40. Susanna Laurson: The Edge Advantage: Building Innovation from the Faroe Islands

Súsanna Laursen is one of the driving forces behind the Faroe Islands' emerging innovation ecosystem. Based in Tórshavn, she works at Hugskotið — the Islands' startup incubator, founded in 2014 by the municipality of Tórshavn — where she supports early-stage founders and helps shape an environment where bold ideas can take root in one of the world's most remote and distinctive places. In eight years working in the ecosystem, she has seen Hugskotið support over 200 companies, the launch of FarBAN (the Faroe Business Angels Network), and growing interest from international investors who are increasingly paying attention to what's being built here.

Súsanna is also co-founder of TONIK itself — the event you're at right now. TONIK was born out of a conviction that a small island nation doesn't have to think small. By blending technology, art, and meaningful human connection against the backdrop of the Faroese landscape, TONIK has become a gathering that draws founders, investors, and creative thinkers from across the Nordics and beyond — and sends them home with new collaborations, new friendships, and a new understanding of what's possible at the edge of the world.

Her work is rooted in a simple but powerful idea: that the same qualities that make the Faroe Islands distinctive — resourcefulness, creativity, the habit of wearing many hats, and the necessity of solving your own problems — are precisely the qualities that make great innovators.

Transcript

unknown 0:00

What's up, Barthes? Uh-uh. What's up? Uh-uh.

Simon 0:09

Welcome everybody to the Total Innovation Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Simon Hill. In this week's episode, we come in live from 18 wind-shaped islands carved from ancient lava in the North Atlantic. With around 50,000 people, I've heard more sheep than humans, a global reputation for innovation in salmon farming and other compelling, interesting areas of innovation at the edge of the world, for storytelling, for dramatic cliffs rising out of the ocean, and perhaps unexpectedly home to one of the most intentional and distinctive innovation summits in the world. The Faroe Islands are perhaps not the most obvious setting for a global gathering of founders, technologists, artists, and investors. They're remote, they're pretty small, they're weather-shaped and community-bound. But maybe that's exactly the point we're about to find out. Because innovation doesn't only emerge from density. It doesn't require skyscrapers and scale or capital concentration always. Sometimes it thrives where community is tight, identity is strong, and collaboration isn't optional, it's deeply cultural. And it is thriving in this region with several unicorns emerging. And one of the highest GDP per capita rates on the planet, the Faroe Islands are a thriving hub of innovation and value creation. And Tonic, the topic of today's conversation, is a summit built on those foundations. It is a deliberate collision of technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship and place, I think, as well. It asks a powerful question: what happens when you design an innovation ecosystem, not in spite of remoteness, but because of it? And so today we're going to explore how you build something globally relevant from the edge of the map and what the rest of us can learn from that adventure. And to do that, joining us on the on today's show are the two co-founders of Tonic, Susanna and Soleil. Welcome, both of you.

Sóley + Súsanna 2:13

Thank you very much. And thank you for the awesome introduction. Yeah, getting goosebumps over here. It sounds so cool.

Simon 2:22

Well, you know, you're coming in from a cool place, and maybe that's maybe that's where we'll start. I said as before we came on recording live, I said this is the first time I've done two guests, and so we'll see how this goes. But I I know you guys operate with all of the cohesion and collaboration and synchronicity that I mentioned in my introduction as well. But for folks that that maybe don't know the Faroe Islands, let's start, let's start there. Where where are you guys? And give me a little bit about the context that I described so colourfully and vividly, perhaps in that introduction. Like talk a little bit about the setting you're coming in from.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 2:59

Yeah. So we are 18 islands uh in the Atlantic. We are nearby, uh close to Iceland, or you can say between Norway and Iceland, or Denmark and Iceland, and we are self-govent, but uh we belong to uh the kingdom of Denmark together with Greenland. Um and uh we are cool but also cold. It's uh rather cold here in the Faroe Islands, but in the summer, and it can be sunny, and we have like our own culture with uh yeah, I don't know, all traditions and culture with uh fairies chain dance and stuff like that. So guests coming to the tonic will experience that as well. Some of our culture.

