Keynote Speakers 2022

We proudly present these distinguished speakers from industry leading companies dedicated to decarbonizing their industries.

Who

Eva Hamilton
Chair of LTU

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

LTU´s support for the industrial revolution

Eva Hamilton, Chair of Luleå Tekniska Universitet

Luleå University of Technology (LTU – Luleå Tekniska Universitet) is the knowledge hub of northern Sweden, providing both cutting edge research and deep pools of talent to support the ongoing green industrial revolution. With a long history of industry collaboration, LTU has become an integral part of the ecosystem in northern Sweden, supporting all industries from raw materials to Space. Eva Hamilton will join us to talk about how northern Sweden became home to the green industrial revolution unfolding now, and how LTU works to support new establishments in the region.

Who

Katarina Borstedt
Director of Growth, Northvolt

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Why Green Batteries?

Katarina Borstedt, Director of growth of Northvolt

Electrification of transport is one of the most important steps towards achieving global climate goals. To support this transition, Northvolt was founded with the mission to create the world’s greenest battery , thus allowing vehicle manufacturers to create truly sustainable vehicles with no inherent carbon footprint. Founded by former Tesla VP Peter Carlsson just a few years ago in 2016, Northvolt is already on track to produce their first batteries by the end of 2021. Leveraging the unique conditions of northern Sweden, Northvolt is looking to establish battery production at an unprecedented speed and scale to contribute to the ever increasing demand for batteries to power electric vehicles.Katarina Borstedt, Director of Growth of Northvolt will be joining us to elaborate on how they have managed to leapfrog many other battery producers by using sustainability as a key advantage.

Who

Maria Persson Gulda
CTO of H2 Green Steel

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Why Green Steel?

Maria Persson Gulda, CTO of H2 Green Steel

Established in 2020 by the entrepreneurs behind Vargas Holding, that already have another successful sustainable ventures in northern Sweden, H2 Green Steel is looking to produce the world’s first green steel by 2024. Using a new production process of reducing the iron ore using green hydrogen instead of carbon, H2 Green Steel is looking to become producers of the worlds first green steel at scale. Encouraged by previous successes in the region, the founders behind H2 Green Steel are seeking to enable products with almost no carbon footprint, by tackling a centuries old process that Is one of the largest polluters in the world. Accounting for around 8% of global co2 emissions, solving the issue of low emissions free steel will be one of the most revolutionary advancements in climate history.

Maria Persson Gulda, CTO of H2 Green Steel will join us to talk about why they chose northern Sweden as the home for their venture, and how the unique local conditions will accelerate their establishment of large scale production facilities.

Who

Khashayar Farmanbar, Minister for Energy and Digital Development

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

The Swedish Government’s approach to maintaining our leadership in renewable energy

Khashayar Farmanbar, Minister for Energy and Digital Development,
The Government of Sweden

The Minister of Energy and Digital Development shares the Swedish Government's plans for renewable energy, smart energy systems, and digitalization and how these are enabling and powering the many large scale industrial decarbonization projects in Northern Sweden.

Who

Stefan Gardefjord
CEO of SSC

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Sustainable space made in northern Sweden

Stefan Gardefjord, CEO of SSC

The global space market is booming, driven by high-tech development and utilization of space for a more
sustainable world. Meeting with this rapid development, the Swedish space sector aims for the stars, and centric for the development is Swedish Space Corporation, SSC. With a legacy dating back almost 60 years, SSC is now establishing Europe’s first launch site for satellites at Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, with an expected maiden flight in 2022. This will make Esrange, already the world’s most versatile space center, a global hub for an innovative space-centric ecosystem in close symbiosis with academia, institutions and industry in Northern Sweden.

