under the name Etac in 1999. In 2004 Etac acquired the Norwegian company Hand Pro AS with a long experience from car adaptations and production of the Balder power wheelchairs.

Etac's ownership is divided between Nordstjernan (60%) and RFSU (40%). Nordstjernan is a family controlled investment company whose business idea is to create long-term value growth by being an active industrial owner. RFSU a Swedish non-profit organization, is devoted to reproductive health and rights.

Company Quick Facts

The Etac group consists of five sales companies in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Production takes place at Etac Supply Center AB in Sweden and HandPro AS in Norway.

Global Sales are made through carefully selected distributing partners. This is managed by the Export Division, Etac Sverige AB, a Swedish sales organization.

Watch our film on the Balder power wheelchair.
Click on the images above to start the film. (10 MB)