What an incredible week at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025! From morning runs and packed stands to pitches, networking, partnerships, and plenty of inspiration - this week has been busy, but a lot of fun!
Picture: Project Leader Torill Steinback Hoel at the Nordic Business Mixer-event.
The Nordic Edge Barcelona team joined forces with the Nordics and Baltics stand, where we showcased our member companies while also being out and about at the Expo, sparking new connections and collaborations.
Connecting challenges and solutions
On Tuesday evening, we gathered cities and companies for our “Meet the Cities” event, where 13 Nordic companies presented their solutions to local governments and municipalities who in turn shared their challenges. The event was a collaboration between Nordic Edge, Invest in Skåne, Stockholm Business Region, and a Spanish delegation from Innovation Norway.
Picture: Tom Henriksen from Telcofy during the "Meet the cities" event.
Invested in Nordic Innovation
The momentum continued on Wednesday with even more Expo networking, followed by our “Nordic Business Mixer,” where our pitching companies once again highlighted the best of Nordic innovation, this time in front of potential investors and partners. For this event we partnered up with LAIA Ventures, Let’sInnovate, Invest in Skåne and Stockholm Business Reader. Project leader Torill Steinback Hoel from Nordic Edge summed it up perfectly:
“For us, Barcelona wasn’t about attending another conference, it was about making relevance for our members. Every meeting, mixer, and introduction is designed to support our members to move closer to new customers, partners, and capital to keep developing and sustain momentum,” says Torill.
Picture: Trond Spande from Zygizo presenting their unique technology solution at the Nordic Business Mixer.
Meeting the members
Thursday marked our final day at the stand, and we took the opportunity to talk to some of our members about their experiences. NetZeroCompute, who participated in both pitching events and had their own stand and the Expo, shared their perspective. Veronica Varhaugsvik, Executive Associate, explained their motivation:
"We're here to promote ourselves and we’ve been invited by our partners Nordic Edge and NVIDIA."
When asked what they’ve gained from the week, she added:
“You have introduced us to many municipalities and partners, so we have many new partners on our platform!”
We headed home with tired feet, full hearts, and plenty of new ideas and connections to build on. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our stands, participated in our events, shared ideas, and helped make the Nordic presence shine in Barcelona. Watch this aftermovie for a short recap of the Meet The Cities event and the Nordic Business Mixer!