- Corporate
Pascal Cagni met the Swedish business community in Stockholm
From March 15 to 17, Business France Nordics had the pleasure of welcoming in Stockholm Pascal Cagni, French Ambassador for International Investments and Chairman of Business France. With a specific focus on the tech sector and the green transition, this visit was an excellent occasion to reinforce further links with key Swedish players.
Strong economic links between France & Sweden
During his visit to Sweden, Pascal Cagni had the opportunity to discuss economic trends in Sweden with several CEOs, investors and influential personalities such as Peter Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt, Peter Qvarfordt, CEO of Hydrovolt, Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Green Steel, Karin Ebbinghaus, CEO of Elonroad and many more. Those meetings were a perfect occasion to also talk about the links that unite France and Sweden. With over 600 Swedish companies which employ 95,000 people, Sweden is the leading Nordic employer in France.
Those meetings were also an opportunity to disccuss investment opportunities in France, particularly France 2030, a €54 billion investment plan. At the heart of France 2030, the decarbonisation of the economy and the environmental transition are essential subjects which are already of significant importance to Swedish entrepreneurs and VCs. The combined enterprise value of Swedish impact startups has grown 20x since 2017, faster than any other European hub.
Two tech nations turned toward the green transition
On Friday, March 17, Pascal Cagni met the Swedish tech community in Epicenter, the house of innovation in Stockholm, as well as members of La French Tech Nordics. With Sweden being one of the most innovative countries, with the second highest number of unicorns per capita in the world behind the Silicon Valley, this event was a unique opportunity to remind the Swedish tech ecosystem of the assets of La French Tech ecosystem:
- An ever-stronger funding ecosystem: France overtook Germany and was the only major ecosystem to increase funding in 2022, with €13.5 raised.
- A heartland for tech talents: some of the most recognised universities and schools dedicated to training talents: 300,000 researchers, 1 million engineers.
- A vibrant R&D: 1 out 5 foreign R&D projects in the EU landed in France in 2021
As Ulf Kristersson, Swedish Prime Minister, said during his visit to Paris last January, “France and Sweden are startup nations”, and synergies between the two countries are vast. While in the past three years, 23% of Swedish investments in France were in Tech, many other opportunities exist, particularly in Green Tech.
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