The Finnish Bank of Åland joins forces with Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström’s Race For The Baltic

The Finnish Bank of Åland joins forces with Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström’s Race For The Baltic

The Finnish bank of Åland’s Baltic Sea Project launches a new category for digital innovations. The category is operated together with Race For The Baltic, founded by Zennström Philanthropies. Through this partnership and award, they strive to catalyze innovative ideas, unlock additional funds and raise public awareness about the state of the Baltic Sea.

The state of the Baltic Sea is critical. As a consequence of eutrophication parts of the seabed is dead.

Through engaging new actors and co-creating new innovations the partners believe they can unlock additional funding for innovative solutions to restore the Baltic Sea.

–  Our ambition is to fund innovative ideas and to create a sustainable development in the region in order to save the Baltic Sea by further developing the Baltic Sea Project together with Race For The Baltic. We believe that we can achieve a greater impact and expect more powerful results by working together, says Peter Wiklöf, CEO of The Bank of Åland.

–  We must think innovatively and take advantage of the potential that new technologies offer. That is what the category for digital innovations is all about, says Niklas Zennström.

Additionally, The Bank of Åland is a partner and co-funder of the Baltic Sea City Accelerator program. The program, initiated by Race For The Baltic works to improve the water quality and sustainable development in cities surrounding the Baltic Sea.

–  The Baltic Sea region is rich and well-educated and there is great potential to become a role model for ecological sustainability and management of water quality. In order for that to happen, we need to join forces with others, says Niklas Zennström.

–  The Bank of Åland makes a great partner. They have the experience and engagement that is needed to identify and develop great ideas for the Baltic Sea, he continues.

For further information please contact:

Anne-Maria Salonius, director, The Bank of Åland, Finland. Phone +358 40 733 1106,
anne-maria.salonius@alandsbanken.fi   

Barbara Jacksson, director, Race for the Baltic, Phone + 46 73 850 3358
barbara@raceforthebaltic.com

About Bank of Åland
The Bank of Åland is a bank with strong customer relationships and personal service. The Bank has extensive financial investment expertise and at the same time can offer good financing services. The commercial bank was founded in 1919 and has been listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (Helsinki Stock Exchange) since 1942. The Bank of Åland’s Head Office is in Mariehamn. The Bank has five offices in the Åland Islands, five offices elsewhere in Finland and three offices in Sweden. A total of three subsidiaries, whose operations are connected in various ways to banking, belong to the Bank of Åland Group.  https://www.alandsbanken.com/

About The Baltic Sea Project
Since 1997 the Bank of Åland has enabled their customers to contribute to a more sustainable world through their savings. By placing your savings in the bank’s environmental account, the bank donates the equivalent of 0.2 percent of the deposits of its own funds. Since its inception, more than €1 300 000 has been donated to promote environmental activities and projects. The Baltic Sea Project works to help create a healthier Baltic Sea, both by funding good ideas and by raising public awareness about the state of the Baltic Sea. http://www.balticseaproject.org/en/

Race For the Baltic
Race For The Baltic is an initiative of Zennström Philanthropies and works to convene leaders made up of forward-thinking politicians, industry professionals, NGOs and local governments who are determined to reverse the negative trends and restore the Baltic Sea environment, so as to ensure the long term economic viability of the region. http://www.zennstrom.org/race-for-the-baltic/