Finland has a robust startup environment that benefits from significant advantages such as supportive government regulations and initiatives, world-class technology, skilled workforce, and outstanding R&D prospects. Built upon free trade and openness to global investment, the Finnish startup ecosystem is very appealing to both local and foreign investors. In this article, we have compiled a comprehensive list of Venture Capital Firms and Angel Investors in Finland, so you may find the right funding partner for you.
Topics Covered:
Why Should You Raise Funds in Finland
Venture Capitalist Funds in Finland
Angel Investors in Finland
Why Should You Raise Funds in Finland?
The following are some of the important elements that make Finland an appealing site for companies seeking funding:
1. Strong Ecosystem:
Finland has a strong startup ecosystem with a supportive network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, accelerators, and other key stakeholders. This network is proactive in providing assistance, networking opportunities, and resources to startup founders to boost entrepreneurship in the country. To date, Finland is home to approximately 4,432 startups and scaleups, with a total enterprise value of EUR 48.2 billion. Aware of the importance of marketing its business climate, the country also hosts a number of startup events, conferences, and contests that provide exposure to investors, industry experts, and potential partners. Participating in these events can provide awareness and access to investment options for businesses. Slush, one of the world's largest global startup events, draws tens of thousands of participants to Helsinki every year, boosting the country's startup ecosystem.
2. Attractive Investment Landscape:
An increasing number of venture capital companies, individual investors, and corporate venture arms are looking for investment opportunities in Finland. Over 1,300 corporations and 1,087 investors contribute to the ecosystem's strength and profitability. This competitive investment environment improves the chances for startups to obtain funding. In 2022, Finland achieved its highest record of investments amounting to EUR 1.7 billion, a growth of 32% year on year. International equity and venture investors are interested in Finland, and strong Finnish players have emerged who invested a total of EUR 358 million in 2022 (EUR 238 million in Finnish companies and EUR 120 million in international companies). In terms of GDP, Finland is the number 1 country in Europe for successful startup investment.
3. Supportive Government:
The Finnish government supports entrepreneurs and startups through a variety of financing schemes, grants, and incentives. Their initiatives provide early-stage entrepreneurs with financial and operational support, and their regulatory environment is business-friendly and supportive of innovation. For instance, Finland's corporation tax rate of 20% is among the lowest in the EU and the Nordics. Furthermore, businesses engaged in R&D receive a permanent basic tax credit for R&D expenses, in addition to the existing 150% tax reduction for R&D subcontracting. These regulations help reduce the financial burden on startups during their early phases. The government also provides funding and other services to early-stage startups and entrepreneurs commercializing their ideas. For example, the Finnish Startup Permit allows foreign entrepreneurs to establish their startups in Finland. The simplicity of doing business and straightforward legal procedures benefits businesses trying to establish and expand their operations in the country.
Venture Capitalist Funds in Finland
The venture capitalist funds below are actively looking for investments in promising companies throughout various stages and sectors. The stages stated do not limit the possibility of getting funding if your company is at any stage other than what is listed.
Year of Inception: 2009
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: Norsepower, Tilt Biotherapeutics, Ninchat, Wolt, Hyperion Robotics
Lifeline Ventures is a sector-agnostic early-stage venture capital firm looking to invest in and collaborate with entrepreneurs from the start and help them throughout their growth. With a team made up of seasoned entrepreneurs, they understand how to establish and scale businesses and provide portfolio firms with strategic direction and financial assistance to help them achieve their goals.
Year of Inception: 2019
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: Ivy, Dema, MVision, Rely, Validio, Cybr
J12 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in unique and disruptive founders who are creating data-accessible software infrastructure and AI solutions for corporations, consumers, and healthcare. J12 Ventures is dedicated to assisting the development of Finnish entrepreneurs, with a particular emphasis on promoting growth and employing AI-based analysis. They provide financial assistance, strategic advice, and mentorship to the firms in which they invest, allowing them to survive in a competitive market.
