Sponsors

Founded in 1875 by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet in the Swiss village of Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet is the oldest Manufacture of Haute Horlogerie never to have left the hands of the founding families. Today, its range encompasses complex mechanical watches, Haute Joaillerie creations as well as a line of jewellery. At each stage in its history, the Manufacture has daringly adopted avant-garde techniques in order to place them in the service of traditional craftsmanship. This approach has earned it an unparalleled number of world firsts in the field of Haute Horlogerie.

At Microsoft, we're motivated and inspired every day by how our customers use our software to find creative solutions to business problems, develop breakthrough ideas, and stay connected to what's most important to them. We run our business in much the same way, and believe our seven core business units offer the greatest potential to serve our customers in the coming decade. They include: Windows Client, Information Worker, Business Solutions, Server Platforms, Windows CE & Mobility, MSN, and Home & Entertainment. We are committed long term to the mission of helping our customers realize their full potential. Just as we constantly update and improve our products, we want to continually evolve our company to be in the best position to accelerate new technologies as they emerge and to betterserve our customers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance,tax and advisory services for public and private clients. More than 120,000 people in 139 countries connect their thinking, experience and solutions to build public trust and enhance value for clients and their stakeholders.

Vision Capital is a Trans-Atlantic fund providing growth capital for leading technology companies. Vision invests in promising European and US technology companies and then takes an active, hands-on approach in expanding these businesses across the Atlantic. Vision Capital specializes in investments focusing on communication, software and Internet/e-commerce companies that are proven winners and have global potential. Their portfolio consists of venture backed European technology companies with a strong foundation in Europe who wish to enter U.S. market and U.S. companies who seek an added-value investor who can assist in global expansion.

Weber Shandwick is a Communications Partner of the European Tech Tour, supporting both the European level organization and the various country tours.  Weber Shandwick, a unit of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), is one of the world's leading public relations agencies, with offices in major media, business and government capitals around the world. Weber Shandwick is a leader in marketing public relations, public affairs and corporate communications counseling, and also provides services in advocacy advertising, market research and visual communications.

City of Stockholm.

Investor is the largest industrial holding company in the Nordic region. For almost a century, our business concept has been to build best-in-class companies in sectors where we have a strong knowledge and networking advantage. Investor is a leading shareholder in several multinational companies, including AstraZeneca, Ericsson, and SEB. Investor also conducts private equity activities in North America, Europe and Asia.

IT Provider, is a leading Venture Capital Partnership focusing on accelerating the growth of Nordic early and expansion stage technology companies. IT Provider advises a range of funds with in total SEK 3 billion under management. The current portfolio includes 27 investments in the areas of communication technologies, software and enabling technology. Our team of 17 professionals have done more then 80 investments since our start in 1992 making us one of the most active and experienced VC:s in the Nordic region.

Kista is the epicenter of Sweden’s IT industry with more than 375 high-tech companies – ranging from university spin-offs to world-leading corporations.

Linköping University.

Northzone Ventures is an early stage technology venture capital company investing primarily in the Nordic market. Our goal is to give entrepreneurs a firm grounding in how to build up sustainable companies based on great ideas and unique technologies, with the promise to invent new business categories or radically alter existing ones.

With the support of city of Norrköping and Linköping and Östsam Regional Development Council.

Sandart & Partners is a Swedish law firm specialising in designing contract management solutions, contract and dispute negotiation and litigation. In 2004 Sandart & Partners was ranked as no 1 in the field of intellectual property litigation.

Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) is the government agency responsible for informing about business and investment opportunities in Sweden. Companies planning to establish or expand operations in Sweden can, free of charge, obtain information and assistance from ISA and its regional and international network. With headquarters in Stockholm, ISA has international operations and representation in major European, North-American and Asian cities.

Nordic Venture Partners is a multi-stage ICT fund that was founded in the fall of 2000. The management company was originally known as Danske Venture Partners and on the 1st. of January 2004, Nordic Venture Partners was founded as a management buy-out from Danske Bank. Nordic Venture Partners, is committed to commercialising technologies beyond the Nordic to build sustainable companies.

Saab is one of the world’s leading high-technology companies, with its main operations in defense, aviation and space. Saab covers a broad spectrum of competencies and capabilities in systems integration. Saab develops manufactures and delivers advanced products and services for the defense market, as well as for commercial markets where its expertise creates business opportunities. Thanks to its strengths and strategic partnerships, Saab has the world as its market, but research, development and production are carried out principally in Sweden. Saab has a total of 12,000 employees. Total annual sales are SEK 17,848 million. Research and development corresponds to about 20 percent of turnover.

The Nordic and Baltic telecommunications leader. TeliaSonera provides reliable, innovative and easy-to-use telecommunications services for carrying and packaging of voice, images, data, information, transactions and entertainment in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia and selected Eurasian markets.