Súsanna Laursen 3:47

Yeah, I think I don't know if we're that cold. I think we're like average all year round, so we never go below minus two and we never go above ten, maybe on like very specific uh occasions, but uh and we have our own language, uh which is pretty cool, and um yeah, and what is also is that we are very uh remote, but we're also very accessible, so you can get to the Varo Islands very easily from a lot of different hubs, like for example, the UK and from France and from Iceland, so Norway, it's very easy to get here once you notice us.

Simon 4:31

Once you notice us, exactly. It is, and it is possibly one of the coolest landings, I think. You're just coming across ocean and ocean, and then suddenly there's these islands just emerging, and you wonder where the hell the plane's going to find a place to land, and then it does, and it's just stunningly beautiful. So talk to me, talk to me then. That sounds amazing, right? And it sounds like a wonderful place that everyone should visit, and I would wholly endorse that to be true, but not necessarily the obvious place for you know at a summit, an innovation technology summit. So talk to me about the origin story of Tonic and the journey so far.

Súsanna Laursen 5:08

Okay, so so where we uh, me and Soli are at we're at an innovation hub, an incubator in the municipality of Toshan. And uh we started uh here in 2017, both of us. And in the beginning, it was all about creating a culture of entrepreneurship to make them uh try to make it visible, to make it something that you actually do, because no one it wasn't even a thing back then. So we spent the first years on just doing that, creating a culture and environment, and now we have around 40 to 50 companies here in our innovation hub, and we started going to these different conferences like Tech Barbecue and Slush, and we also noticed that we got strong, stronger founders, and good ideas, but we they didn't think really big, a lot of them. It was more like yeah, we're doing it for the home market, and our home market is really small.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 6:14

We're only 55,000 people here in the Faroe Islands, so yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 6:18

So we wanted to inspire first of all, that was to inspire people here to think bigger, yeah.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 6:25

Yeah, and especially uh uh of course we are uh strong, but you mentioned fish farming and the fishing fishing industry, but in this innovation hub, we have a lot of uh tech startups. Uh so we wanted to create something for them, and uh we also wanted to do it different than the other conferences you go to. And in the Faroe Islands, we're known for being really creative. We have a lot of musicians in the Faroe Islands, a lot of painters, artists in general, so that's why we combined uh combined tech uh and art into a conference in order to make it more unique, something uh no one else has seen before. And I think the feedback we are getting from that is has been really good, and that's also where the name Tonic came out of because uh we kind of wanted something, as I mentioned, that was like a mixture of tech and art, so we were like brainstorming, okay, it should be something like mix it's a mixture, and there came the uh name Tonic, and when we looked it up in the dictionary, Tonic, it it's also energizing and strengthening, and so we thought it was like the perfect uh name for the conference, and people always ask, will there be djinn? And of course, we have the best gin in the Parao Islands, so we all we also serve gin at conference, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 7:59

And also, you know, the mix of of cultures, and we from the beginning we wanted it to be something more than just for the islands, and we didn't know how to how to attract like the global audience. How can we do that? But it was it it would just took a few people to start with, and it was like a ball that just kept rolling, and people started to hearing about it and wanting to to check it out, and and this will be the fourth year now, and um and I feel people just recommend it to others, and uh so now yeah, so now we have a global event here in our small islands, which is pretty cool.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 8:44

Yeah, we're really grateful that people are recommending it, and we all we feel like we have like these tonic ambassadors that have been uh for uh to the conference. Uh they are like helping us to promote and everything, so it's really good.

Simon 8:59

Yeah, I think of myself as one of those tonic ambassadors. I think I came to the inaugural one, which I can't believe now was almost four years ago. That seems seems crazy. Those those islands are etched in my mind, I think that feels like it was just yesterday. But so you guys are building an ecosystem for entrepreneurs in in I think this beautiful mix of of sort of technology, business, but also creativity, arts, and and the amazing setting of the Faroe Islands. But in doing so, you're entrepreneurs yourself. So can we just talk a little bit about that the entrepreneurial journey of building a movement and a and and a and a and a summit, if we're going to call it that, from your perspective? How's the journey been? How you know you've got through the the first year, which everyone says in any company, whether it's events or whatever, is is the big one. Um, what's what is looking back over the last four years, what have you what have you learned?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 9:54