Year of Inception: 2016
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: HoxHunt, Tesseract, MVision, Prompter AI, Volument, Neyra
Icebreaker.vc specializes in investing in early-stage teams with strong subject expertise and bold ideas, with the goal of building internationally competitive technology enterprises. Icebreaker.vc provides financial support and strategic counseling to the firms in which it invests, with initial investments ranging from EUR 150,000 to EUR 800,000. Icebreaker.vc is committed to assisting the growth and success of IT businesses in Finland, Estonia, and Sweden, and has a strong network and knowledge in the Nordic area.
Year of Inception: 2013
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Wimao, Kiho, Marginum, Treet, Ketoinen
Based in Kuopio, Finland, Nostetta Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage growing enterprises, primarily in the North Savo area. Nostetta Ventures play a crucial role in fostering the growth and success of startups in the North Savo region of Finland. The team at Nostetta combines their world-class research and technological skills and their strong partners to enable startups' development and rise in value.
Year of Inception: 1998
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed, Series A
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: Blidz, N,Rich, Treon
Ventech is a renowned venture capital firm headquartered in Paris, France, with a proven track record of profitable investments. Founded in 1998, Ventech has collaborated with numerous innovative and internationally ambitious tech-driven startups. Ventech Europe invests throughout Europe, with offices in France, Germany, and the Nordics. With two decades of expertise in early-stage financing, Ventech has a broad industry experience and long-term collaboration strategy, which plays an important role in assisting the growth and development of creative technology firms. Their investment ticket sizes for Seed-stage firms vary from EUR 100,000 to EUR 500,000, and for Series A startups, they range from EUR 2 million to EUR 5 million.
Year of Inception: 2018
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Spinnova, IQM, Alvar, Totem, Jennis, QDI Systems
Maki.vc partners with deep tech and brand-driven enterprises in the European Union and Nordic nations who are passionate about disrupting category standards. They focus on early-stage investments in firms that break category conventions and demonstrate scientific discoveries, strong intellectual property, and consumer knowledge.
Year of Inception: 2012
Stage: Seed
Focus: Deep Tech, Hardware
Notable Portfolio: Revonte, Geyser Batteries, Cerenion, Naava
Butterfly Ventures is one of the most active early-stage VC firms in the Nordics, with offices in Oulu, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Butterfly Ventures invests in Nordic and Baltic startups, with an emphasis on deep tech, hardware, hardware interface, and software. Known for its collaborative approach, they like to interact directly with founders and operate as a team with full support from their partners.
Year of Inception: 2017
Stage: Seed
Focus: Education
Notable Portfolio: BibliU, Complori, Smowl, Vygo, Wonderwerk
Sparkmind.vc is a forerunner in venture capital with a significant emphasis on the learning industry. They are the first Nordic venture capital firm focused on investing in teams that are revolutionizing the landscape of education technology (EdTech). Their major goal is to assist and fund firms aiming to revolutionize early childhood, K12, higher, secondary and vocational education as well as corporate and lifelong learning. They invest at the seed to growth stage with single investments up to EUR 5 million.
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Seed
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: ICEYE, Varjo, Oura, Blueprint Genetics, Indoor Atlas, Smartly.io
Business Finland Venture Capital is the investment arm of Business Finland, the Finnish government body responsible for encouraging innovation, investment, and commerce in Finland. With a strong focus on promoting the growth of Finnish enterprises, they provide early-stage finance and strategic support to innovative and high-growth startups. They aggressively seek businesses in areas such as deep tech, cleantech, health tech, and digitalization.
Year of Inception: 1999
Stage: Seed
Focus: Software
Notable Portfolio: Eural, Ready Player Me, Fractory, Jobilla, eAgronom
Trind.vc is a prominent venture capital firm that specializes in early-stage investments in disruptive tech startups with the potential to make substantial impact in their respective sectors. The firm's investment portfolio is diverse, but they focus on scaling B2B and B2C enterprises with a consumer or community component. Leveraging their wide network, industry experience, and strategic alliances, they provide portfolio firms with not just financial backing but also essential advice and assistance.
