As part of a growing collaboration between Sweden and California in forestry and the bioeconomy, a delegation of entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley, together with the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco & Silicon Valley, visited Sweden – with a particular focus on Värmland and BioEco Valley. The visit was a continuation of the exchange initiated at the Forest Innovation Summit in California, where Swedish and American stakeholders met for a conference on sustainable innovation. Among the Swedish participants at the Forest Innovation Summit were Sting Bioeconomy, along with three accelerator companies: Richter Life Science, Bright Day Graphene, and Zigrid.
Sting Bioeconomy hosted the “Wood on Wheels” delegation’s visit to Värmland, where participants spent a few exciting days experiencing the region’s strong innovation capacity in the bioeconomy sector. The trip began with visits to Blue Ocean Closures in Säffle and Karlstad Innovation Park, where companies including Svepreg and two of Sting Bioeconomy’s accelerator startups, Lumine North and Cellofibers, presented their operations.
This was followed by a boat tour along the Klarälven River with the electric boat company Bowter.
The second day began with a visit to Rottneros Mill & Packaging in Sunne, and a guided tour of Selma Lagerlöf’s estate, Mårbacka. The final stops were BioSorbe in Kristinehamn, Lixea, and LignoCity in Bäckhammar.
The trip offered inspiring presentations, new insights, and many valuable meetings. One of the highlights was a dinner at the County Governor’s residence in Karlstad, with a theme centered around innovation and international collaboration.
The visit clearly demonstrated the strength of BioEco Valley – both in terms of innovation capacity and cutting-edge sustainability expertise. The business delegation from Silicon Valley was impressed by what they saw. The exchange marked a strong starting point for continued collaboration and future business opportunities, with Swedish bioeconomy, innovation, and BioEco Valley playing a central role.
