Finland

With growth numbers surpassing 3000% over the last four years, a Finnish Nokia spin-off won the 13th Deloitte Technology Fast 50 at Slush 2017. Some new trends had snuck into the yearly list of the Technology Fast 50 that Deloitte and OP Financial Group announced at Slush at the beginning of December. The growth percentage in the top 3 had …

Kieku Labs is technology company creating a personal audio listening stream. Kieku is an independent direct community of speakers and listeners. Kieku is both voices from the street and studio, a place for anyone to connect with audience. Kieku Labs was founded in Helsinki 2016. Kieku offers an easy way to listen to content that is selectively curated for your …

Recently successful Finnish startup entrepreneurs have founded an investment and consulting company in order to help fresh, potential founders direct their efforts more productively and avoid easy mistakes. Start Here Ventures offers starting teams support, hints, valuable contacts, as well as a financial investment – preferably already before the registration of the company. By Tuure Parkkinen Each qualified team gets …

Augmented Reality (AR) has been around for a long time but is now gathering momentum as smartphone processing power and internet connectivity speeds have increased whilst consumption costs have declined. Major mobile handset manufacturers support Apps with AR functionality and future experiences will be embedded in handsets and available ‘out of the box’. In addition to Apple and their ARKit, …

Finland continues to be the most attractive Nordic country for securing foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with 133 ventures commenced in 2016. This is the fifth consecutive year Finland beats its neighbours in attracting FDI projects. According to the Attractiveness Report 2017 by EY, Finland seized 41 per cent of FDI projects started in the Nordics last year. The secured 133 …

A sign reading “Not a hospital” greets you as you enter the newish start-up hub of Helsinki, Maria 1-0. The first time I walked under the sign, my instant thought was how many people have come here  to seek treatment – the hospital was only closed a few years ago. The possible hospital-creeps, however, disappear as you enter the colourful …

Creathor Venture announced this week that it is leading a financing round of up to €14 million for Helsinki-based Blueprint Genetics, an AI-enabled clinical genetic testing company.   Blueprint Genetics is among a wave of Nordic companies using AI within med-tech, including Lytics, Medeye, and Nox Medical. Blueprint Genetics, which launched in 2012, provides clinical genetic testing for the diagnosis of …

In 2016, Finnish startup and early stage growth companies raised the second highest amount of venture capital funding in Europe when looking at investments as percentage of GDP. The investment amount was almost twice as large as the European average.  Sweden and Denmark are also among the top countries attracting venture capital. Finns can be proud of their rank in …

At the end of May 2017, Finland’s Feedbackly announced they were planning to expand to Mexico.  Founded in 2013, the company has had success in Europe, where their multichannel customer experience measurement tool has been used by companies such as Kesko, Tiger and XXL Sport.  CEO Jaako Männistö guest blogs about why the company chose Mexico as their first point …

Imagine smart homes or self-driving cars that communicate with each other. Or the day when doctors and teachers use virtual and augmented reality at hospitals and schools. Imagine trains, drones and cars forming transport systems that are safe, efficient and environment-friendly. Just imagine? Oh, you no longer have to. This all will be reality when 5G becomes our next standard …

Last weeks Arctic 15 three day event succeeded in offering a glimpse into the bright future of the Nordics as hundreds of investors, startups and corporates converged once again in the familiar old industrial complex of Kaapelitehdas the ‘Cable Factory’ in western Helsinki. Arctic 15 has grown steadily since its first event in 2011 and has a strong impact on …

Evon Söderlund, originally from Malaysia, and her husband Jussi Söderlund founded Huone, the world’s first event hotel, in Finland a couple years ago. Since then they’ve hosted more than 4,000 events for smaller and larger groups in uniquely designed rooms, and won several awards. Now the company is expanding. Evon and her team just opened their hotel in Singapore on …

Do you want to build a successful hackathon team? Meet five Ultrahack teams and learn how it’s done! Hackathons are often considered as a playground for developers, but even the most brilliant execution is not enough: the concept and how you validate your solution are equally important. And without a proper pitch, the judges and investors might not to see the …

In Finland, the sauna is a way of life.  It is not just a place to ease muscle pain after a hard workout, but a place for relaxing, drinking, and even doing business.  That’s why as part of the #nordicmade trip to South By Southwest Interactive, the annual tech festival in Austin, Texas, leading sauna heater manufacturer HARVIA brought a …

The world’s smartest apartment building is Apartimentum, located in Hamburg. It is the brainchild of Xing founder Lars Hinrichs, who has since become an active investor in cutting-edge tech. Apartimentum, which officially opens it’s doors to the public next month, is a converted turn of the century building.  The facade of the building is the only historical remnant of the …

As Finland has topped rankings for the best educational system in the world for years, tapping its know-how is an attractive offer for any young ed-tech startup. However, especially when coming from outside of Finland, it could look like a daunting task to understand the sector which could be horribly bureaucratic and with everyone speaking a weird language. The solution: …

Slush is finished and if you’re anything like most people you felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities: from exciting startups and world-famous experts, to inspiring talks and promising parties. So where should you focus your time to get the most out of it next time around? Last week I set out to find the best practical advice to …

November weekend in Helsinki for most of us doesn’t sound like the time of our lives – it’s dark, cold and windy in the seaside city. To make matters worse, the Finnish word for November, Marraskuu, by it’s etymological meaning means the month of death, marras origin from the same word family as Latins mors and French’s mort, death – …

Blockchain technology is becoming more and more demanded worldwide, and today we all have a unique opportunity to witness “the biggest innovation after the Internet itself” gaining a growing number of implementations – both within and outside the financial sector. This significant process inevitably goes hand in hand with massive informational support – and, consequently, cross-industry popularization of Blockchain. And …

Medihub, an Estonian startup founded in spring 2015 aim at building up a kind of database in which patients can search for affordable and creditable clinics, the services of which suit their needs best. CEO Helary Lainjärv gives us some insight into the company’s past, present and future. You’ve been working as a physician for over 8 years now, so …