Finland

In the startup world the role of an investor is to take “capital off the table”. This means that an entrepreneur can focus on delivering the product, without constantly needing to worry about resources. One of the promises of basic income is to do just that, not only for entrepreneurs but for all of us. But that’s only the beginning. …

The Messukeskus Expo and Convention Center in Helsinki came alive for 2 days in early October, as the impressive Nordic Business Forum hit town with 5,700 executives attending from over 30 countries. Added to these were up to 10,000 global viewers via live-streaming. The speaker list for previous annual Nordic Business Forum events, with themes such as Impact, Leadership and …

Two weeks ago in the basement of Helsinki’s historic Kulttuuritalo (designed by Alvar Aalto and opened in 1958) a packed crowd took part in the Ultrahack MyData Hackathon kickoff, marking the start of the 48 hour intensive effort. Around eighty selected hackers from more than twenty teams gathered. A handful had traveled to Helsinki from Estonia, Norway, Netherlands, Austria, Germany …

In terms of on-the-job danger, which professions do you think represent the greatest risk of sustaining personal injury? Interestingly, in the US, solid waste haulers rank third on the list, behind fishing and timber cutting. In fact, garbage collectors are injured around five to seven times more than the average worker. Finand’s Sunit is tackling these dangers with an innovative …

Eagled eyed readers may have seen news of social media marketing startup PromoRepublic  raising an impressive €500 000 investment round led by Sampo Parkkinen this last July and reported via GoodNewsFinland.  The company has one goal in mind: Replicating their success in the US. You could be forgiven if this news slipped under the radar during early summer celebrations. This …

The first ever Helsinki Blockchain Conference 2016 will take place at Microsoft Flux open space, and will be the first high-profile, dedicated Blockchain event in Nordic Region. Blockchain is hailed as one of the most revolutionary technologies of the past few decades. Right now the industry is experiencing an intense influx of investment – the volume of funds invested in …

The Startup Passion training and mentoring programme run in partnership with Cursor OY, Finland, has just had their third successful major event. A five-day training course on lean startup, customer development and storytelling, amongst other key topics. Participants drawn from a range countries had the opportunity to strengthen the basic foundations of their startup ideas and gain an even deeper …

A wireless smart meat thermometer is no longer on the backburner for the Finnish company Meater, who has take the concept of remote monitoring to ensure you cook the perfect meat every time. The night had begun quietly for friends and colleagues Teemu Nivala and Joseph Cruz a couple of years ago. Laughing and swapping stories over a few glasses …

Last Thursday, the Microsoft Flux space in Helsinki played host to a panel and workshop by the FACE Entrepreneurship group. FACE stands for Failure Aversion Change in Europe, and they have been making their way around select European cities to promote beyond the traditionally media-sexy aspects of business and technology in the start-up ecosystem by digging deeper into the emotional …

Trip Republic, the Helsinki based travel planning and booking startup, has launched the full version of the travel planner. Over 3000 travel plans have been created using the planner in the four months since beta launch. Trip Republic has become the social travel planner with the largest amount of connected travel suppliers, partnering up with Booking.com, Skyscanner, Viator, Musement, Uber …

Helsinki in the beginning of June was quite literally the hot-bed of start-up and investment activity in the Nordics. The beautiful 25°C weather complemented the hot new innovative solutions on display. Several events created the perfect melting-pot with which to showcase Finnish and Nordic talent to a wider audience of international visitors. Several key events took place during the week …

TactoTek, a leading manufacturer of 3D injection molded structural electronics (IMSE) solutions based in Oulu, Finland, announced today that it has been named a recipient of a €2.5 million EU Horizon 2020 award to mass produce injection molded electronics (IME) solutions. Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument of Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global …

Start-up founders who focus on issues of resource preservation, resource recovery and recycling, often lack access to funding opportunities, as they have difficulty competing the b2b scale-ups that investors see as big money. That is why in 2014 Green Alley, a strategic circular economy investor based in Berlin, initiated the annual Green Alley Award, Europe’s first start-up competition for entrepreneurs wanting …

Ultrahack 2016, which launched at the beginning of June, invites participants to compete for more than 1 million euro investments plus other significant prizes. The investments will be awarded by Nestholma in cooperation with Ultrahack, surpassing previous investments in hackathons in Finland. The best teams have also an opportunity to meet FiBAN (Finnish Business Angels Network) investors after the finals. …

The Button Corporation, which launched world’s first IoT physical push button from Helsinki in the Spring of 2014, has launched a new bttn Mini designed by award-winning Finnish industrial designer, Harri Koskinen, best known for his Block Lamp, a light-bulb held inside two shaped pieces of clear glass, which is exhibited in MoMA in New York City. Harri has designed …

The Nordic Startup Awards grand finale took place in the Harpa Center in Reykjavik, Iceland, and hosted collaboration with Icelandic Startups.  Attendees from all over the Nordics gathered to celebrate the best startups, accelerators, and investors of the year. Kim Balle, founder of the Nordic Startup Awards, spoke about why the awards are so important for the startup ecosystem. “We …

With virtual reality the next frontier for digital innovation, a growing number of Finnish companies are offering a pioneering look at things to come. Science fiction has always offered far-fetched future imaginings of various shapes and sizes. Sometimes, however, this crystal ball gazing also comes true. A self-driving car? Google now has the answer. Video conferencing? Thanks Skype. How about …

The MyData 2016 Conference is an international event  dedicated to helping people manage and reuse their personal data currently controlled by companies and governments. The conference will bring industry leaders to Helsinki later this summer in an effort to drive forward this important topic. MyData is an initiative led by Open Knowledge Finland  and the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology …

The growing variety of threats to IT security represents an expansive future for the Finnish company Nixu, who are making cyber security services to keep the digital society running. Overlooking the sea in the Espoo suburb of Keilaniemi, it seems somehow fitting that a world globe is situated inside the meeting room at Nixu’s office. “Our strategy is to be …

The semi-finals of the Nordic Startup Awards are now finished. This series of events promotes and celebrates startups in the Nordic region.  Country winners are chosen for each country, and the finalists move upwards to a grand ceremony held in Iceland at the end of May. Winners in Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have been announced in regional ceremonies …