Hi Andrea, the second year of BBN.net comes to an end and it’s time for a short interim conclusion. Let’s begin with an easy one: what was you single very best moment?That was the Matchmakingdinner in frame with “48h Malmö”. After we had two days of lectures, company tours and meetings, there were mixed teams of entrepreneurs from Berlin and Sweden playing Boccia against each other. That was matchmaking with a twist.

Besides the great achievements in competitive team sports, are you happy with what the project has reached so far? Yes, BBN:net has become the hub for the games, startup and interactive media industry we’ve always hoped for. It is a contact point for the Berlin companies, but also for companies from the Nordic and Baltic countries. And as you can imagine, this is exactly what we wanted, that companies from abroad use BBN.net as their network, too.

In how far has BBN.net succeeded in bringing the different regions together? Up to this point the official BBN.net focus countries are Poland, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. But more and more organizations, companies and institutions from other countries of the Baltic and Nordic region contact us for future collaborations, and so are joining the BBN.net network. Which of course makes us very happy. The official expansion of the network will be the next step.

And besides the bragging: where can we do better? It is always a challenge to meet the individual requirements of the companies. Many of our activities must be available to a broad public. But I think after two years, the companies know of BBN.net, like what we do and where the limits are. We offer the platform, access to new markets, partners and investors. Also the opportunity to be present at conferences and events. What companies make of this opportunity remains in their own hands.

Besides belonging to a greater confederation, the countries of Europe are very diverse and seem to pay more attention to their dissimilarities. Is this something you also realize while working on the BBN.net project? I love Europe and the idea behind it. And I think projects like BBN.net are something special in times like these. We bring together countries that weren’t able to cooperate until 30 years ago. Today we travel from country to country, and everyone is interested to see and learn how the countries work. And it is precisely these cultural differences between us that make it so exciting to learn more about each other. I never want to miss this exchange. It leads to friendships, across borders.

What are you looking forward to in 2018? Malmo, Helsinki, Stockholm, Warsaw, Tallinn and many other places are waiting for us. I am always looking forward to see many great partners and colleagues again, but I am especially looking forward to meeting new people. And to making a contribution to the fact that companies in the BBN region have taken another step forward.