Yeah, after I remember uh being told when we started the conference, people told us, yeah, you should start small, you should have it like 50 people, and uh yeah, we kind of did not listen to that. So from year one, we uh yeah, we've had 600 people, and even though it does not seem a lot uh compared to other uh conferences, it's a lot here in the Fair Islands, and also from the uh we had guests from uh all over uh from the first year, yeah, including yourself, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 10:29

But it was a bit hard to pitch it, yeah. Especially we had so many meetings to pitch to the rest of the community here, like why they should be sponsors, why they should be involved, and everyone was why are you doing this? What is it? Why should we what's in it for us? And it was no one knew what they were what we were doing, but um, they said, Okay, you guys have proven yourself over the years, and we will support you and we believe in you, and we will just show up, just let us know. And uh, so that it was really valuable.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 11:04

Yeah, the whole community has been so supportive, and especially the mixture of tech and art. We we did not make it easy for us to pitch that phone uh here in the Faroe Islands because it was often difficult uh for people to see the idea why mix tech and art and uh and yeah, also a conference like this. But we are so grateful that now uh the industry here in the Faroe, they are really supportive and they we have all the same sponsors that we have, we call them partners. Uh, from year one, they are still all on board for year four, almost every one of them. Everyone.

Simon 11:45

Let's talk a little bit about the Faroe Islands and the setting itself, then. I think you could probably right for the claim to be, if not the most unique, one of the most unique locations for a summit that people could head to, right? I genuinely don't know. People should start Googling what the Faroe Islands look like and then just aspire to go see it, I think. But what do you think the setting brings to differentiate tonic? And what do you guys strive to do, I guess, in in bringing Tonic and the Faroe Islands? Because I guess they're sort of one and the same in some ways to the people that come.

Súsanna Laursen 12:20

Um yeah, so we we of course many people have Faroe Islands on their bucket list, and uh we try once they're here to really make them feel special. So everyone who comes here gets um a curated day of sightseeing, and we also really want to mix again all the people that are coming. So before the event, uh we try to make sure that people know each other and they've had fun and they got to see some sites, so they don't come here and just see a conference. But um I forgot your question. You can happen.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 13:01

The venue is also the venue is also special in itself. Uh, the venue is an old salt fabric, it's uh placed down in the harbour here in the capital, Torshan. We're actually in the venue. So the venue hosts uh this incubator and also the University of the Faroe Islands and some part of the municipality of Torshawn, and also uh a support fund and uh a venture fund and uh uh the Faroese Film Institute. So you can say it's the perfect uh place for a conference like this, and uh the conference uh is in a silo, it's four floors in a silo and with a view to the ocean and to the old industry here in the Faroe Islands. So while you're at the conference, you can actually see boats, fishing boats outside and stuff like that. So it's also like a special uh venue, and when you're outside, you can almost feel the fish smell of fish, but inside we are talking tech and art and creativity and stuff like that. I think we like the idea of that, yeah. Yeah.

Simon 14:13

Yeah, an incredible juxtaposition, I think, of the setting and everything else. But just on this as well, I think being geographically remote and small may be seen by many to be a disadvantage. Do you think it gives certain structural advantages that perhaps do allow a greater setting for innovation?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 14:34

Yeah, it it has been, it's easy for us to network in the Faroe Islands, 55,000 people, so we almost know everyone in the industry. So it's easy uh to uh, for example, when you are um working with a startup, it's easy to pitch, for example, for the mayor or for the prime minister. Uh it's uh it's easy to reach people, and uh we often hear that uh the Faroe Islands are the perfect country for testing a product because, for example, if you're working with uh elderly uh care stuff, uh it's easy to reach out to all our elderly care homes uh and stuff like that, and we also have a really strong digital infrastructure in the Faroe Islands, so it's also easy to build uh digital uh uh companies here now. Yeah.

