Icelandic Innovation Center

The term “innovation center” is today known, probably, to any person, one way or another connected with high technology. He evokes different associations: skeptics will immediately recall the domestic version that has gained not the best fame, and the romantics will present the sparkling office buildings of Silicon Valley. But in any case, it will be the image of something big, super modern and terribly expensive. Meanwhile, innovations are not born in chic offices of glass and concrete - they are born in the heads of people who dream of making the world a better place. And this is not so much required.

However, good ideas come to mind much more often if you have a convenient workplace, fast Internet and the necessary infrastructure in the form of consultative and guest rooms, a kitchen and other small goods. And if you still have a view of the Atlantic Ocean from your window - you can not even dream of anything more. It is such an incubator for young companies and start-ups that create technologies of the future, very soon will open its doors in the Icelandic city of Seltjarnarnes , located on the peninsula of the same name just west of Reykjavik. And this is not a national project requiring multibillion-dollar budget investments, and not the result of the whims of mega-corporations: the idea and implementation of this project belong to one person, whose photo you see below - Jon von Tachner.


Jon von Tachner
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I think many of you know him. It was he who was one of the creators of the addition, the “warm tube” browser Opera, so beloved by millions of users. One of the distinguishing features of the browser was the constant introduction of innovative solutions, so it is quite logical that Jon's new project is also associated with innovations, but at a new level. The main idea is to provide young and ambitious projects with a place where they could focus on the implementation of their ideas, without being distracted by routine everyday problems. According to Jon, the new incubator will help create a cozy and comfortable creative environment, similar to the one that once existed in his former company.


Conference hall for one hundred seats, overlooking the ocean and the picturesque glacier (in good weather)

Despite the growing popularity of open workspaces, Jon himself believes that this is not entirely correct. A creative person should sometimes have the opportunity to be alone with his ideas. Therefore, in this incubator there are both rooms for collective work and personal cabinets. A total of 800 square meters. It housed 24 fully equipped study rooms (12 in each wing), plus there are two meeting rooms, a kitchen, a toilet and a conference room for one hundred seats. According to Yona’s plans, from 100 to 150 people will be productive in the new premises. “I think this is a great place for an office,” says Jon, who, by the way, was born and raised in this city. "Here you have all the conditions for comfortable work, and from the window there is a beautiful view of the ocean, on whose shore you can go down at any moment." The incubator will tentatively be opened in October of this year, but potential “tenants” are already showing great interest in it: recently, representatives of six young Icelandic companies visited the office, ready to take on new jobs tomorrow.


Meeting room

Despite the fact that this project is aimed at supporting local startups, its activities will not be limited to Iceland. The incubator will maintain close ties with similar innovation centers in Norway (one of which, incidentally, was discovered by Jon's former colleague Rolf Assev, who held the position of vice president of sales and marketing at Opera Software a couple of years ago) in Germany, and in the already mentioned today is Silicon Valley. Jon also plans to open a similar incubator in Boston, where he himself is currently living.


One of the offices

The cost of renting one workplace in the new center is approximately 15,000-20000 kroons (approximately from 130 to 170 dollars), but the financial side is not central to this project. Yon is sure that it is much more important to give young entrepreneurs the opportunity to realize their potential by providing them with appropriate conditions for a small fee. Too many good ideas remain unrealized due to lack of finances, including the rent of an office. In general, Jon believes that any company should first think not about quarterly profits, but about how to make a good and high-quality product. Only then is there a chance that something really new and demanded by users will turn out, and then those quarterly profits will inevitably follow.


Anne Stavnes - creates coziness and comfort in any office. Next in line is an incubator in Boston.

Source (in Icelandic)