Summit 2021 Highlights

The Nordic-US Food Summit 2021 was a great success. During the 3-day virtual event, there were 150+ unique attendees, 50+ speakers, 20+ partners and 21 selected Nordic companies from Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
To get a better idea of the content and impact the Nordic-US summit has on the food- and ag-tech ecosystem, see a summary of the 2021 summit below:

Comprehensive Pre-arrival Program

Preparing for a Successful US Market Entry


A pre-arrival package for all selected participating startups includes 1:1 Pitch Coaching, a legal support session and a US banking advisory session.​​​​​​​
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The program is an official part of the event that runs during the month of October - helping companies prepare for and make the most out of their attendance at the summit.

Day 1: Nordic Startup Pitches & Keynotes

Opening Remarks with

  • Cecilia Lif, Trade Counselor at the Embassy of Sweden

  • Björn Oeste, Founder at Oatly & Good Idea Drinks

Pitches by Selected Nordic Startups

Moderated by Robert Strand, Executive Director, The Nordic Center at UC Berkeley

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Q&A & Networking


Day 2: Nordic-US Panel Discussions & Keynotes

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Opening Remarks with

  • Will Rosenzweig, Faculty Co-Chair at Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business

Panel | Nordic FoodTech Changing the World: Creating a Sustainable and Nutritious Food System For All with

  • Ingi Björn Sigurðsson, CEO at Brum Funding

  • Daniel Skaven Ruben, Head of Strategy & Special Projects at Stockeld Dreamery

  • Lauri Reuter, Partner at Nordic FoodTech VC

  • Analisa Winther, Host & Producer at Nordic FoodTech Podcast

Moderated by Marie Persson, Project Manager at Swedish Food Strategy coordination, The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth


Fireside Chat| Talent for impact: Attracting & growing a US team for success with

  • Andrea Tegstam, Director, International Practice & Executive Recruiter at Westwood & Wilshire

  • Mona Vaupel, Chief People Officer at Too Good To Go

Moderated by Christopher Grahn, Partner & Head of US Nordic Minds, Adj. Professor Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology


Keynote | The Road from 1M to 100M: Scaling Nordic Businesses in the US with

  • Carlos Altschul, CEO at N!ck's USA

Panel | Lab to Table: Disruption in Future Foods R&D with

  • Tommy Nylander, Co-founder Northern Lights on Food Initiative & Professor at Lund University

  • Rickard Oeste, Professor at Lund University, Co-Founder at Oatly & Founder Aventure

  • Susana C.M. Teixeira, SANS Instrument Scientist at University of Delaware & Guest Researcher at the NIST Center for Neutron Research

Moderated by Pia Kinhult, Head of Host States Relations at ESS​​​​​​​


Day 3: Nordic-US Food Summit Acceleration Event


Keynote | Launching Startups in Foods for Health with

  • Bruce German, Professor & Director of UC Davis Foods for Health Insitute

UC Davis Panel | Opportunities for Developing Food and Biotech Innovation in Northern California with

  • Janine Elliot, Associate Director & Venture Catalyst

  • Mike Lemcke, Associate Director & Venture Catalyst

  • John Selep, President of AgTech Alliance & Angel Investor

  • Justin Siegel, Associate Professor & Director of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health


Sweet Farm Investor Panel with
  • Kalyn Simon, Portfolio Manager at Elemental Excelerator

  • Brian Frank, General Partner at FTW Ventures

  • Peter Odemark, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Gullspång Re:food

  • George Panagiotakopoulos, Director of Global Innovation & Partnerships at Berkeley SkyDeck

  • Max Rye, Chief Strategist at TurtleTree​​​​​​​

Moderated by Nate Salpeter, Ph.D., Co-founder at Sweet Farm Foundation, General Partner & SNØCAP


Previous attendees of the 2021 Nordic-US Food Summit​​​​​​​