With growing capabilities in a complete space ecosystem – engineering and science services, spacecraft launch and flight operations, as well as processing and storage of data – SSC aims at offering the world’s most sustainable space services. A new state-of-the-art facility at Esrange for developing new rocket technologies and launching satellites, supplemented by carbon-free storage and processing of data, courtesy of the region’s green data center industry, will be key for sustainable and cost-efficient space activities – in the very north of Sweden.

Stefan Gardefjord, CEO of SSC, will tell us more about the current development of SSC and the many commercial opportunities it brings for private and public organizations.

Who

David Herrero Fuentes
COO of Grupo Fertiberia

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Why Green Ammonia?

David Herrero Fuentes, COO of Grupo Fertiberia

The crop nutrition industry is essential for meeting current food production demand for the world’s growing population, and Grupo Fertiberia is committed to green ammonia, as a clean, low emission feedstock for its wide range of fertilisers, as well as its emerging potential as a carbon-free energy carrier & fuel.

With more than 1,500 employees and 13 industrial activity centres distributed throughout the entire Iberian Peninsula and France, Grupo Fertiberia is a leader in the EU fertiliser sector, where it develops, produces and markets innovative agronomic solutions that enhance the agricultural sector’s competitiveness and support the ecological transition of a sector that is vital to the European economy.

David Herrero Fuentes, COO of Grupo Fertiberia, will tell us more about why they selected Northern Sweden as the location for their Green Wolverine project, a worldwide pioneer project that builds on Fertiberia’s ongoing initiatives to decarbonize the crop nutrition industry.

Who

Niklas Johansson
Senior Vice President Communication and Climate of LKAB

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Why Green Raw Materials?

Niklas Johansson, Senior Vice President Communication and Climate of LKAB

LKAB is a world leading mining company pioneering a green value chain for steel through multiple different initiatives. LKAB will invest over €40 Billion in developing a new gold standard for green mining.

Over the coming two decades, these huge investments will overhaul virtually every aspect of LKAB’s business, rebuilding it in the most sustainable way possible. As the first step in almost any value chain, raw material companies have a very significant impact on the entire value chain below them. Without green raw materials, no product can become truly sustainable, as they will always carry an inherent climate burden from their inception. As a result of this LKAB has decided to set a new course for mining and raw materials, to create an opportunity for manufacturers to create more sustainable products in the future.

Niklas Johansson, Senior Vice President Communication and Climate of LKAB, will be joining us to elaborate on the importance of a value chain perspective for green products and how raw materials can enable truly sustainable goods.

Who

Viktoria Karsberg, Head of Corporate Identity and Group Communications, SSAB

When

Wednesday
June 15

Where

Kulturens Hus, Luleå

Why fossil-free steel?

Viktoria Karsberg, Head of Corporate Identity and Group Communications, SSAB

SSAB aims to be the first steel company in the world to bring fossil-free steel to the market already in 2026 and largely eliminate CO2 emissions from our own operations around 2030. Together with our partners LKAB and Vattenfall, we have come up with HYBRIT, a value-chain approach to produce iron- and steel, from the mine to the end-product, without emitting CO2. Our goal is to reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.

SSAB will be joining us to elaborate on their ambition to fundamentally transform SSAB’s Nordic production and accelerate the company’s green transition, and also how SSAB and fossil-free steel can meet customer needs for green solutions.

Panel discussion with Investors & Innovators

Welcome to a panel discussion between some of Sweden’s most prominent investors and the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators, discussing the importance of investing in green industries for the future.

Sweden’s most impactful “green industry” investors will come together with the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators to discuss the interplay between great ideas and the access to risk-willing capital to accelerate development in green industrial technologies. Together, they will share insights from both sides of the table on the mutual challenges and work to overcome the last resistance towards the green industrial revolution on a global level.

Panelist

Elisabet Jamal Bergström, Head of Sustainability at SEB Investment Management

Elisabet Jamal Bergström is Head of Sustainability at SEB Investment Management, one of the leading asset managers in the Nordics. With more than 125 funds and over €110 billion under management, SEB Investment Management helps both private and institutional investors to access investment opportunities in the green industrial revolution. With a goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 on an aggregate level for investment funds, SEB Investment Management is leading the way in capitalizing and accelerating the green industrial revolution in the Nordics.

