Young entrepreneurs goes to Oulu for the annual Polar Bear Pitching contest
Team Nordic Arctic brought a delegation of young entrepreneurs from Tromsø and Northern Norway to Oulu, Finland, to take part in the annual Polar Bear Pitching competition. The event has gained international attention for its spectacular format, where entrepreneurs present their business ideas while standing waist-deep in icy water.
Kristian
- 1. March 2025
Instead of being limited by a timer or a slide deck, the length of the pitch depends entirely on how long the participant can endure the freezing conditions. This unusual setup has made Polar Bear Pitching a global «bigshot» in startup-meeting places.
For ProTromsø, participation is about much more than cheering on individual startups. Polar Bear Pitching is a platform that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, academia, and business leaders from across the Barents and Arctic regions. It provides Tromsø with an opportunity to showcase itself as an Arctic capital of knowledge, entrepreneurship, and green transition. By taking part in such spaces, we strengthen cross-border collaboration, highlight young entrepreneurs, and ensure that Northern Norway is visible on the international stage.
The delegation from Tromsø took part in a four-day program that included a full-day entrepreneurship conference, company visits, B2B matchmaking, and several side events. Among the highlights was ProTromsø’s own flagshipevent, Business & Burger, which brought together participants from both Norway and Finland to discuss how northern regions can work more closely on innovation and business development.
Several exciting startups represented Tromsø and Northern Norway, including Watchyoureye, Zebib Consulting, Montmartre Tromsø, Avju Solutions, and Marine Spark X. For these companies, the trip to Oulu offered a unique chance to present themselves on an international stage.
Thanks to our Finnish friends in BusinessOulu, the doors were opened to some of their most important innovation environments, including PrintoCent, Fab Lab Oulu, and the University of Oulu. The journey was made possible thanks to strong support from partners such as Sør-Varanger Utvikling, 46elks, the University of Lapland, the Barents Secretariat, BusinessOulu, and Tromsø municipality.
The Team Nordic Arctic is a project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Arktis 2030. The goal of the project, led by ProTromsø, is to strengthen the North Nordic region through business collaborations. The project aims to enhance the cooperation between Norway, Sweden and Finland in the Arctic by applying Norwegian know-how on Arctic society, business, and knowledge.
The overall goal of the project is enhanced Nordic cooperation in the High North in difficult times. We aim to strengthen the Arctic communities in the Nordic countries through sustainable business development, recruitment of youth talents and the inclusion of indigenous people and minorities. One of the main work packages includes Arctic Business Matchmaking in each of the three partnering countries, held in Oulu, Finland, Umeå, Sweden and Tromsø, Norway.
If you wish to hear more about participating in the project or in the B2B matchmakings, please contact project manager Julie-Helene D. Sørensen at julie@protromso.com
