International venture capitalists meet with Finnish growth companies
Enterprise Finland Venture Forum takes place today in Espoo, Finland.
Finnish Industry Investment, Tekes and Finnvera, in co-operation with Technopolis, have invited international venture capitalists to meet with the most promising Finnish growth companies at Enterprise Finland Venture Forum. During the day, 26 hand-picked companies present themselves to international and Finnish investors, after which the companies and investors will continue discussions in pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings.
”The Finnish innovation organisations aim to pave the way for Finnish growth companies to raise finance internationally in addition to Finnish sources. Enterprise Finland Venture Forum offers an efficient day for companies and investors to meet”, says Henri Grundstén, Director at Finnish Industry Investment.
International investors have become increasingly active in the Finnish market in the past couple of years. In both 2011 and 2012, international investors supplied 60 million euros of investments into Finnish companies. According to preliminary data, in 2012, international capital exceeded domestic investments into Finnish companies.
For example, the Norwegian Northzone Ventures has a keen eye on venture opportunities in Finland. “So far we have invested in a couple of exciting opportunities, and we are looking to further expand our portfolio with promising companies. Enterprise Finland Venture Forum is a great event that we are looking forward to every year", says Bjørn Stray, General Partner at Northzone.
Pekka Soini, Director General of Tekes, will give the opening remarks at the event. Other key-note speakers include Bruce Oreck, U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and Sampo Ahonen, CEO of Beneq. Beneq received a 25 million euro investment from the Russian RUSNANO in 2012.
Enterprise Finland Venture Forum is part of the Enterprise Finland service concept. There are 40 venture capitalists attending the event, of which approximately half are foreign. For more information (incl. the list of the presenting companies), please visit http://www.efvf.fi/.
For further information, please contact:
Henri Grundstén, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, tel: +358 50 431 0840, e-mail: henri.grundsten(a)industryinvestment.com
Finnish Industry Investment Ltd is a government-owned investment company that promotes Finnish business, employment and economic growth through venture capital and private equity investments. The investments of Finnish Industry Investment amount to 700 million euros. www.industryinvestment.com
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation is the most important public funding organisation for research, development and innovation in Finland. Tekes invests annually around EUR 600 million towards innovative projects aimed at growth, internationalisation, generating new know-how and new kinds of products, processes and service or business concepts. www.tekes.fi
Finnvera provides financing for the start, growth and internationalisation of enterprise operations and for hedging against export risks. We strengthen the operating potential and competitiveness of Finnish enterprises by offering loans, domestic guarantees, and export credit guarantees. Risks included in financing are shared between Finnvera and other providers of financing. Finnvera is a specialised financing company owned by the State of Finland and it has an official Export Credit Agency (ECA) status. www.finnvera.fi
Technopolis Plc is a listed real estate company that specializes in leasing space and providing services. Its core business idea is to combine business support services with modern, flexible, multi-user business environments. There are approximately 22,000 people and almost 1,400 companies and organizations in Technopolis premises in Finland, Russia, and Estonia. The company’s net sales for 2011 totaled EUR 92.8 million, and its EBITDA was EUR 47.5 million. The Technopolis Plc share (TPS1V) is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. http://www.technopolis.fi/