Simon 15:30

Yeah. I mentioned in my introduction that you also have one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. So obviously doing something right. But let's talk a little bit about that backbone, right? What I think that would surprise many people. They may have the Faroe Islands on the bucket list if they've heard of it. Um, I still feel like as my ambassadorship, uh, I'm still teaching some people, even where it is on the map. But um, what is it that what is the innovation backbone that's driven the economy to here? And what are you guys doing to help drive it into the you know into the future?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 16:03

It's of course fisheries, yeah. Fisheries, uh, and it's also fish farming, uh especially uh salmon farming. Uh so we are doing really great there, and uh, we have like uh the ocean around the Faroe Islands. Uh we have a lot of natural resources, and uh we of course want to uh utilize them uh even further, but uh I think we are doing really great, and uh the especially the uh fish farming companies, the salmon companies here in the Faroe Islands, they're known for the best uh salmon in the world, and uh I think it's because uh the water here around the Faroe Islands is really fresh. We also have the Gulf Stream here in the Faroe Islands, so the water does not freeze, so uh yeah. We have really fresh fish and salmon and stuff like that, yeah. And we have also companies around fish farming uh that are uh are doing really great also internationally, yeah. And we now we also have tourism, yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 17:18

That we didn't have that uh before 2014. You did not see many tourists. I remember like being in around 2000, I was so excited every time there came in a cruise ship. I would like drive down and like who's coming to see us, and they were always like 50, 60 plus, which was very old at that time. Uh, so you did not see young tourists walking around, and so now that has happened and has also you know created that we actually have a two Michelin restaurant here, and um we have a really good uh city vibe as as well. So yeah, tourism has been really important for for us as well as the fisheries.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 18:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think when the tourists came to the Faroe Islands, it really we uh they showed us how amazing it was in the Faroe Islands. We were kind of used to uh being here and kind of blind to the nature and everything. So when you have like foreign guests coming and tell you, oh my god, it's green in the Faroe Islands and beautiful mountain and the landscape and the ocean. All these waterfalls, yeah. Okay, and then we kind of saw the Faroe Islands with new glasses, like, oh wow, it is really beautiful, and we we have like this special culture, so somehow I think uh tourism helped us realize that yeah, we are kind of special and live in a special place here in the the mid-Atlantic ocean.

Simon 18:50

Absolutely, and I think you know, the to a degree, the from my perspective at least, the innovation and nature are working hand in hand in lots of what got the fire lines are here. Um, I think you also have the world's only undersea roundabout, which is also you know, may not be uh may not be the sound like the coolest thing, but it's actually a pretty cool thing as uh connecting some of the islands together.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 19:15

So and there we also have art in the tunnel. So we have like a design in the roundabout, we have like this Fairwis chain dance. It's designed by uh a Fairwise, uh a famous Fairwise uh artist that's uh that also work here in uh these uh in at the venue we are at now. Yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 19:37

So yeah, so yeah, people coming here will make sure that you get to see the roundabout.

Simon 19:43

Exactly, exactly. But you will see you will see more beauty, I think, than uh than many places on planet earth. Let's talk a little bit about the the conference itself then. So tell me about what's happening this year, when when is it happening? What can people expect? Uh, what is the theme of the conference and any any other highlights you want to share?

Súsanna Laursen 20:03

Okay, so we're we're doing it more like a week now, but the tonic day itself is on May 8th. It's on my daughter's birthday, it will be an amazing day. Um everyone can go to our website, tonic.fo, and there is a schedule, and we have some side events up and running already. So the day before, on the 7th, we have uh a really cool startup day, and we we want to do this for like startups, so we have a really cool program, and afterwards, there's a mingle with investors and artists and startups, and later in the evening, there's an investor meetup in a gallery, uh, which will be also a fun event. And we have uh art classes, art tours, and the day before is like for our very special guests. We take them out on sightseeing and networking, and that's where uh we can see a lot of friendships uh happening on that day and collaboration that's still going on now. So that are that is like the seventh and the eighth and the sixth. Those are the main days, so you should get here. You can actually get here for most directions. You can land at two, and uh you can dive right into a sighting day at three.

Simon 21:33

Yeah, bring your bring your hiking boots.

unknown 21:36

Yeah, yeah.

