Finnish medtech lands on Silicon Republic’s list

The list is a part of the publications’ Europe Start-up series that provides a glimpse of the European tech scene in various sectors. Finnish health expertise seems to be the prognosis on numerous fronts.

Oura received worldwide attention overnight last autumn when Prince Harry was spotted wearing the sleep and activity tracker ring. The sleek design is by Kari Kivelä and Harri Koskinen.

No wonder the startup has raised 33 million euros in funding, most recently last December. The Oulu-based venture is betting on an expanding market for wearable and health technology.

“Healthcare systems will change so that individuals will begin to take more and more responsibility over their personal wellbeing,” co-founder Petteri Lahtela told us a few years ago.

An algorithm a day keeps the doctor away

Aiforia, formerly known as FIMMIC, is a Helsinki-based company that is digitalising microscopy with cloud services and artificial intelligence. The tedious and very manual process of sample gathering and management is streamlined into Aiforia’s cloud service, which ensures a more efficient and precise workflow and combines the expertise of pathologists and Aiforia’s deep learning tools.

“We recently opened an office in Boston to support our sales operations in North America,” explains Kaisa Helminen, CEO of Aiforia. “This year we’re strengthening our customer base in medical research and development, but also taking our first steps into the clinical diagnostics market by launching a few related pilots.”

Etsimo is in the business of optimising the traditional healthcare service design by offering a platform powered with machine learning. Etsimo’s engine is able to predict and prevent physical and mental health issues, as well as diagnose, together with doctors, the optimal type of care.

“We’re on a mission to empower everyone to stay healthy and sustain a high quality of life by preventing irreversible and chronic conditions,” explains Tuomas Ylä-Kauttu, leading business development manager at Etsimo.

The startup is heading into its third year with a solid track record to show for, having received pre-seed funding from Exio Capital, a grant from Business Finland and most recently funding from Terveystalo.

“In the upcoming 18 months we’re going to develop our company in all sectors as well as to raise funding for rapid scaling and growth,” states Ylä-Kauttu.

Good News from Finland is published by Finnfacts, which is part of Business Finland.