Regional Partner

Grow your business via Västerbotten- Be part of a groundbreaking creative wonder

Regional Partner

Creative Sweden

• Repeatedly ranked the most creative and innovative country in the world

• Swedish design, music and IT is known worldwide • Cultural and creative industries generate more money

than the car industry in Sweden

(Source: Martin Prosperity Institute)

Regional Partner

The Digital Nation

• Continuously heads ICT rankings• Second in Global Innovation Index

- Swedish innovations: Skype & Spotify• Swedish game development only second to London, in

Europe

(Source: World Economic Forum, Connectivity Scorecard 2011, Insead, 2010)

Regional Partner

Sweden and the World

• Sweden propspers despite turbulent economy in Europe• Long tradition of worldwide export and international

business• Export of services shows the largest growth • Large home market:

- The Nordic countries together make up the world’s 10th largest economy

(Source: Norden i tal 2010)

Regional Partner

Swedish business climate is excellent

• One of the most competitive and globalized countries in the world 1

• Superior access to skilled and cost competitive labor market 2

• Favorable corporate taxation climate• One of the lowest electricity costs for industrial consumer

in Europe 3

• Very active industry-academia collaboration 41. World Economic Forum index2. IMD, U.S. Department of Labor, Watson Wyatt3. Eurostat4. World Economic Forum

Regional Partner

Connected Swedes

• Most networked country in the world• The world’s best broadband

- Umeå has the fastest Internet connection in Europe• Early adopters

- Excellent test bed for new technologies and services

• Percent of English speakingskills is 85 (age 15 and older)

Illustration: North Kingdom

(Source: World Economic Forum, Akamai Technologies Inc)

Regional Partner7

• Redundant national coverage

• Total 150,000+ km of fiber optic networks

• 100 dark fiber suppliers

• 10 Swedish IXPs from North to South

• ~ 50 international carriers and service providers

• Europe´s fourth highest avg. traffic IXP: 105 Gbps

• TeliaSonera the only tier 1 carrier in Europe

• 85% of Europe’s ISPs connect directly

Extensive communications infrastructure

StockholmGöteborg

Malmö

Luleå

Sundsvall

Gävle

Regional Partner

North Sweden is hot

• Västerbotten has Sweden’s largest growth in export• Planned investments in the region well over € 30 billion until

2020• Facebook is building it’s first datacenter outside the US in

northern Sweden • Västerbotten has the highest concentration of game

developing companies in Sweden (per capita)

• Umeå will be European Capital of Culture in 2014

Regional Partner

Educating the next generation

• Umeå Institute of Design- Internationally top ranked, over 30 nationalities represented

• Gscept- Computer Graphics, Computer Game Engineering and Set Design & Prop Making

• Cross Media Interaction Design

- Graduated students are recruited by premium brands worldwide. E.g. Toyota, Framestore and MPC

Regional Partner

A creative melting pot in Västerbotten

• ”Live locally work globally”• Quality of Life• People, Relationships, Ideas and

Talents spark each other:

- A creative cluster; a community of creative people!

Regional Partner

Said about creative Västerbotten

”I can honestly say that I've never been to any place that has a higher concentration of ridiculously creative people.”

Jeff Voris, Disney

”…we’ve held on to what we feel is important – creative freedom, quality of work and curiosity – always with our feet on the ground and in high spirits. We like to see ourselves as a small, flexible, fast-moving team with big ideas. We have friends and partners all over the world to help us make those ideas come alive. ”

North Kingdom, International Award Winning Digital Agency

”New York or Umeå doesn’t really matter in the creative IT- world. Umeå is a great city to work from as an IT-business.”

Emanuel Dohi, Dohi Sweden

Regional Partner

Presenting The Lodge

”Develops internationally awarded digital

communication solutions to clients world wide from their base in Skellefteå,

North Sweden”

The Lodge is a tight network of 15 highly specialised companies in Skellefteå within the internet, film and games industries. Besides commercial projects, The Lodge is also a speaking partner for the creative industry in our region, a platform for knowledge sharing, business development and other business related questions.

Regional Partner

North Kingdom

D&AD1 Black Pencil, 1 Yellow Pencil

ONESHOW INTERACTIVE4 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 BronzeCLIO AWARDS2 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze

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2 Grand Award, 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1

Bronze

VODAFONE, COCA-COLA, ADIDAS, DISNEY, TOYOTA, DIESEL,

VICTORIA’S SECRET, LG & GOOGLE

Regional Partner14

Västerbotten offers

• Strategic alliance• Joint venture• Shared product development• M&A• Swedish R&D center• Nordic sales and support• Branch office• Regional HQ

• Arrange investor meetings• Identify opportunities• Find syndication partners• Matchmaking• Market and industry info• Establishment support

Types of investment: How VIA can assist:

Regional Partner

We are currently looking for: - App development

- Game development studios

- Post production

- Multi disciplines

- And of course, for creative people with an edge!

Regional Partner

Setting up a businessin Sweden is easy- Sweden is ranked to have the Best business climate in the world

- Straightforward system for business startups

- New potential partners are welcomed by the companies inour region

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Next steps

• Define: You specify what you are looking for. Specific technology, preferred type of company or partnership, etc.

• Search: We use our network to find options for you. Could be companies to partner with, IP to acquire, R&D projects to join...

• Meet: We set up meetings for you with Swedish companies.• On location in Sweden• By phone or online video conference

Regional Partner

Västerbotten Investment Agency (VIA) is a regional investment promotion agency dedicated to make the Västerbotten province the most attractive choice for foreign investors and companies thinking about establishing or expanding their business operations in Sweden. With expertise in several key sectors, VIA offers information about business opportunities as well as assistance throughout the investment and establishment process. VIA is a regional partner to the government agency Invest Sweden.

- Grow your business via Västerbotten!

VIA Västerbotten

Keep in touch!

Inger E. Pedersen, Investment Promotion Manager

Tel. +46 70 259 95 05

Inger.e.pedersen@viavasterbotten.se

www.viavasterbotten.se