The Great Northern, a new innovation house in Sweden, opens with help from growth hacking superstar, Vincent Dignan

The Great Northern, a new international-facing innovation/tech house, officially opens in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, on Monday, January 16, with a varied and exciting program of activities planned.

One of the main attractions is a presentation by the UK's Vincent Dignan, a world-renowned expert on growth hacking, a process that can aid the rapid growth of a business.

Also speaking at the opening day event are David Eriksson, chief creative officer of North Kingdom, a design experience company that has worked with Disney, Google and HBO, Leif Rehnström, CEO of digital transformation agency, Hello Future and Marta Svetek of UK company, Freeformers.

The Great Northern is an international-facing tech/cultural/creative melting pot in Skellefteå where design, technology and business blend to form a thriving startup community. It is an ambitious mix of co-working space, incubators, event arenas, startups and established businesses. 

The Great Northern performs a central role in Skellefteå's strategy to attract international capital and competence.

It does this by offering opportunities for overseas companies to collaborate and invest in Skellefteå startups via incubators in the house, providing space for soft landings for visiting companies, and by continuing to build links with tech houses and incubators from around the world.

"Skellefteå has a long and successful history of being a crucible for traditional industries, and has an enviable record in the information technology industry," said Johnny Högberg, CEO of Skellefteå Science City, the company tasked with running The Great Northern.

"However, you can't afford to stand still and this tech-focused house is proof that Skellefteå is a very forward-thinking city. But we don't intend to rest on our laurels just yet. We fully intend to make The Great Northern an international as well as national success," Högberg said.

The Great Northern has already been lavished with praise. When Goranka Bjedov, capacity and performance executive at Facebook, visited she said, “I’ve been to many places but this is the most incredible start-up space I have seen! It is open, light and very beautiful."

When Mikael Damberg, the Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, saw the space he proclaimed, "It's very impressive."

For more information, call Paul Connolly on 072 561 5536 or paul@thegreatnorthern.org