Simon 21:39

Exactly. Um it sounds great. What is what is some what is the theme for this year, and who are some of the the the the sort of key speakers to maybe mention to people as well?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 21:51

So the theme uh this year is the next wave. So we thought uh we thought of something uh that would be a symbolic. For the Faroe Islands. It's always windy here, and we have a lot of waves and ocean all around us, but also uh we wanted to focus on what's next. So we have been all talking a lot about uh AI and stuff like that. And of course, we will also talk about that at the uh this conference, but we will also focus on what's next, what's new, what's coming. So all of our speakers are uh have that angle in mind as they speak. And we have a lot of speakers uh lined up uh at our website at the moment. We always have our uh we always have our uh entrepreneur Hoine Sagariasen. He's always uh a speaker at this conference, and we're so happy that he's always supporting us and uh bringing his friends to the conference. That means a lot to us.

Súsanna Laursen 22:54

Uh, and uh we have speakers from all over, actually from the US, uh from uh Italy, and you guys have provided us with some many cool speakers in your network. For example, Fernando Torre, which I just met, and uh that will be a really cool panel, and we have uh Ernesto also um joining us, and uh Steve Radar, uh, who's worked with NASA for many years. We have investors from Finland and from Copenhagen, and we have um Olympic uh champions, and we also have um yeah, it's a mixture, it's a mixture. Energy and podcast builder, and yeah, it's a really good mix, and it's like I think it's insane to get this many quality, like really cool people to come, and you get to spend like the whole day or days with these people that have so much knowledge, and everyone who comes here they always say, I'm ready to um to support you guys, just let us know what you want, and we can help, and we will do. And it's always really nice people, and it's not like they, the speakers that we have, are in one separate room, everyone is like connecting and mixing and mingling and talking, so so it's it's a very special energy. Um, it was like if you were at Tekarena now and you got to hang out with Slauton afterwards, and Morris Johnson.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 24:47

Like, yeah, yeah, people really appreciate that, that it's so easy to sp to meet people at the conference. So uh I think uh last year we had uh almost 800 people attending, and the plan is not to grow big like these bigger conferences, the plan is to keep it a small conference uh because the feedback we are getting is that it's really easy to connect with people and people feel they really uh get meaningful connection at uh the conference.

Simon 25:19

So that's something uh yeah that we yeah, yeah, we try to like cherish it and keep it the same size and um and I think you know, six, seven, eight hundred people is not a small conference either. Don't do yourselves a disservice in any of that. You guys have done a phenomenal job. Can we talk a little bit about the startups and the investors? Again, you may folk may or may not be familiar with the Faroe Islands and may or may not be familiar with some of the great companies that have come out of the Faroe Islands, right? Not necessarily in the fishing side, but on the tech side. So who are some of those startups that that folk may or may not know that have come out of the region? And are there any any emerging ones that maybe we can talk talk about as well?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 26:07

Um yeah, we mentioned Heinz Segarias and Vivino, he's our most famous entrepreneur, you can say, but of course he founded his company in Copenhagen, and that's also a thing. We have had a lot of entrepreneurs, uh perhaps based in Copenhagen. It's really common in the Faroe Islands that you go abroad to study, and most go to Copenhagen. So uh what we've been trying is to try, as Susanna mentioned early earlier, uh, to have like build this community in the Faroe Islands, this ecosystem and this environment with entrepreneurs. So uh today uh actually, yeah, last year we had uh a success story with a fintech company called um Farpe. Farpey, yes. Uh so they sold their company uh and uh made a really good exit, and it's also something that we hope to see here in the ecosystem in the Faroe Islands. And uh we also have an entrepreneur that also had an exit last year within it was Wired Relation. One of the founders was Faris Jitle, so he they also he also had an exit last year. So those companies we see now, it's it's companies within tech. We have a company called Nemlia, Greg, one of the organizers of Tonic. Uh he is uh he also works in this company called Nemlia, and they are uh doing software solutions for elderly uh homes, and they are also a really uh exciting startup company that we are uh yeah yeah, and they're like have customers around in Germany and France, Denmark, etc.

