SHIFT organizers got tired of the double standards prevailing in corona-time behavior and bring 1000 CEOs, startups, and investors together. Safe meetings are possible in the business world, too.

SHIFT Business Festival has established its position among the biggest growth company events in Finland and is organized in Turku again, on 25-26 August 2021. The event kickstarts the autumn season of business events. Join the festival as a media representative by filling the accreditation form by 20 August: https://theshift.fi/media/.

Choose your preferred form of participation: on-site, online, retreat

“It's ridiculous that we can go to restaurants and festivals, but at the same time, we are too scared to participate in business events that are professionally planned and organized. The forward-looking business world needs encounters!”

• Sini Toivonen, CEO, SHIFT Events Oy

Respecting the corona safety, the attendees can choose how they wish to participate in the festival, either on-site at Hotel Kakola, or virtually.

This year the production team, on a mission against the remote work apathy and in favor of live encounters, presents a brand new concept: the ticket holders can book a room at the festival venue, Hotel Kakola, and thus participate in a 48-hour-long Innovation Retreat. Read more about the Innovation Retreat: https://theshift.fi/innovation-retreat/ 

The future will happen, despite the coronavirus.
The market is open for the brave

The program of SHIFT 2021 has an even stronger emphasis on the future and growth than in previous years. The pandemic has shown that the innovations and brave openings thrive when the competitors are paralyzed. This is the reason why SHIFT brings together a large group of investors and startup companies that have refused to stay still during the pandemic. Cooperation with the Estonian sTARTUp Day opens the doors to the wide international startup community. During the SHIFT festival days, we have the goal to break the world record in Business Speed Dating.

The international and Finnish stars of Food Tech, Circular Economy, and AI on stage

The main themes of the 2021 festival are Food Technology, Circular Economy, and AI & Digital Trust. Speeches will be held by top international researchers from universities from e.g. United States, Italy, and Denmark. Below we have listed a sneak-peak to the program, the full timetable with all the speakers is visible here: https://theshift.fi/schedule/

Most of the speakers in SHIFT Business Festival 2021 are available for interviews. You can state interview requests in the media accreditation form.

Check out at least these keynotes and programs (all times EEST)

Soh Kim, Executive Director of Food Design Research, Stanford University (https://theshift.fi/persons/soh-kim/) 

FOOD TECH KEYNOTE: Future of food - Silicon Valley perspective (26 August at 13:15-13:45)

Charlotte Aschim, Founder and CEO, TotalCTRL (https://theshift.fi/persons/charlotte-aschim/)

CIRCULAR ECONOMY KEYNOTE: How to balance with people, planet & profit? (26 August at 11:00-11:45)

Thuong Tan (Noodelist), Harri Latva-Mäenpää (Foodwest), Paavo Räisänen (Maki.VC) ja Tuure Parviainen (Volare)

(https://theshift.fi/persons/thuong-tan/)

(https://theshift.fi/persons/harri-latva-maenpaa/)

FOOD TECH PANEL: Plant-based food solutions enabling planetarian diets (26 August at 12:30-13:15)

Bruce Schneier , Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School (https://theshift.fi/persons/bruce-schneier/)

DIGITAL TRUST KEYNOTE: Cyber security, trust and safety (25 August at 15:00-15:45)

John Kelleher Professor, Technological University, Dublin  (https://theshift.fi/persons/john-kelleher/)

Environmental cost of modern AI practices (26 August at 13:45)

Hedvig Kjellström, Principal AI Scientist, Silo AI (https://theshift.fi/persons/hedvig-kjellstrom/)

AI KEYNOTE: AI with a Human in the Loop (25 August at 15:15)

Fill in the accreditation form here: https://theshift.fi/media/. 

If you have interview requests, those can be stated in the form.

Media contact person:

Minna Kivento

[email protected]

+358 50 348 1120