Year of Inception: 2015
Stage: Seed
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Renow, eMabler, Xceed, Cactos, Deepfin
Superhero Capital is a venture capital firm with a primary focus on software-driven startups in Finland and the Baltics. They refer to their founders as superheroes which band together with others who share their vision and use their talents to create something remarkable that improves everyday life. They provide funding, strategic counsel, and assistance to help firms achieve the next level of growth, with initial investments of up to EUR 1 million.
Year of Inception: 2012
Stage: Seed
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Ninchat, Spacent
Morrow Venture Capital makes investments in scalable technology companies, with a proven track record of assisting digital entrepreneurs. Morrow Ventures bridges the financial gap that businesses frequently suffer throughout the scaling phase, allowing them to prove their potential and achieve growth.
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Deep Tech
Notable Portfolio: Wolt, Swappie, Stravito, Jobbatical, Algorithmiq
Inventure has established itself as a key participant in the European investment scene, with a strong eye for innovation and a passion for assisting early-stage technological firms. The VC invests in companies that are disrupting established sectors and developing game-changing solutions. Their investment ticker ranges from EUR 300,000 to EUR 5 million.
Year of Inception: 2020
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Food Tech
Notable Portfolio: eniferBio, Kuva Space, Hailia Nordic, Nordic Umami Company
Nordic Foodtech VC is an impact-driven venture capital organization that invests in early-stage startups with the goal of fundamentally transforming the food system. Nordic FoodTech VC aspires to assist entrepreneurs that are reinventing the way we produce, distribute, and consume food by focusing on sustainable and revolutionary solutions. They actively seek for early-stage startups that are addressing the issues and possibilities in the food sector by leveraging cutting-edge technology like as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robots. Alternative proteins, precision agriculture, vertical farming, food waste reduction, and supply chain optimization are central to the firm's investing thesis.
Year of Inception: 2001
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Steep, Ripe, Helppy, Unleash, Enode, Superside
Alliance Venture is a Nordic venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology firms, with offices in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Alliance Venture focuses on purpose-driven entrepreneurs and intends to produce long-term value while actively addressing sustainability risks. The firm believes in reciprocal engagement with founders and understands that growing outstanding and valuable businesses need active support and effort and offers financial backing, strategic counsel, and assistance to do so.
Year of Inception: 2006
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Click2Contract, Yieldi, Hala, Screenful, Moderan
Gorilla Capital is a Finnish venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage startups that use technology to address real-world business challenges. With offices in Finland, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden, they are committed to assisting creative entrepreneurs in the area. They favor strong teams who are focused on the company rather than the product, and they aim for a 10x return on investment. With experienced investors who have entrepreneurial backgrounds and successful exits, Gorilla Capital aims to provide assistance and counsel to their portfolio companies.
Year of Inception: 2019
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: Adamant Health, Desentum, eniferBio, Helmee, Monidor
Voima Ventures blends research, entrepreneurship, and value-added capital to tackle big global challenges. The venture capital firm focuses on early-stage technological spin-offs and companies, from the pre-seed stage through later stages of growth. Comprised of a varied team of growing entrepreneurs and investors, they have a sharp eye for creative concepts and emerging technologies with the potential to make a big impact on the world.
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology, Life Science and Health
Notable Portfolio: 9Solutions, Aatos, Alex Therapeutics, ArcDia, APL Systems
Innovestor is a major venture capital and private equity firm focused on early-stage technology firms. The firm's seasoned staff brings a plethora of industry knowledge and skills to the table, aiding entrepreneurs as they navigate the hurdles of developing their businesses. The wide network of partners, investors, and mentors that Innovestor has further strengthened their capacity to link startups with significant resources and opportunities.
Year of Inception: 1995
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B
Focus: Industrial, Deep Tech, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Services and Consumer, Circular Economy, Software & SaaS
Notable Portfolio: Tilt Biotherapeutics, Swappie, Varjo Technologies, Dispelix
Tesi, also known as Finnish Industry Investment Ltd., is a Finnish state-owned investment firm headquartered in Helsinki. Tesi invests in venture capital and private equity funds, as well as directly in companies, with the goal of assisting Finnish enterprises in their growth and globalization. Tesi's investing strategy is long-term and patient, with the goal of creating long-term value for both firms and society. Believing in active ownership, they share financial risk and offer their expertise, networks, and strategic guidance to drive portfolio firms' growth and worldwide expansion.
