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Magnus Wiklund, ABI, Magnus Bergknut, MTC, Kent van Klint and Cecilia Lind, both Eco Oil and Peter Hedman, Cleaner Growth.

Environmental technology companies are growing in northern Sweden, not least with the help of the project, Cleaner Growth, driven by Uminova Innovation in cooperation with Artic Business Incubator (ABI) Kompetensspridning in Umeå and Skellefteå munincipality. From left to right, Magnus Wiklund, ABI, Magnus Bergknut, MTC, Kent van Klint and Cecilia Lind, both Eco Oil and Peter Hedman, Cleaner Growth.

Now companies invest in environmental technology

More and more companies are investing in energy and environmental technology. During the Connect Green Day in Skellefteå, this was noticeable when new companies got the opportunity to meet investors and seek capital.

-70 percent of the investors in Connect’s network are interested in investing in this area, says Anders Gothefors, CEO of Connect Sverige in the North, when the conference began.

Connect Sverige, which organised the day, has contact with over 120 investors in their networks across the whole country. Many of these investors are also in Skellefteå to get to know some of the northern companies that invest in environmental technology and climate smart solutions.

The project Cleaner Growth, run by Uminova Innovation in cooperation with Artic Business Incubator (ABI), Kompetensspridning in Umeå and Skellefteå municipality, are some of the organisers of the day.

-We have an important task to promote our regional companies with smart climate solutions that can contribute to sustainable growth for the future, says Åsa Svanberg from ABI in Skellefteå.

-It’s impressive that we have such a variety of companies, ranging from sustainable fuel to smarter and more efficient monitoring of the power grid, continues Åsa Svanberg.

Åsa Svanberg, Arctic Business Incubator

Åsa Svanberg, Arctic Business Incubator, sees more and more companies expanding in northern Sweden with climate smart technology.

 

Meeting investors

During the day, roughly a dozen companies had the opportunity to pitch their best ideas, within three minutes, on stage, and in front of the investors and other interested parties. Companies such as MTC, Eco-Oil, Envigas, Greeltech and many more had the opportunity to share their solutions and needs to be able to grow. Several of the companies were seeking capital in order to take the next step, while others were looking for external persons to join their board, or perhaps a CEO with international experience.

Although the companies are at different stages, environmental technology and smart climate solutions are still something that they have in common. Here there is everything from future heating systems, alternative insulation for housing, technology to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals for biofuels, and monitoring systems for power outages.

Creating the future

-It is these companies that can be part of creating the future for us, says Peter Hedman, project manager for Cleaner Growth.

-It is extremely important that we get a number of companies focused on energy and environmental technology that can come and tell us what potential they have. There are huge opportunities for them particularly within the global market, continued Peter Hedman.

In addition to the short pitch that companies gave on stage, the companies also had the opportunity to meet with the investors individually for longer discussions, in which more business ideas could be raised.

Teslas Nordenchef Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen berättat engagerat om den nya elbilens framtid. Susanne Wiklund Lindström och Peter Hedman var inte sena att testa Tesla.

Tesla's Nordic Manager Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen talked enthusiastically about the new electric car future. Susanne Wiklund Lindström and Peter Hedman were not slow to test the Tesla.

 

Tesla in Northern Sweden

For further inspiration, the electric car maker Tesla’s Nordic manager Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen came with new information regarding how far the deliveries of the new model at Tesla’s car factory have come.

-The plan is to build a supercharger in Skellefteå, during summer and autumn of 2016, to make it possible to drive to Northern Sweden, says Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen.

With more of these charging stations it will be possible to drive all the way from Tromsö in the north to Rome in Italy, he said.

Charge the car for free

The fact that Tesla appeared during the day was not such a surprise due to Tesla having a large collaboration with Skellefteå Kraft, who supply electricity to all of Sweden’s superchargers. In addition, any Tesla car owner can also charge their car for free at home, if they choose Skellefteå Kraft as their electricity supplier. The deal offers free electricity for up to 15,000 kilometres of driving per year, for three years.

Those who were seeking some action during the conference did not miss out, as participants got the opportunity to test drive two of Tesla’s cars. Something that proved to be a very popular during the day.

Text and photo by Mikael Hansson. The article was originally published on infotechumea.se External link, opens in new window.

Also Affärsliv 24 Västerbottens Kuriren External link, opens in new window. reporting from Connect day.