SMASH heads to Tokyo in December

08 Jun 2021

After two successful events in London in 2018 and 2019, SMASH is heading abroad again. As a part of SMASH’s new role in Lahti Sport Business Hub, SMASH Tokyo sees the daylight at the end of 2021.  

SMASH Tokyo will be organized together with Lahti Region Development LADEC, City of Lahti, Business Finland, Finnish Embassy in Japan and Japanese partners and companies. The event concretizes the Lahti region's long-term work in sports business cooperation in Asia and gives Lahti region a unique role as a gateway between EU and Asian markets.  

- We at SMASH are pleased to be able to help the Lahti sports and startup ecosystem and act as a bridge builder between Europe and Asia. Also, we will show the direction of the internationalization for the Finnish startup and scaleup companies in the sports sector, says Arto Ahola, the CEO of Smash Mill Ltd.  

Sport Business Hub promotes Lahti's position in the international sports business  

The Lahti Region is one of the most important centers of sports, events and sports expertise in Northern Europe. The region's strengths are world-class sports know-how and sport facilities combined with a superior location, strong industry expertise and long-term cooperation in the Asian market. These facts together give a unique role for the Lahti Region as a gateway between Europe and Asia.  

A meeting place for Sport Business  

Lahti Sport Business Hub is a meeting place for sports business, which combines the know-how of the international sports sector, creating leadership for Lahti in national sports exports. Lahti Sport Business Hub is made up of local Olympic Training Centers, companies, educational and research institutes and municipal organizations in the area. The business ecosystem, which is built around Lahti's sports facilities and expertise promotes local business, exports and research activities around sport & wellness technology and services, connecting national and international networks and partners.  

- In the future, Lahti will be known not only as a winter sports center, but as an international facilitator of sports business innovation, attracting international companies and players to invest in their R&D and business operations in Lahti. SMASH has a key role to play in this work, says Isto Vanhamäki, Development Manager at Lahti Region Development LADEC Ltd.