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Whereas firms like Nokia used to dominate the tech scene in Finland, the ecosystem is now shifting nearer in the direction of sectors like AI, quantum computing and progressive recycling expertise. This new focus helps the nation’s startup ecosystem to develop — within the first half of 2023, Finnish startups raised €549m.
However whereas the center of Finland’s startup scene beats within the capital of Helsinki, the town and seaside resort of Oulu is a big participant. Its startups and scaleups have reached a mixed enterprise worth of €3.8bn — together with healthtech unicorn and sensible ring startup Oura, which raised a €100m Collection C spherical in 2021.
We appeared into what makes the Finnish seaside metropolis engaging to budding entrepreneurs.
Inspiring college students
In accordance with Dealroom, there are 416 startups in Oulu, many early-stage and in deeptech, together with battery vitality storage startup Cactos, which raised a €26m early VC spherical this January, and AI startup Cerenion which is constructing software program to observe mind operate in intensive care, which raised a Collection A in 2022.
These startups are supported by BusinessOulu, a public entity of the Metropolis of Oulu, accountable for connecting entrepreneurs to firms and corporations to funding. It hosts a one-year incubator programme and established Startup Station, a coworking and occasion area for startups.
It is actually the place for the evolution and innovation of cell tech.
Outdoors of BusinessOulu, the town’s academic establishments bolster the choices for brand spanking new firms. Oulu College of Utilized Sciences (Oamk) affords pre-incubator and incubator programmes and the College of Oulu affords providers for growth of research-based improvements, firm collaboration and enterprise growth.
Oulu’s prevalence as a serious ICT hub made it a pure selection of location for Rickie Moore, Program Director of the MSc in World Innovation & Entrepreneurship at emlyon enterprise faculty in Lyon, France, to supply his college students for a research overseas semester.
“Oulu has over a thousand ICT firms with over 20,000 workers, a number one enterprise college and it is the primary for R&D investments in Finland,” Moore tells Sifted. “Oulu was the place the primary 5G name was made, and they’re at the moment engaged on the 6G protocols. It is actually the place for the evolution and innovation of cell tech.”
The abroad semester of research for emlyon’s college students consists of educational programs, enterprise visits and immersion within the enterprise setting past social and cultural actions. Moore mentioned he wished the scholars to know what’s explicit in regards to the Finnish and wider Scandinavian ecosystems.
“I need [the students] to discover how applied sciences being developed in Oulu might contribute to a extra sustainable future,” he says.
Emilie Zhuo is an emlyon scholar finding out for her MSc in in World Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is at the moment in her semester at Oulu Enterprise College.
Zhuo says selecting Oulu for her research was additionally a call influenced by the distinctive vibe of Finland’s startup scene. With a popularity for fostering innovation — exemplified by trailblazers like Nokia — she says Finland provided an ideal backdrop for “melding entrepreneurship with expertise”.
“The establishment, famend for its emphasis on cutting-edge applied sciences, opened up new avenues for me to discover the technical foundations important for right now’s startups,” she says. “The experience and help supplied by Oulu Enterprise College had been essential in equipping me for a future the place I intention to meld tech options with sustainable enterprise fashions.”
A “Northern Silicon Valley”
In addition to public funding, there are alternatives to fulfill with VCs in Oulu. Butterfly Ventures, for instance, has workplaces in Oulu and is a seed stage deeptech investor based in 2012.
As a nation of research, Finland has quite a lot of advantages past the local weather and cultural experiences.
Giulia Antigiovanni, who can also be finding out for her MSc in World Innovation & Entrepreneurship at emlyon, says Oulu is turning into a “Northern Silicon Valley”. She says the entrepreneurial spirit permeates each side of Oulu’s ecosystem, evident within the abundance of occasions, incubators and accelerators within the metropolis, linked entrepreneurs and buyers.
“These assets function catalysts for innovation, offering aspiring entrepreneurs with the instruments and help wanted to show their concepts into actuality,” she says. “It is a vibrant ecosystem the place entrepreneurship and funding in younger expertise reign supreme, providing an abundance of alternatives and public funding initiatives tailor-made to empower and propel the following technology of innovators in the direction of success.”
This drive to equip younger folks with the instruments they should construct the following massive companies is on the coronary heart of why Moore wished his college students to check in Finland.
“As a nation of research, Finland has quite a lot of advantages past the local weather and cultural experiences,” he says. “It is maybe one of the vital progressive nations on the market when it comes to infrastructure, and enterprise insurance policies.
“They’ve created infrastructures whereby there is a one-stop-shop for buyers coming in eager to arrange in Oulu, [and they’ve tried] to make it easy and seamless for the potential investor or entrepreneur.”
Be taught extra in regards to the MSc in World Innovation & Entrepreneurship programme right here.
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