Seed Forum Investment Forum for Innovation Companies

Forum Guests:

International marketing of Icelandic innovation companies is essential for us. Our small population, and the fact that we are generally perceived to be off the beaten track, was until recently seen as a serious disadvantage for the competitiveness of our industry. History shows that through the ages the country's location has led to isolation and to some degree, to stagnation. But this has changed through progressive education and through the diligence and entrepreneurial power that have always characterised our people. A pressing need for information and knowledge probably characterises many small nations, particularly island nations. Equally, their need to forge links with the wider world is stronger than among larger and more populous nations, among other things because their home markets are so small. We Icelanders, like many island nations, have long since shown that the relationship between population and talent is not such that small communities are disadvantaged.

Research on entrepreneurship has shown year after year that the nation's initiative in this field is greater than the norm in high income countries - often twice that of the high income countries as a whole and comparable to that of the USA, Canada and Australia. The difficulties we recently met have caused this to emerge more strongly than before, and I doubt that there have ever been more people showing an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship than now. This is reflected well in the apparent 14% increase in jobs in specialist, scientific and technical activities, while general employment has dropped by 5% for the period 2008 to 2009. This development stems of course first and foremost from the people themselves, but government has also encouraged it with its measures.

Despite a general drop in public spending, funding for competition funds has been increased. Applications to The Technology Development Fund have increased substantially and the quality of projects has never been higher than now. Many of the start-up companies currently showing most success and growth owe their existence and this success to a large extent to the support provided to them by the competition funds through the years. It is almost axiomatic that to strengthen competition funds is the most effective measure to foster increased innovation, to increase well-paid jobs and to restore industry on new foundations. State support for strengthening industry must however stand on more pillars as government now emphasises increasingly.

Measures to improve the tax environment for innovation companies have recently been launched. A more favourable tax environment in this country for such companies should lead to an increase in jobs in research and development in Icelandic companies and to an improvement in their competitive position. There are two types of improvement. On the one hand there is a tax deduction awarded to companies for their research and development activities. The aim is to strengthen innovation in new and existing companies. On the other hand there are tax benefits for those who invest in innovation companies, as lack of investment in such companies has long been a problem and has stunted their growth.

A bill has been completed on tax concessions for new investments which should become law in this spring parliament. The aim is to encourage and strengthen investment in businesses by specifying in legislation, in a transparent manner, the authority that the State and the municipalities have to grant concessions for new investments.  With this it will be possible to make special investment agreements for specific projects, which to date has been a cumbersome and inflexible process. I believe that this measure will bring growth in investments in Icelandic industry. Since the bank collapse in October 2008 they have been virtually non-existent.in Iceland.

The legislation is aimed at diverse investments. And not only the largest ones, but also smaller and medium sized investments. Legislation will strengthen Icelands competitiveness.

Despite serious and widespread unemployment, grass roots energy in start-up and innovation companies is particularly evident, and that strengthens our belief that we are on the right track.  Success of companies in the games and culture sectors has aroused particular interest. Their growth has been remarkable in recent years. Last year these companies turned over about 10 billion Icelandic krona and had more than 500 employees. The opportunities there are endless, and the country's size and location are of no importance.  A fast growing industry, creating diverse job opportunities for young people in Iceland. Now the wheel has come full circle, to our advantage and the strengths inherent in our close-knit and flexible society work for us. Companies have formed strong associations and have worked in clusters, as happened recently when Iceland Music Export, the Icelandic Film Centre, Iceland Music Promotion Centre, the Icelandic Gaming Industry, The Icelandic Literature Fund, the Iceland Design Centre and stage artists decided to create a mutual platform for cooperation. Among other tasks the cluster will work on mapping the economic impact of creative art.

Forum Guests:

The six innovation companies presented here today show a good cross-section of today's growth. Four of them are Icelandic and two are Norwegian. They come from various directions but one thing they have in common is that they create tangible value and support increased variety and growth in the employment sector.

The electric car that can park at 90 degrees into a parking space is an example of a solution that everyone has been waiting for but that has not come to light until now.

GreenQloud is from the intangible world of the Internet where the computer user can access the operating power, tools and storage space he needs from those who have some to spare.

Then there is the environmentally friendly Breather, which is a ventilation system combining two advantages. It saves energy and is less expensive than existing solutions.

Nowadays, weather forecasts are business in no small way and many of us have undoubtedly used Belgingur on the web to get the best forecast for our journey and destination.

Finally we have the two Norwegian information technology companies. They are Correlate and Penguru.  Correlate has designed a program that helps the user to arrange data and projects in a new and effective manner and Penguru had developed a system that is capable to read and process handwritten text and receive handwritten messages.

Forum Guests:

I declare the Seed Forum - Investment Forum for Innovation Companies, open.