Summa Equity (“Summa”) hosted its first annual Summa Summit focused on translating global challenges to investment opportunities.

The screens and projectors of Artipelag art center’s Immersive Von Gogh exhibition was refitted to create the visual backdrop for a day dedicated to translating global challenges to investment opportunities in the Stockholm archipelago.

Co-host of the Prof G Markets podcast Ed Elson presented in his research on Generation Z, the first generation to be “Born Online” and who have been influenced by climate change, covid, polarization, Black Life Matters, metoo, wars and a shifting financial landscape.

Ed was joined by two prominent global voices from the younger generation, climate activist Penelope Lea and gender activist Trisha Shetty before sitting down with Summa’s Founder and Managing Partner, Reynir Indahl and Investment Director Johan Pietilä Holmner to discuss how Gen Z will affect the world going forward. 

Stockholm Resilience Centre’s Lisen Schultz and professors Albert Nordström and Carl Folke outlined the urgency and magnitude of the environmental challenges testing the planetary boundaries and the interdependence of the Earth’s biosphere with human society. 

Unilever Hall of Famer and honorary Summate Paul Polman broke down how giant companies also can create sustainable and profitable solutions. We were introduced to Earth Systems Impact Metrics (how to try to measure the full impact of corporations on the planet and its people), and Summa’s Impact Director Emelie Norling shared how her team is integrating this framework within Summa’s portfolio companies.

Christina Friborg, Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability at SSAB, one of the world’s largest steel companies founded in 1978, detailed how they are leading the charge towards fossil free steel. 

Professor George Serafeim from Harvard Business School did a lecture on the business opportunities of climate transition before Professor Hitendra Wadhwa from Columbia Business School and Founder of Mentora taught us to build a foundation on the inside in order to execute great leadership on the outside. 

Serial health entrepreneur Chris Wigley explained how technology could drive huge improvements in the health care sector if it not facing a world of bureaucratic quicksand. The baton was passed to Professor Mathias Uhlén of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, who showed us the future of precision medicine – tailor made health care and medicine. Jon Heimer, CEO of Olink, explained how they work to redesign healthcare into more custom solutions for the patients and a more refined understanding of diseases. 

Then Rachel Vatnsdal – a Senior Equity Research Analyst at J.P. Morgan – translated the health industry to numbers and trends from an investor perspective.

Reynir Indahl did the closing remarks on a day dedicated to translating problems to possibilities, and to realizing so many of the solutions are already here.