Panelist & Investor

Carl-Erik Lagercrantz, CEO of Vargas Holding

Carl-Erik is co-founder and CEO of Vargas Holding. Founded in 2014, Vargas has initiated, invested in and launched three of Europe’s most ambitious and disruptive impact brands: Polarium, Northvolt and H2 Green Steel. Carl-Erik himself is a seasoned business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in the IT and telecom sectors, with leading roles at, among others, Utfors, Telenor, and British Telecom Nordics. Currently he’s the chairman of Northvolt and Polarium, and vice chairman of H2 Green Steel.

It is Vargas Holding’s belief that commercial solutions will be required to deal with our time’s biggest challenge, the climate crisis. And that we can accelerate decarbonization by putting innovation, technology and capital to work.

Panelist

Lars Olof Nilsson, Partner, Evli Corporate Finance

Lars-Olof Nilsson is a Partner at Evli Corporate Finance, a Finnish institutional asset manager based in Helsinki, with around €17.5 billion under management. By providing investment- and financial services to businesses and institutions to realize their financial goals, Evli is working to support ventures in the sustainability space. In their sustainable investment strategy, Evli considers not only economic factors but also the responsibility of their business taking into consideration environmental, social and governmental issues. Evli believes that responsible business creates long-term added value and remains competitive in a changing global environment.

Panelist

Jens Hedar, Head of Client Relationship Management, Svensk Exportkredit

Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) is a Swedish state-owned company who, on commercial and sustainable terms, finances the Swedish export industry. Since 1962, SEK has offered loans that have enabled thousands of Swedish companies to grow by increasing their production, completing acquisitions, increasing their employees, and selling goods and services to customers across the globe. What distinguishes SEK from other financiers is that they are state-owned and therefore a stable and long-term partner for sustainable growth.

Panelist

Viktor Markelin, Head of Infrastructure & Project Finance,The Nordic Investment Bank

The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution owned by the eight Nordic and Baltic countries. The Bank’s mission is to finance projects that improve productivity and benefit the environment in the region. NIB provides sustainable, long-term financing to customers in both the private and public sectors on competitive market terms to complement commercial lending. The Bank was established by the five Nordic countries in 1975, and the three Baltic countries joined NIB on equal footing with the original members in 2005.

Moderator

Mia Kleregård, Head of Transformation, Swedish Space Corporation

Mia Kleregård is the host and moderator of Demo North Summit 2022.

She is a leader with more than 25 years of international experience from companies in various sectors such as Systembolaget, Plantagon International, and most recently Tesla.

She is usually found in the forefront of what’s buzzing in the world. Her passion within the field of the future of technology has led her to the current position as the Transformation Lead at the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). At SSC the vision is to use space technology to solve the global challenges with advanced services, and it will be a game changer moving forward. To help Earth benefit from space.

Mia leads with a mission to contribute to a better society, on Earth and beyond. She has participated in several high level summits and is a well-recognized speaker within the area of Leadership, Sustainability and Innovation. She also attended the UN Global Compact Leader summit in New York during the launch of Agenda 2030 and has been engaged in the work since then.

She is an alumni from Singularity University and International Space University where she today lectures within the field of the Future of Leadership.

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Who is behind Demo North?

Demo North is founded and operated by Invest in Norrbotten. Invest in Norrbotten is the agency established to attract international investors and capital to the Norrbotten region, as well as helping local companies expand by finding the right overseas partners to assist their growth. We support companies planning to establish or expand business in our region, and with our wide network of local, regional and national business contacts, we ensure a smooth and swift investment process for your company. Naturally, all our services are free of charge and conducted with full confidentiality. You can read more about us at www.investinnorrbotten.se

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