Súsanna Laursen 27:51

So that's going really well.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 27:52

Yeah, and then we have some in tourism as well. So, and of course, we have a lot of companies um uh uh around fish uh farming, as I mentioned, a lot of companies that are doing really well and some great stories there as well. But what has been a problem in the Faroe Islands is uh the yeah uh lack of investors because in a in a small society where you have you can say we have a lot of money in the fishing industry and in the fish farming, but they tend to invest in companies uh around fish farming and fisheries. So when it comes to uh tech companies, we have seen uh lack of investment in those areas. So we recently a couple of years ago, we uh founded uh Farpen, which is an Business Angel Network, yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 28:50

Yeah, and we have over 60 members, so we actually have the largest business angel network per capita in the world as well.

Simon 29:00

How do how do we invest? Yeah, because I think I was gonna ask that question around investors and you know, where are you drawing people in in terms of investors for tonic, but generally how how are you seeing investment money coming in to try and assuage some of that brain drain element as well and keep entrepreneurs in country, right? Which I guess is part of the objective here, part of it.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 29:22

Yeah, already year one, we saw uh investors coming out of our network, Farban, investing in companies in Iceland and uh vice versa. So we're we have already a lot of cross-border investment coming out of Tanik, which makes us really proud, and it's really good to see.

Súsanna Laursen 29:42

But it's also a necessity to collaborate with the Nordics and Europe when you are this small, so so we're really happy for that collaboration and building on that network as well.

Simon 29:56

Amazing. Well, you guys are doing a phenomenal job, and I personally would encourage everybody who gets the opportunity to come both to see the Faroe Islands and to experience Tonic. Um, one or both of you want to give a little elevator pitch and a little reminder to everybody about the event that's coming up. This is uh this is your last moment, and then I'll kind of wind us into a close.

Súsanna Laursen 30:20

Okay, should we uh ping pong this?

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 30:23

Yeah.

Súsanna Laursen 30:25

Start.

Sóley Heradóttir Hammer 30:26

Yeah, so Talnik is like a festival in the Faroe Islands, it's unique setting. We have like five floors with amazing art. We have three different stages, and the day ends out in an after party where we serve free food and drinks, and uh, they're especially made from the Faroe Islands, and uh, we have a lot of a lot of Farese musicians as well, and uh you will never have to stand in line for coffee, I promise.

Súsanna Laursen 30:55

We have so much fresh water and amazing food, and the best company, a really good bunch of startups, and you'll meet the best speakers uh that you will become friends with afterwards, and we will energize the people who come here. Yeah, we promise.

Simon 31:19

I I can vouch for both of you, and again, congratulations, and they'll get to meet you. I think also I would emphasize if you do take that flight, it's very likely that almost every person on that flight is coming over to go to Tonic. So the networking starts on the plane as well, which is not always the case, right? I think most people on my flight when I came were heading over for the event, which is which is kind of cool and kind of amazing as well. Um, thank you both very much for sharing this. Congratulations on what you've achieved. And I hope we can do this again in a few years' time and celebrate even more of the impact of success that you've got of bringing this really important corner of planet Earth to everyone's attention, um, and helping to promote entrepreneurship in one of the most unique places on planet Earth. So, congrats, well done. Um, what I think today's conversation reminds us is that innovation isn't about scale first, it's about intention, it's about customer, it's about market. The Faroe Islands doesn't win on size, they win on clarity, culture, and community. And I think that's that's that's a key lesson for all of us in the world that we live in. And Tonic shows that you don't have to be at the center of the map, depending on where the center is drawn, to build something that's globally relevant. Sometimes being at the edge is an advantage, the edge of tech, the edge of the map, the edge of other things. Susanna, so like thank you for sharing your story. I encourage everybody to go check out the website, check out the event, buy your ticket and get on a plane and go and see this incredible conference, this incredible setting, and meet these wonderful people as you go. So, everybody listening, thank you. This has been the Total Innovation Podcast. As always, this is one of many episodes following a recent episode with Alexander Osterwelder, who has been to the Faroe Islands, who has spoken at Tonic and is one of the many guests that you shouldn't have missed in previous instances. So get your ticket again. Until next time, hit follow, hit subscribe, and keep activating human intelligence. Thank you, everybody.