This week, Smart Innovation Norway is participating in Slovakia's largest innovation and technology conference, Slovakia Tech, alongside two of its incubator companies, Avju and Intoto. The primary objective is to network and explore potential new collaborations.
“We are here to offer collaboration both in relation to the technology our startups can deliver, but also to discuss how Slovakia might benefit from how we at Smart Innovation Norway have been supporting startups related to the work in Venture and the Fortress Fund,” explains Thomas Mikkelsen, Head of International Operations at Smart Innovation Norway.
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Mikkelsen is attending the Slovakia Tech conference, held on September 24-25, together with colleague Veronika Sabikova and two promising startups from Smart Innovation Norway’s incubator program: Avju and Intoto.
A world of opportunities
“This is a great opportunity. We've already been invited by a university to pitch, so it's clear that our participation is paying off. It's a chance to demonstrate the demand for our technology,” comments Magnus Haugen, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Avju. His company develops a comprehensive monitoring system that provides power companies with tools to enhance energy efficiency and reduce maintenance needs.
The second startup accompanying Smart Innovation Norway in Slovakia is Intoto. They provide an IoT-based digital platform that delivers real-time environmental data from rivers, streams, harbors, and fjords. By offering high-quality environmental information and predictive insights, Intoto equips users with localized data for analysis and decision-making.
“We aim to build connections with potential customers, partners, and investors in the form of government officials or the private sector. We're reaching broadly to capture the attention of key players. The goal is to engage with one to three people who are genuinely interested in our technology and build strong relationships with them. Additionally, we want to understand the Slovak ecosystem and explore potential opportunities here,” says Urwa Hasan, Financial Management Analyst at Intoto.
Speaker and panelist
With 25 years of experience in the green energy transition in the Nordics, Smart Innovation Norway’s Thomas Mikkelsen is one of the speakers at the Slovakia Tech conference. He shares insights from his extensive experience and explores how these might be applied in the Slovak context.
“The challenges related to the green energy transition are numerous, and they are not only of a technical nature,” Mikkelsen notes.
In addition to speaking, he participates in a panel discussion that examines whether technology is the solution to the green energy transition.
“Guess what; the answer is not so simple,” says Mikkelsen, an expert in social innovation. He adds:
“We are also here to discuss the work we have done to support the implementation of new technology and how societal aspects and behavioral insights are mandatory for applying new and green technology successfully.”
Norwegian tech corner
Delegasjonen fra Smart Innovation Norway har også satt opp et eget “norsk hjørne” på konferansen, hvor Mikkelsen og Sabikova er tilgjengelige på slutten av hver dag for å møte deltakere og svare på spørsmål.
“We are networking and establishing potential new collaborations. Also, we have a booth where the startups and Veronika are present to talk to people and spread the word about our services,” says Mikkelsen. He has no doubt that their conference participation has been a success so far:
“Avju has had the opportunity to present their technology at the Technical University in Košice, while Intoto, with their technology that can predict water levels in rivers, is already in discussions with officials from the Slovak government. This is particularly relevant as the country experienced significant flooding issues just a week ago. So, we are very pleased with the trip!”