Four Track Overviews

Track Chair Overviews | Capital Markets, Deep Tech, Defence & Energy

State of work as presented at Nordic Compass Summit on 5 November

The Capital Markets Track aims to mobilise the Nordics’ substantial pools of savings and channel more capital towards productive investment and business growth. Its ambition is a deeper, more integrated Nordic capital market that supports companies from early growth through international expansion and public listing, while strengthening long-term Nordic ownership, competitiveness and resilience.

The Nordic countries have the savings, entrepreneurship, companies and capabilities to build one of the world’s strongest capital markets. Yet these assets are not connected as effectively as they could be across countries, investor groups and stages of company growth. The result is a capital market that is strong in aggregate, but where companies face financing gaps as they scale, institutional capital can struggle to access suitable opportunities, household savings remain under-invested, and public markets fragmented. The opportunity is therefore not simply to add more capital at one point in the system, but to strengthen the connections across the entire capital chain from start-up and growth equity through IPO and long-term ownership.

The track is exploring five mutually reinforcing areas:

A Nordic Growth and Scale-up Fund: A pan-Nordic, independently managed growth and scale-up fund to provide patient, risk-tolerant capital to companies at critical stages of expansion and help attract further private investment.

An Integrated Public Market: An integrated public market at which stocks, bonds and other forms of securities may be listed, traded, cleared and settled in a seamless manner thereby increasing market depth and liquidity, and allowing for more efficient trading and a higher capacity to absorb the IPOs which may result from the successful scaling of Nordic start-ups and ventures.

Increased pension allocation to growth: Nordic pension funds and institutional investors face practical, regulatory and market-related barriers to investing in venture and growth equity, including ticket-size requirements, limited manager capacity, liquidity considerations and investment restrictions. These are to be mapped across the region, distinguishing barriers investors can address themselves from those requiring policy action, while safeguarding end investors’ interests and maintaining sound risk-return discipline.

Retail activation: There is potential in activating Nordic retail investments further by seeking to decrease the share of household financial assets held in cash and bank deposits and increase the share held in equities and investment funds instead.

One Common Nordic fund market: Streamlining national rules and their interpretation, extending the remit of permissible fund structures and reviewing certain tax provisions would enable the emergence of a Nordic fund market. This would make it easier to accumulate and distribute capital across the region.

In Gothenburg, discussions will examine how these proposals fit together and which mechanisms merit further development. The aim is to clarify the next steps and the conditions for broader cooperation.

The Deep Tech Track seeks to strengthen Nordic technological leadership by connecting research, industry, infrastructure and commercialisation capabilities across borders. By pooling complementary strengths, the region could compete more effectively in selected critical technologies, support the emergence of new industrial champions and reinforce security, resilience and long-term growth.

Each Nordic country has world-class research and industrial capabilities, but individually represents a relatively small market. Advanced technologies increasingly depend on costly infrastructure, specialised expertise, computing capacity and access to early industrial customers. Fragmentation can make it harder for innovators to test solutions, scale production and compete internationally. A more connected Nordic technology ecosystem offers opportunities to combine resources and prioritise fields where the region has a credible competitive advantage.

The track is exploring five complementary areas:

Nordic AI infrastructure: Exploring investment in interconnected Nordic AI computing and data-centre capacity to support the adoption and scaling of new technologies. Discussions will consider shared capacity, access models and joint initiatives for leadership in physical AI and robotics.

Next-generation Nordic connectivity: Exploring the gains from early adoption of advanced connectivity, including 5G/6G. Discussions will consider promising industrial use cases (including dual use) and how Nordic cooperation could help realise first-mover advantages. A globally competitive Nordic quantum industry: Examining a joint, challenge-based approach to accelerate quantum technology development, including mission-driven industrial applications and closer cooperation among companies, research organisations and other relevant actors. The ambition is to help translate scientific strengths into commercially relevant capabilities.

Nordic Innovation and Scaling Ecosystem: Exploring how established Nordic companies can engage with emerging technology ventures to identify promising innovations, address industrial needs and accelerate commercialisation and scaling. This could include providing ventures with access to specialist infrastructure, industrial testbeds, expertise, customers and markets across the Nordic region.

Nordic Health Data and AI: Concrete use cases to be developed through public–private collaboration, with the ambition of improving patient outcomes, healthcare sustainability and Nordic life science competitiveness while safeguarding individual rights and public trust.

