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Innovation in Sweden
Click Here for a Country Report on Investing in Innovation in Sweden
Innovation in Sweden:
A Free Online Webinar Series for
U.S. Venture Investors Investing Abroad,
Corporate Technology Scouts, University Officials,
Government Officials, Entrepreneurs
and other Innovation Professionals
Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 1:00-2:30pm ET (10:00-11:30am PT)
Anders Flodström
(Professor, Head of Högskoleverket - Swedish National Agency for Higher Education
and the University Chancellor of Sweden)
Lena Gustafsson
(Deputy Director General VINNOVA - the Swedish Agency for Innovation)
Jorgen Bladh
(General Partner Northzone Ventures)
Moderated by Randy Mitchell
(International Trade Strategist for Private Equity, US Department of Commerce (ITA),
United States Representative to the OECD Working Party on Entrepreneurship)
"The organizers are grateful to the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute (ESBRI) for its assistance in organizing today's webinar." http://www.esbri.se/indexe.asp
Innovation in Sweden:
A Free Online Webinar Series for
U.S. Venture Investors Investing Abroad,
Corporate Technology Scouts, University Officials,
Government Officials, Entrepreneurs
and other Innovation Professionals
Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 1:00-2:30pm ET (10:00-11:30am PT)
Anders Flodström
(Professor, Head of Högskoleverket - Swedish National Agency for Higher Education
and the University Chancellor of Sweden)
Lena Gustafsson
(Deputy Director General VINNOVA - the Swedish Agency for Innovation)
Jorgen Bladh
(General Partner Northzone Ventures)
Moderated by Randy Mitchell
(International Trade Strategist for Private Equity, US Department of Commerce (ITA),
United States Representative to the OECD Working Party on Entrepreneurship)
"The organizers are grateful to the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute (ESBRI) for its assistance in organizing today's webinar." http://www.esbri.se/indexe.asp
This series on International Innovation will be moderated by Randy Mitchell, International Trade Strategist for Private Equity at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Each month we will look at a different market of interest to U.S. investors and innovation professionals.
This month, experts on Sweden will address the trends in the Swedish innovation economy.
Among the topics to be covered:
_______________________
Anders Flodström
(Professor, Head of Högskoleverket - Swedish National Agency for Higher Education - and the University Chancellor of Sweden)
Bio
Anders Flodström is a Professor of Material Physics and was the Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Institute of Technology from 1999 to 2007. Prior to that, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University for three years. He has also been a researcher for PARC (Palo Alto Research Centre Inc.) formerly Xerox PARC in the USA and a Professor at HASY-lab in Hamburg, Germany.
_______________________
Lena Gustafsson
(Deputy Director General VINNOVA - the Swedish Agency for Innovation)
Bio
Lena Gustafsson, professor in biotechnology at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, took her PhD in microbiology in 1980 at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. Her scientific focus has been regulation of energy fluxes in baker's yeasts, for optimization of industrial applications and for the holistic understanding of living systems; yeast has become a useful model system for higher organisms in systems biology. She was the vice dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Göteborg University before moving to Chalmers in 1999, where she acted as vice-chancellor (prorektor) during the years 2003-2006. Lena Gustafsson has been and is member of number of national and international academic boards and committees. She is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). At present she is deputy director general at VINNOVA - the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Stockholm, Sweden.
_______________________
Jorgen Bladh
(General Partner Northzone Ventures)
Bio
Jorgen joined Northzone Ventures in early 2000 to found the Stockholm office. Jorgen currently serves as the Northzone partner of the Board of: • Xcerion (Internet: Web OS) • Norstel (Clean Tech: Silicon Carbide material) • Envox Group, Edvantage Group and Appear Networks (Enterprise Software: Voice-enabled SW and solutions; e-learning; mobile workforce). His background includes co-founding and building two Internet related companies (eLearning start-up AcadeMedia and the high-speed Internet access company Thalamus Networks), both which are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, management and ownership of a small engineering company during a turnaround process, and Management Consultancy at McKinsey & Co Jorgen holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Linkoping, Sweden, and an MBA from MIT Sloan School in Boston (1991).
_______________________
Randy Mitchell
( International Trade Strategist for Private Equity, US Department of Commerce (ITA), United States Representative to the OECD Working Party on Entrepreneurship )
Bio
Randy Mitchell joined the International Trade Administration in June 2001, from the private sector where he had a history of entrepreneurial development in Russia, Japan, and the United States. From 1997-2001 he was founder of a start-up e-commerce company exporting U.S. consumer goods to the Japanese. In that position he built a management team that included former Fortune 500 executives including the former Chairman, CEO and President of Avon Japan. Along with his team he raised $3.5 million in venture capital financing and built strategic partnerships with some of the largest companies in Japan and the United States.
