Sweden Puts Its Bets on Green Tech

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The 62-year-old king, whose environmental activism goes back to his Boy Scout days, is also taking to the road to pitch Swedish green business. He recently broke ground on a plant that Swedish Biogas International is building in Flint, Mich. "Mother Earth is not feeling well," the king says, "and she's reacting." Green projects such as the biogas plant are one way to help repair the damage."

Royal Example

The king also sees Swedish exports and the environment as natural partners. "We're a small country, so we're dependent on exports. And we've always lived in a clean environment, close to nature." He admits change isn't easy but says, "We have to think in the long term, not short term as we have before, but still make this happen quickly. I try to change my own thinking. We have to make this happen and not just discuss it. I don't like discussions."

And in an interview with BusinessWeek, he gently chides one reporter for flying to Stockholm to talk instead of picking up the phone.

With relatively little venture capital available in Sweden, the clean technology sector is scrambling to raise sufficient funds. But the U.S. ambassador to Stockholm, Michael Wood, is helping out. He has launched a program to steer U.S. venture money and potential U.S. customers to Swedish green tech companies. Of 52 companies on Wood's list, about a third have gotten financing or orders in the past 18 months.

Among the participants is the Sustainable Technologies Fund, run by Swedish entrepreneur Anders Frisk and U.S. venture capitalist André Heinz, whose family founded the H.J. Heinz (HNZ) food company. Their fund has invested $2 million in Swebo Bioenergy. The global financial crisis may slow Sweden's green technology industry, but Frisk insists the long-term future is bright. "There will be tremendous growth for 50 or 60 years," he says.

Adds Heinz: "If you're able to offer savings in an economic downturn, you have a viable product, and clean tech does that."

Reed is BusinessWeek's London bureau chief, and Sains writes for BusinessWeek.com from Stockholm .