...And UP was there to experience it for the first time.
I was sitting in a conference room at Copperhill Mountain Lodge, somewhere between a presentation from an astronaut and a live opening of the Nasdaq stock exchange, surrounded by CEOs, a prime minister, investors, and startup founders and probably someone was doing yoga in an adjacent room. It was my first experience of Åre Business Forum.
The format
Most business conferences are held in anonymous convention centres with grey carpet and recycled air. Åre Business Forum has since its inception in 2010, made a different bet which is that the mountain makes the meeting. And it works in my view. This physical concentration is actually the event's secret weapon. When you eat lunch with the same people you just watched pitch on stage, or find yourself on a chairlift with a former finance minister the next morning, the networking stops being an activity and becomes an environment that nurtures relationships.
What was then discussed?
The programme was an entire year of Swedish business conversation compressed into 72 hours. Wednesday opened with a session where twelve really interesting startups presented, ranging from AI tool Hypertype to drone detection company HELM Defence to fertility startup Maybe Baby. They competed for 50,000 kronor, a growth workshop, and visibility that money probably can't buy as well as a place in the final of KPMG's international pitch competition. For start-ups, this is the Åre off-piste that actually matters.
The following days included a Nasdaq stock exchange opening, broadcast live from Åre. Then sessions on economic resilience, supply chain stability, and Sweden's competitiveness in a fractured global economy, featuring voices from Moody's, DHL, Amundi, and several of Sweden's sharpest leaders.
The uncomfortable questions the programme is actually asking
In my view, and this is not my first rodeo, there is one thing that separates Åre Business Forum from a glorified networking trip with mountain views and that is that it's asking questions that matters. What happens to all efforts at transition when our economic system is optimised for short-term gains and has an insatiable appetite for energy and natural resources in a very volatile geopolitical landscape? There was also a recurring thread about defence, resilience, and Sweden's role in the world. Saab, Teracom, Truesec, and SVT's CEO all appeared in sessions about hybrid threats, space technology, and what it means to defend a country, both digitally and physically. For a business forum that started life as a capital markets day in 2010, this is a significant evolution, and I applaud the organisers.
Would I go again, and if so, why?
If you're looking for a quick lead generation hit or an easy metrics win, Åre Business Forum might frustrate you. But if you're building something in Sweden, or for Sweden, for that matter, that requires allies across the corporate, political, financial, and entrepreneurial landscape, this is probably better than most.
It is not Monopoly money. In a world where attention is scarce and trust is scarcer, three days on a Swedish mountain with the people who are actually building the country's future might be exactly the currency that spends.