Mr. Mitchell resided in Russia from 1992 through 1996, where he built distribution networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg for U.S. and Scandinavian food and beverage brands such as Nestle (Findus), Sara Lee, Anheuser-Busch, Tyson, Subway, Campbell Soup, and others. This included working with Russian entrepreneurs in distribution, retail, and food service.
Mr. Mitchell is currently the U.S. government official responsible for private equity / venture capital and is the United States Representative to the OECD for Entrepreneurship where he actively works to export entrepreneurship. He is an alumnus of the 2005 Venture Capital Institute and currently represents the International Trade Administration on the Board of Advisors to the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). Mr. Mitchell has also served as U.S. Secretary on bilateral venture capital working groups with the governments of Australia and the European Union. Mr. Mitchell, a speaker of Russian, has traveled to 36 countries.
At the International Trade Administration, Mr. Mitchell is responsible for:
This month, experts on Sweden will address the trends in the Swedish innovation economy.
Among the topics to be covered:
- what is the Swedish innovation strategy as it relates to R&D labs at the federal and university level?
- what is the state of deal-flow?
- are entrepreneurs emerging with viable business models based on university research?
- what are the opportunities for early stage venture funding?
- what role do universities play in commercialization of R&D?
- and is there an equivalent of Bayh-Dole for Sweden?
_______________________
Anders Flodström
(Professor, Head of Högskoleverket - Swedish National Agency for Higher Education - and the University Chancellor of Sweden)
Bio
Anders Flodström is a Professor of Material Physics and was the Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Institute of Technology from 1999 to 2007. Prior to that, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University for three years. He has also been a researcher for PARC (Palo Alto Research Centre Inc.) formerly Xerox PARC in the USA and a Professor at HASY-lab in Hamburg, Germany.
_______________________
Lena Gustafsson
(Deputy Director General VINNOVA - the Swedish Agency for Innovation)
Bio
Lena Gustafsson, professor in biotechnology at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, took her PhD in microbiology in 1980 at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. Her scientific focus has been regulation of energy fluxes in baker's yeasts, for optimization of industrial applications and for the holistic understanding of living systems; yeast has become a useful model system for higher organisms in systems biology. She was the vice dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Göteborg University before moving to Chalmers in 1999, where she acted as vice-chancellor (prorektor) during the years 2003-2006. Lena Gustafsson has been and is member of number of national and international academic boards and committees. She is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). At present she is deputy director general at VINNOVA - the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Stockholm, Sweden.
_______________________
Jorgen Bladh
(General Partner Northzone Ventures)
Bio
Jorgen joined Northzone Ventures in early 2000 to found the Stockholm office. Jorgen currently serves as the Northzone partner of the Board of: • Xcerion (Internet: Web OS) • Norstel (Clean Tech: Silicon Carbide material) • Envox Group, Edvantage Group and Appear Networks (Enterprise Software: Voice-enabled SW and solutions; e-learning; mobile workforce). His background includes co-founding and building two Internet related companies (eLearning start-up AcadeMedia and the high-speed Internet access company Thalamus Networks), both which are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, management and ownership of a small engineering company during a turnaround process, and Management Consultancy at McKinsey & Co Jorgen holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Linkoping, Sweden, and an MBA from MIT Sloan School in Boston (1991).
_______________________
Randy Mitchell
( International Trade Strategist for Private Equity, US Department of Commerce (ITA), United States Representative to the OECD Working Party on Entrepreneurship )
Bio
Randy Mitchell joined the International Trade Administration in June 2001, from the private sector where he had a history of entrepreneurial development in Russia, Japan, and the United States. From 1997-2001 he was founder of a start-up e-commerce company exporting U.S. consumer goods to the Japanese. In that position he built a management team that included former Fortune 500 executives including the former Chairman, CEO and President of Avon Japan. Along with his team he raised $3.5 million in venture capital financing and built strategic partnerships with some of the largest companies in Japan and the United States.
Mr. Mitchell resided in Russia from 1992 through 1996, where he built distribution networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg for U.S. and Scandinavian food and beverage brands such as Nestle (Findus), Sara Lee, Anheuser-Busch, Tyson, Subway, Campbell Soup, and others. This included working with Russian entrepreneurs in distribution, retail, and food service.
Mr. Mitchell is currently the U.S. government official responsible for private equity / venture capital and is the United States Representative to the OECD for Entrepreneurship where he actively works to export entrepreneurship. He is an alumnus of the 2005 Venture Capital Institute and currently represents the International Trade Administration on the Board of Advisors to the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). Mr. Mitchell has also served as U.S. Secretary on bilateral venture capital working groups with the governments of Australia and the European Union. Mr. Mitchell, a speaker of Russian, has traveled to 36 countries.
At the International Trade Administration, Mr. Mitchell is responsible for:
- Supporting foreign investments of U.S. private equity / venture capital firms
- Increasing the exports of U.S. private equity and venture capital
- Enhancing the competitiveness of the U.S. private equity sector
- Enhancing the profile and importance of private equity / venture capital issues within the Department of Commerce and The White House