Twenty Swedish high tech startups will rendezvous on Silicon Valley’s
Sand Hill Road for the first such investment conference on 11 November.
Organized by the Invest in Sweden Agency (www.ISA-northamerica.org),
the conference introduces leading early-stage Swedish technology
companies to venture capital investors and strategic investment partners
in Silicon Valley.
The Swedish high tech startups span a range of rapidly developing
technologies and markets: from mobile services and digital music, to
radar inspection systems, eye-tracking technology, FPGA acceleration and
carbon nanostructures for semiconductor manufacturing. These innovative
companies bring patented technologies and business models that have
already attracted commercial partnerships with Alcatel-Lucent,
Altera,
Ericsson,
H-P,
Intel
and other global leaders. Recent strategic investors in other Swedish
startups have included Boeing,
Google,
H-P,
Motorola
and Oracle.
Since 2006, nine Swedish companies have been among Red Herring’s
Top Private Firms.
“In my view, countries that produce
outstanding technical talent combined with an environment that
encourages and supports the innovation ecosystem are likely to thrive -–
Sweden is one such example,” said Vinod
Khosla, venture capitalist and a keynote speaker at the ISA conference.
Swedish startups attending the investment conference include winners of
the Microsoft Ingenuity Award, 2008 Red Herring Euro 100 and 2008 CES
Design and Engineering Award. Conference speakers include Henry Gooss,
President of Investor
Growth Capital; Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla
Ventures; and Managing Director Don Wood of Draper
Fisher Jurvetson.
Dollar Appreciation Increases ROI
The all-day conference will enable venture capital and corporate
investors to evaluate some twenty Swedish high tech startups, learning
about their business models, growth prospects and development. All of
the attending startups have received investment funding from Swedish
venture investors. Tony Svensson, Executive Director of ISA in North
America states, “Swedish venture capital has
funded more than 800 new technology ventures, and in the past five years
has achieved nearly 100 exit events and IPOs. And with the recent 30%
appreciation of the dollar against the krona, Swedish investment
valuations and startup burn-rates are exceptionally attractive.”
“The conference offers a convenient venue
where Sand Hill Road can meet the best of Swedish innovation,”
explained ISA Head of Information and Communications Technology Niklas
Johnsson. “Under one roof we will assemble
nearly twenty companies, representing dozens of unique patents and
hundreds of thousands of man-hours of technology and market development.”
The ISA conference will be held from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Quadrus
Conference Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA. Active investors
with funds currently raised are encouraged to participate. Additional
information can be found at: http://www.isa-northamerica.org/events.html.
To register for this invitation-only event, or to send questions or
comments, please contact Maja Svensson, +1 212 702 8780, usa@isa.se
About Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA)
ISA - North America, reporting to the Swedish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, markets Sweden and its regions, industry clusters, funds and
individual businesses to North American companies and investors. ISA’s
mission is to promote and facilitate Foreign Direct Investment into
Sweden. ISA’s services are free of charge.
Release Summary:
Twenty Swedish high tech startups will rendezvous on Sand Hill Road for
an investment conference on 11 November to introduce early-stage
technology companies to venture capital and strategic investors in
Silicon Valley.
Keyword Tags:
high tech, information technology, investment, media, semiconductors,
silicon valley, software, Sweden, telecom, venture capital, web 2.0
For Invest in Sweden Agency
Spencer Horowitz, 408-832-9616
spencerh@ieee.org