Finnish president salutes international successes

The Internationalisation Awards are given annually to celebrate Finnish global success stories. Suitable candidates are proposed to the president by businesses and the Team Finland network. This year, Keitele Forest was chosen as the growth company of the year, Smartly came out on top in the newcomer category and Cursor topped the community category.

“Courage, growth, investments and renewal are the common characteristics of these winners,” commented Nina Kopola, the director general at Business Finland. “The recognised companies have invested in production plants, new products and services, as well as staff expertise.”

The newcomer of the year, Smartly, provides tools for automated social media marketing via its network of offices in 16 cities around the world. Its customers include the likes of eBay, Uber and Walmart. The company’s annual revenue is estimated at 70 million US dollars.

“We have grown with our customers, listening to their wishes and developing technology that makes speedy digitalisation possible,” said Kristo Ovaska, founder and managing director of Smartly.

“The greatest bottleneck for our growth is hiring experienced coders who are very much in demand in Helsinki, where the product development takes place. Our fast-paced growth is also supported by a strong company culture and the automation of marketing, which is still only starting out for many advertisers.”

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