BrainHeart Capital is a Multi Stage Industrial Investor. Unlike most other European venture capitalists, we have chosen a narrow investment approach focusing only on growth investment within primarily three segments of the wireless technology sector. We believe these focus areas to have the strongest potential for market growth in the coming years.

Atlas Venture is the leading international early-stage venture capital firm, investing in communications, information technology and life sciences companies. Atlas Venture has investing offices in Boston, London, Munich and Paris, and its investments are evenly divided between the United States and Europe.

Luleå University of Technology.

Norrlandsfonden, The Norrland Fund, provides loans for start-ups, development and expansion, primarily to small and medium-sized manufacturing and service-producing enterprises. The loans enable offensive and future-oriented investments.

Nexit Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on wireless innovation. Nexit Ventures has its home bases in Scandinavia and Silicon Valley - the focal points of wireless and information technologies. The dual presence creates a unique transatlantic bridge and brings significant value to the portfolio companies.

Founded in 1995, Benchmark Capital is an early-stage venture firm that's based on the principles of teamwork and an intense dedication to building technology companies of lasting value. We focus on providing superior service to entrepreneurs through a unique, team-oriented partnership in which every partner is equal in terms of both contribution and compensation.

CapMan is one of the leading private equity investors in the Nordic countries and specialises in middle market buyouts in various industry sectors, technology investments in the IT and communications sectors and investments in life science companies. The CapMan team comprises around 80 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.

Enskilda Securities is an independent investment bank which was founded in 1982. It is owned by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken - one of the leading banks in the Nordic region. Enskilda Securities provides investment banking and stockbroking services, within clearly defined product ranges, to corporate clients and institutional investors. Enskilda Securities' business units comprise Equities and Corporate Finance, supported by the product units Research and Equity Capital Markets. These units take care of the company's core activities - namely, sales and trading, corporate finance and equity research.

SEB Företagsinvest is the venture capital arm of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. We invest venture capital and add competence and networks to companies with a substantial growth potential, focusing on Technology and Healthcare. SEB Företagsinvest is an evergreen fund with a current capital base of MSEK 1,200. SEB Företagsinvest has made over 60 investments and more than 20 exits since its inception in 1995.

Stockholm Innovation & Growth provides support from the idea stage - all the way to profitable company. Years of business development experience have boiled down to four consecutive programs, Startup, Business Lab, Business Accelerator and Growth Program. They could be used "stand alone" or in combination, eg. no prior participation in Startup is needed to apply for the Business Lab. The flexibility is important - just like in your world.

Vasakronan AB is one of the leading real estate companies in Sweden. Vasakronan focuses on commercial premises, primarily office properties, with locations in Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö, Lund and Uppsala.

Vinge is one of the largest law firms in Scandinavia, offering a full range of commercial legal services. Our offices are located in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Helsingborg, as well as in London, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Vinge is a member of the Scandinavian Law Alliance with Kromann Reumert in Denmark and Thommessen in Norway and of Lex Mundi, a global network of independent law firms.

Volvo Technology Transfer AB (VTT) creates value for the Volvo Group by investing in new businesses with relevance for the Volvo group. VTT supports both businesses developed independandtly from Volvo and projects which are based on Volvo technology with a business potential outside Volvo. Value is created by active involvement in company development and the value is realised by exiting the company to new owners within a timeframe of 4-8 years.

Swedish Business magazine.

Sweden´s only IT newspaper since 1983. Professionally focused newspaper with three issues per week.Computer Sweden is the largest IT-business newspaper in Sweden. Our readers are professionals working actively with IT. Typical target groups include IT managers, CIO;s, IT strategists, operational staff, developers, project managers and consultans.

Elektroniktidningen is Sweden’s leading trade press publication within the field of professional electronics. With a strong profile of being newsworthy, Elektroniktidningen is covering new development related to electronic technology, such as semiconductors, opto-technology and embedded systems. Elektroniktidningen is published by E&T Förlag AB, one of Scandinavia’s largest publishing houses.

FORTUNE is the world’s premier business magazine. FORTUNE delivers the most sought-after eyeballs in business: more than five million senior global decision-makers and influencers. With its own unique brand of storytelling, FORTUNE delivers in-depth, cutting-edge editorial coverage and exclusive insider access to some of the sharpest minds in the world.

Geelmuyden.Kiese is the Communications Partner of the Swedish Tech Tour 2005 supporting the organisation in all public relations activities and events. We are one of Scandinavia’s leading communication agencies, established in 1989, with 65 employees working in offices in Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. Geelmuyden.Kiese constitutes the Nordic hub of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, one of the world’s largest PR companies.

Veckans Affärer is Sweden’s largest business magazine and provides managers in leading positions with critical business information. Veckans Affärer is published weekly by the Bonnier Group.