Year of Inception: 2013
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B
Focus: SaaS
Notable Portfolio: AppFollow, Happy Signals, Happeo, Brella, Videoly
Vendep Capital is a prominent venture capital firm in the Nordic and Baltic region that specializes in B2B SaaS investments. Located in Espoo, Finland, Vendep wants to invest in businesses that have the potential for rapid worldwide expansion, with a heavy emphasis on web-based and mobile services. The firm's investment approach is to provide financial support, SaaS knowledge, industry experience, and worldwide networks startups need to achieve rapid, long-term development.
Year of Inception: 2009
Stage: Series A
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: AppGyver, Booksy, IQM, MySQL, Supermetrics
OpenOcean is a pan-European, early-stage venture capital firm with offices in Helsinki and London. OpenOcean intends to support the brave leaders of the data economy by investing in European B2B software firms, notably in B2B platforms and enterprise software technologies. The founding team members of OpenOcean bring their operator background and valuable experience from successful ventures such as MySQL and MariaDB to add real value to their portfolio companies, from developing the product to building the organization and scaling internationally.
Year of Inception: 2019
Stage: Series A, Series B
Focus: Deep Tech
Notable Portfolio: Bolt, Combinostics, Einride, Ready Player Me, Veriff
NordicNinja is a joint venture between JBIC IG Partners, a Japanese private equity/venture capital firm, and BaltCap, a Baltic-based private equity/venture capital firm. Based in Helsinki, Finland, they focus on investing in early-stage companies operating in the Nordic-Baltic region. NordicNinja combines Nordic innovation, Japanese networks, and Silicon Valley expertise to support and nurture promising startups.
Year of Inception: 1998
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology
Notable Portfolio: PerfectGym, Entelo, Parsek, TourRadar, Safe Size
3TS Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing expansion capital and buyout funding for small and medium-sized businesses. The company focuses on high-growth industries such as technology, the internet, media, marketing, and services. 3TS Capital Partners is devoted to promoting innovation and driving success in the companies in which it invests. With a team of highly skilled individuals, 3TS Capital Partners becomes active business partners of the portfolio companies and adds significant value beyond funding. As a stage-agnostic investor, they typically invest in the range of EUR 300,000 to EUR 10 million.
Angel Investors in Finland
Angel investors may act as an individual or as a syndicate to fund projects of their preference, so these networks are the best opportunity for you to find a potential Angel with an aligned vision and interests.
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: -
The Scandinavian Investment Network is a web-based platform that links angel investors looking for investment opportunities with entrepreneurs who require funding. It has a significant presence in the Nordic area and is well-known for its participation in numerous investment rounds that include other investors and the Angel Investment Network. The Scandinavian Investment Network plays an important role in supporting and growing the region's startup ecosystem by enabling connections and promoting collaboration.
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Notable Portfolio: -
The Finnish Business Angel Network (FiBAN) is a major organization in Finland that promotes angel financing and assists entrepreneurs in their early phases of development. FiBAN links individual angel investors with startups looking for finance, mentorship, and experience, providing tools, networking opportunities, and education to both investors and companies. FiBAN promotes knowledge exchange and cooperation among the angel investing community through its events, workshops, and online platforms, therefore fostering a climate conducive to early-stage investment and innovation.
Closing Thoughts on VCs and Angel Investors in Finland
Consistently placed among the top startup ecosystems worldwide, Finland provides a highly appealing business climate with a very high level of stability, continuity, and predictability. We continue seeing instances of successful exits from Finnish businesses that have surpassed the local market. Along with the increase in startup funding and a large percentage of funds raised by VCs, it shows the steady expansion of the Finnish startup ecosystem in the coming years.
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