"The conference acted as the starting gun for the Scandinavian venture capital network."

That is what a pleased Magnus Agerström of Natlikan says about the turn-round of the downward trend in the number of visitors. The clou of the conference programme was an item entitled Financing Innovation, which attracted 50-60 venture capital companies from across Scandinavia.

“It was a red-hot subject, and it got good media coverage, particularly regarding Volvo Group’s CEO,” says Magnus. “The focus of the conference shifted from risks to business opportunities. And it was also apparent from the participants - more of them came from industry. And a lot of the positive feedback on the conference concerned its practical business content.”

Magnus plans to build further on the business perspective at the next fair.

“We’re going to put a lot of focus on Scandinavian cleantech. That way, we’ll increase our chances of attracting those visitors from abroad who are interested in the conference.”

“Competition among trade fairs is getting stiffer. So we have to do everything we can to make our fair even more attractive. Which is what we’re doing, of course,” he concludes.

High-interest items on the next conference programme mentioned by Magnus Agerström include:

•  Sustainable Cities
•  Sustainable Design & Product Development
•  Financing Sustainable Innovations
•  Technical Advances