The community accepts ambitious and international-minded startups, growth companies and investors as our members. All membership fees are based on the stage and size of the company.
Our mission is to make Finland the best place in the world to build and cultivate startups
Finnish Startup Community is a community of more than 200 Finnish growth companies and startups. We both bring entrepreneurs together to learn from each other and drive important issues for startups forward in Finland.
We are an active community of startup entrepreneurs
Our community activity is built around events and member communications. We organize internal membership events for the members of our community on a weekly basis. The topics of the events always vary according to the wishes of our members, from current affairs to more specific topics related to building and growing startups. The members of our community also engage in active discussion on internal channels on a daily basis. We also maintain communication with our community through a monthly membership newsletter, in which we update the progress of our advocacy work, discuss current topics, and share all upcoming events.
Join the community
Our goal is to make Finland the best place in the world
We are in constant contact with Finnish and European decision-makers in order to promote the growth environment of Finnish startups, and we share current information about the development of the Finnish startup field with those who are interested in it.
We think that startups will become a new pillar for the economy and society. We believe that by the year 2030, the value of exports created by startups has increased from the current 2 billion to 10 billion euros. This is our most conservative estimate, and even it would bring the startup industry to the same ballpark as the forest and metal industries. What we want is that in the future, a major portion of the world’s leading technology companies is from Finland.
Our community has two main focus areas. First, we want to have a positive impact on our society by making sure Finland becomes the best environment in the world to build and cultivate startups. Second, our community aims to reinforce the cooperation between startups. Our members have helped each other out, found new ideas, and improved their companies’ course of action. We believe in positive collaboration, and this is visible in both our internal and external activities.
The community is backed by a strong team and board
The Finnish Startup Community is a registered association whose work is funded by membership fees. The community has a CEO and four team members who aim to build public debate around startups, create and analyze new startup data, and organize events relevant to the community members. In addition, the community uses external experts, e.g. promoting legislative projects.
The activities of the community are directed by an active board consisting of representatives elected by the members. The board members are widely committed to advancing the goals of the community. The current members of the Board are Timo Ahopelto from Lifeline Ventures (COB), Ilkka Paananen from Supercell, Suvi Haimi from Sulapac, Ilkka Kivimäki from Maki.vc, Miki Kuusi from Wolt and Anna-Maria Henell from Disior.
Startup History Timeline a.k.a the Crazy Decade of Finnish Startups
2010
New school of entrepreneurial thought
Nokia's chief executive, Stephen Elop, infamously warned the staff that the company was 'standing on a burning platform.' Soon after, Nokia's glory days began to fade. Many crucial things took place in the wake of the mobile giant's decline. Nokia's Bridge Program helped its former employees become startup entrepreneurs, and the brand new Aalto University initiated a merger of business, technology, and design, establishing a melting pot for a new school of entrepreneurial thought. Also, Supercell was founded in 2010.
2012
Aalto ecosystem
The first wave of startups emerging from the Aalto ecosystem was in full swing. Aalto Entrepreneurship Society was at the core of the buzzing grassroots movement, establishing Startup Sauna as their home base. Aaltoes brought together entrepreneurially wired students from all Aalto schools, their humble goal being to make startup entrepreneurship a top career choice for the bright young things of Finland. Trips to Silicon Valley became a common hobby among the Aaltoes community. Startup Foundation was founded to promote and fund startup activities in Finland.
2014
Slush
Slush, a student-led tech and entrepreneurship event originally founded in 2008, moved from the Messukeskus Conference Center to better accommodate the expanding crowd. The Finnish startup scene gained significant media attention due to Slush's rising brand, and both international guests and investments flowed in. For many, the event became synonymous with startup culture in Finland. Slush wasn't just an event but also a founder-making machine; many lucrative startups were founded by the so-called Slush alumni, with Slush's ex-CEO Miki Kuusi's Wolt (founded in 2016) being a notable example.
2015
New communities
Maria 01, a non-profit entrepreneurial community and startup campus, was founded in the old Maria hospital in Helsinki. It quickly became one of the leading startup campuses in the Nordic region and a physical epicenter of startup buzz in the city, alongside Aalto University's Otaniemi campus. Aalto University's student-led community launched Junction, which became Europe’s biggest hackathon by 2017. Helsinki University shifted into high gear with its startup activities, as well – Helsinki Think Company, Helsinki University's entrepreneurial society, was founded in 2015. Besides the capital, Turku’s startup scene was also growing and advancing with the help of Boost Turku and the startup and business event SHIFT.
2017
Startups thriving
Big jumps for the Finnish game industry, as Supercell became the first privately-owned decacorn company in 2016 and both Rovio and Next Games went public in 2017. Sleep-focused startups were also awake and thriving, with Oura’s funding surpassing 20M and Apple acquiring the Finnish sleep monitor startup Beddit. Kiuas Accelerator for early-stage startups was launched in Aalto's entrepreneurial community, and since then, its alumni have founded over 300 companies and raised more than $300 million. By 2018, Finnish startups raised more money from foreign investors than from Finnish investors.
2019
New records
Slush continued to grow, reaching its peak attendance of 25,000 attendees. By this point, Slush had evolved into a global community, hosting over 75 events worldwide, including prominent Slush events in Shanghai and Tokyo. In 2019, Finnish startups and growth companies set a new record by raising a total of €511 million, while business angels made investments of €54 million, reaching a new all-time high. Aalto Ventures Program, Kiuas, Reaktor, and Maki.vc jointly launched 'Starting Up,' a completely free online course covering the fundamentals of startup entrepreneurship.
2020 →
From uncertainty to new growth
The COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty, but the startup scene bounced back relatively quickly; 2022 was once again a record year for investments by Finnish VCs and the funding raised by Finnish startups. In 2021, Wolt was sold to Doordash in a 7 billion all-stock transaction, making it the biggest acquisition in Finnish history. In 2022, the amount of capital raised by Finnish startups reached a new record of 1.7 billion euros, with substantial funding rounds for companies like RELEX Solutions, the cloud data platform Aiven, the quantum computer developer IQM, and the satellite tech company ICEYE.