Discover the coolest ecosystem, hottest startups – How Finland works for VC investors and funds
Finland’s thriving startup ecosystem has long attracted the interest of international venture capital investors. There are also many attractive opportunities to explore in Finland’s early-stage venture capital funds which have grown and diversified during the past decade.
“Finland now has several thematic venture capital funds serving the needs of Finnish early-stage companies. These funds have emerged strongly in recent years and are managed by experienced professionals with a deep understanding of their business sectors. In addition to capital investment, the funds contribute valuable know-how and international networks to accelerate the growth of the startups,” says Esko Raunio, Managing Director at Business Finland Venture Capital Ltd (BFVC).
A state-owned company established in 2014, BFVC invests in privately managed venture capital funds that target promising Finnish early-stage companies.At least half of the capital in BFVC’s target funds is committed by private sector investors, including e.g. institutional investors and family offices. So far, BFVC has committed about EUR 64 million in 13 funds that have raised in total about EUR 184 million and invested in ca. 260 companies. BFVC typically acts as the anchor investor in its target funds. BFVC welcomes cooperation also with international limited partners.
“I believe that specialization is the future for early-stage funds. Having a specialist venture capital fund on board also makes it easier for the generalist funds to participate in a startup’s funding round. Finland’s thematic early-stage venture capital scene is a trendsetter even in the wider European context,” says Raunio.
Find the next Finnish unicorn with Dealflow
The AI-powered Dealflow Finland service is the fastest way to connect directly with Finnish startups and growth companies that are preparing for an investment round. The investor can create a profile on Dealflow and use different criteria to identify the most relevant companies. Dealflow also enables automated target hunting and instant notifications when suitable companies match the investor’s profile. The profile is not visible to the companies or other investors.
“The opportunity to find the next Finnish unicorn is now at everyone’s fingertips. Soon Dealflow will also feature the most promising research projects from Finnish universities and research institutions. They often have strong IPR in a particular field and offer great prospects for spinoffs in the future,” says Marko Vänskä, Head of Industry, Growth Capital, Business Finland.
Launched in 2019, the free of charge Dealflow service provided by Business Finland has already matched 350 investors and companies. Currently, the most searched and viewed industries on Dealflow are Cybersecurity, Digital Health and Financial & Insurance, and the most popular technologies are AI & ML, Analytics & Big Data and SaaS & Enterprise SW.
“In addition, Business Finland Investor Services team helps selected international investors directly by personally matchmaking with the pool of thousands of hottest companies in Finland. Our long history of supporting Finnish companies in fundraising includes success cases like Infinited Fiber, ePassi, Nightingale, 720 degrees, MaaS Global, Optofidelity, BCPlatforms, Spinnova, Injeq, Singa, NewIcon, Rightware, Optomed, Aavi, Lifa Air and Jolla,” says Vänskä.
More information
Esko Raunio
Business Finland Venture Capital Ltd
esko.raunio (at) businessfinland.vc
tel. +358 40 543 9252
Marko Vänskä
Business Finland Investor Services
marko.vanska (at) businessfinland.fi
tel. +358 50 588 5856