In Gothenburg, the track will explore next-generation connectivity, interconnected Nordic AI computing capacity and potential industrial use cases, alongside a Nordic quantum challenge. Innovation ecosystems and health data will also feature in dedicated discussions. Collaboration mechanisms and workstreams for 2027 remain subject to further development.

The Defence Track brings together leading Nordic defence and technology companies to explore industry-led initiatives in dialogue with governments. Its ambition is to turn complementary industrial strengths into shared capabilities and competitiveness, improving Nordic security, resilience, and interoperability. The work is intended to complement NATO and EU efforts, with national decision-making authority preserved.

The Nordic security environment faces growing threats, including sabotage of undersea cables and energy infrastructure, cyberattacks on critical systems, drone incidents, and the disruption of satellite communications and surveillance capabilities. All five Nordic countries are NATO Allies and are increasing defence investment, yet national differences in networks, requirements and acquisition processes can make cooperation difficult. The opportunity is to connect industrial expertise and align approaches and standards where useful, so capabilities can be developed, deployed and sustained more effectively across borders, with stronger security of supply.

Four company-led workstreams are examining potential areas for closer cooperation:

Federated Nordic Space Defence Capability: Exploring how complementary national Nordic space systems and capabilities could support Nordic security. The focus includes shared coverage and interoperability. Maritime and Subsea – Protecting Critical Infrastructure: Considering a more coherent Nordic maritime picture to improve awareness and protection of critical infrastructure. This involves cooperation across borders, authorities, and infrastructure owners.

Borderless Nordic Defence Connectivity: Exploring trusted, interoperable advanced communications from national systems to operational users.

New Nordic Defence Industry Model: Examining ways to align requirements, innovation, testing, certification and procurement across Nordic countries. Possible approaches could help accelerate innovation, support joint demand signals, and make it easier and faster to scale industrial production and acquisition. At the Gothenburg Summit, the track will present its four workstreams and a joint industry statement expressing a shared ambition, not final solutions. Discussions will explore priority use cases and possible industry–government cooperation with defence authorities and end users, without implying procurement or capability commitments.

The Energy Track aims to harness the Nordics’ complementary power resources as a shared competitive advantage. Its proposed Strategic Energy Hubs concept seeks to connect electricity generation, grid infrastructure and large-scale industrial demand across borders, helping provide reliable energy at competitive prices for industrial and digital growth while strengthening energy security and resilience.

Electrification, industrial development and data centres are expected to dramatically increase Nordic electricity demand within a relatively short timeframe. Yet new generation, grid capacity and major industrial projects do not always emerge in the same places or at the same pace. These mismatches can delay investment and constrain access to power. Coordinating supply, demand and cross-border connections could help unlock projects, make better use of infrastructure and support a fair distribution of benefits between participating countries.

The track is exploring Strategic Energy Hubs as a repeatable model combining competitive power supply, industrial demand and grid or interconnection capacity. Two potential hub types are being considered, alongside other complementary energy interventions:

Offshore Hubs: Exploring offshore wind hubs that interconnect two or more Nordic electricity markets, with industrial demand integrated at the connection point. The proposed model aims to generate net-positive electricity flows to both connected countries, potentially reducing prices and volatility. Its commercial and political feasibility remains to be assessed.

Northern Industrial Energy Hubs: Linking relatively low-cost power resources in northern parts of the region with industrial and digital activity located closer to generation. Improved grid connections, flexibility and supporting capacity could make electricity more usable, help attract investment and preserve the region’s competitive advantages.

Other potential energy interventions: Beyond Strategic Energy Hubs, the track will also explore complementary approaches to strengthening Nordic energy competitiveness and resilience, including grid optimisation, an energy efficiency project developer, supply chain improvements for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and other potential solutions.

Across both types of Strategic Energy Hubs, coordinated development of supply and demand could give investors greater certainty. The concept also explores energy efficiency and flexibility, better grid utilisation, and potential “speed to power” and “speed to build” approaches for industrial users meeting defined conditions. Key questions include permitting, grid access, regulatory alignment, risk-sharing and long-term offtake agreements.

In Gothenburg, the track aims to discuss the Strategic Energy Hubs concept, potential project examples and other complementary energy interventions, including the conditions for investment and cooperation among industry and public authorities. The proposed hubs remain illustrative and would require further technical, commercial and political assessment.