Stakeholders from nine Baltic Sea Region countries started engaging in the Smartup Accelerator Network in 2020. Going forward, collaboration opportunities in countries across the ocean seem closer to the members.
Global trends like sustainable development and an interest amongst consumers to find alternatives to the most resource intensive products and services in their daily consumption is spurring innovations to meet these needs. The consumer cleantech startups and medium-sized companies, or smartups, often promote sharing over ownership, circular solutions, and digital innovations to address citizen needs in real time to increase efficiency.
Interviews and research through the SmartUp Accelerator project show that the smartups tackle not only challenges linked to limited resources. They also manage topics relating to consumer behaviour change and developing sustainable innovations and new business models in often traditional and well-established industries.