The Creative Business Cup is an international competition for innovative business ideas, products, and services. The competition runs annually in more than 70 countries; and due to this year's peculiar circumstances, the 2021 cup is entirely virtual! This means that all of you can join in on the fun from the comfort of your living room, to hear more about these change-makers and the future they envision.

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You can watch the Swedish finals of the Creative Business Cup, held in coordination with our annual get-together, at Crossing Borders: The Future of the Cultural and Creative Industries by signing up via this link: https://hopin.com/events/crossing-borders.

One of our finalists is Footprint Level, under the lead of Malmö-based Mats Huss. With a mission of “driving behavioral change on a large scale, towards a more sustainable future,” Footprint Level specializes in services that visualize how companies' carbon footprint relate to the 1.5°C target in the Paris Agreement. 
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Mats Huss is the co-founder and CEO of Footprint Level®. With more than 20 years of experience within the Creative Industries, working both as an independent/employed consultant, Huss has specialized in design principles leading to service design and business development. Huss also has an international background, having worked both in Europe, the Middle East, and China, as a lecturer in both academia and business. 

You can read more about Mats Huss and Footprint Level on their website.

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Our second finalist is norbite, founded by Nathalie Berezina,  an industrial biotechnology professional based in Stockholm. Norbite up-cycles plastic waste into healthy food solutions by means of an insect-based biorefinery, a scientifically proven innovation that is inspired by nature. A deep-tech industrial company, Norbite bases itself on the extraordinary capacity of one insect to digest common plastic and has developed a process that enables the insects to perform at industrial scale.
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Nathalie Berezina, PhD, has ten years of experience in the bio-plastic industry and five years in the insect industry, compiling 15 years of expertise in this unique combination of work. As such, she possesses the unique combination of network, knowledge, and understanding of the constraints, bottlenecks, and opportunities of these different fields. She has co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to over 15 patents. 

You can read more about Norbite and Nathalie Berezina on their website.

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Two amazing ideas, start-ups, and two incredibly experienced founders. The jury motivation is as follows:

“After a careful review of very good ideas, the two finalists have now been selected. Both competitors combine a strong sustainability profile and idea content within a central area of cultural and creative industries, food and design.”

During the final TODAY, Footprint Level and Norbite will be presenting their creative businesses to our jury. Let’s take a look at who they will be pitching to!

Regula Staub, Managing Director of Creative Hub

In 2013, Regula Staub helped set up the national Creative Hub funding platform and has since played a decisive role in shaping the non-profit organisation, initially as an employee and since 2018 as Managing Director. She is very well networked with the Swiss creative industries, the partners of the Creative Hub and maintains contacts with the Global Creative Business Cup. Regula Staub completed a Master's degree in art history at the University of Bern and before that a Bachelor's degree in textile design at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. In addition to her commitment to Creative Hub, she realises her own projects in the textile sector.

Anders Nilsson, CEO of Ideon Innovation

With a background in the Scania Region’s innovation group, Innovation Skåne, Anders Nilsson brings 15 years of experience from the innovation sector to his current position as CEO at Ideon Innovation. 

Björn Englund, Founder and CEO of I Love Lund

Björn Englund is the founder of I Love Lund, an investor network based in the city of Lund. Consolidating over 25 years of experience in the financial sector, Englund has now founded I Love Lund, an investment firm rooted in three core pillars: good returns, local benefits and an active network.

Charlotte Rodenstedt, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire, Founder of Be There Then
Charlotte Rodenstedt is the founder of two companies: the production company Bloody Honey AB and the app company Be Here Then AB. Within the framework of Bloody Honey, she has, among other things, created animated films for Unicef. She’s also won the Publishing Prize and the Theater Critic award. Be Here Then is a rapidly expanding city walking app that is available in several Scandinavian cities and that will soon be launched in its first cities outside of Scandinavia. On May 6th, Rodenstedt’s latest project – the children’s movie Spyflugan Astrid – was released.

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Tune in TODAY at 5PM CET for our event, Crossing Borders: The Future of the Cultural and Creative Industries to meet the finalists, jury, and our exciting line-up of speakers, change-makers, and creatives. 

Find the full program and secure your spot here.