It’s no secret that there’s a vibrant community of startup companies in Iceland. In order for such a community to prosper its important to have financial support for startups and strong networking. Here’s a short list of companies and institutions that help facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship in Iceland.
Rannís is the Icelandic Center for Research, it funds and promotes scientific research in Iceland. Rannís provides professional assistance in the preparation and implementation of the national science and technology policy. RANNÍS administers competitive funds in the fields of research, innovation, education and culture, as well as strategic research programs. The Ministry of Education, Science and Cultures oversees its activities. Rannís coordinates and promotes Icelandic participation in European programs such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and Creative Europe. Rannís also monitors resources and performance in R&D and promotes public awareness of research and innovation, education and culture in Iceland.
The role os the ISA is to facilitate discourse, develop research and innovation, help shape space policy and coordinate operation logistics between foreign organizations, academia, government and private enterprise as the relate to space/earth science, exploration and business in and around Iceland. It’s a private organization and is not a part of the Icelandic government. In the past the ISA has participated in a number of projects, like testing the MS1 Mars Analog spacesuit in an Arctic environment, similar to what would be found on the martian surface. The data collected from that project will inform the future habitat and spacesuit design that can be used to train astronauts on Earth.
The Arctic Circle is an international organization that aims to facilitate dialogue among politicians, business leaders, environmental experts, scientists, indigenous representatives and other international stakeholders to address issues facing the Arctic as a result of climate change and melting sea ice.
Kaiser Global is a public-private partnership working in collaboration with the US Department of Energy and US National labs to develop energy-efficient scientific computing and artificial intelligence partnership with the United States, its allies, academia and industry in order to advance clean supercomputing and supercomputing driven science.
Faxaflóahafnir sf. (the Associated Icelandic Ports) is responsible for harbour activities in most of Icelands major ports. The company is a key player in the development, improvement and operation of important infrastructure in the transport network and the economy of Iceland.
Marel is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of food processing machinery in the world. It provides software, machinery, systems and solutions that help food processors gain a competitive advantage and create cutting edge technology such as digitization, automation and robotics. The company employs approximately 6000 people in over 30 countries, across six continents.
The University of Iceland is the country’s largest institution of higher education providing instruction for around 14,000 students in twenty-five faculties. Teaching and research is conducted in social sciences, humanities, law, medicine, natural sciences, engineering and teacher education. The university supports science and innovation with awards ceremonies, internships, research funds, grants and mentoring.
RU is Icelands largest private university in Iceland with more than 3,500 students. It is chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic industries and the confederation of Icelandic Employers. The university consists of seven academic departments, those are Law, business, sport science, psychology, technology, computer science, engineering and applied engineering.
Currently, Startup Iceland are working with all of these companies and institutions on hosting the local CASSINI Space hackathon on November 5-7 in Reykjavik University. More information on this even can be fond here: CASSINI Hackathon
