Business Finland – Boosting exports

The renewal of Finnish business life and encouraging export are dancing to a new tune now that Finpro and Tekes have joined forces as Business Finland. In the future, the organisation will be responsible for innovation funding and actions related to exports, investments and travel. Now, we have a thorough understanding of the big picture and have everyone playing for the same team, aiming towards a shared goal.

In practice, Business Finland brings together 600 experts and almost 40 international offices. The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Tekes and export, investment and travel booster Finpro have worked under the same roof in Helsinki for over a year now, and the extent of the co-operation has continuously increased.

One of the achievements has been the accelerator programme Gaselli, which trains growth companies targeting international markets. This way, with our support, firms can familiarise themselves with global markets and gain access to pilot projects. The first bunch of companies has now been chosen, and the next step is to head out to the world.

The other important task for Business Finland is to develop the field in which Finnish businesses operate, including the innovation ecosystem. In order to encourage investment, we’re tightening the collaboration with those who understand the grand scheme of innovation funding.

The strength of our expertise is often acknowledged and marketed by the media. In the future, we’ll be able to attract new investments that take into account the country’s specific needs for skills and knowledge. As a single organisation, we can commit to things such as supportive innovation funding, if this is what companies are after in order to establish themselves in Finland.

Even in the southern tip of the country, snowfall is about to hit. It’s times like these when Finns show their expertise and solution-oriented approaches. Wherever it snows, we’ll fix it: our work continues and schools don’t close, public transport doesn’t stop and planes keep on taking off and landing.

This strong, solution-focused approach combined with high-level skills is our remarkable advantage. It’s a great base to build on – in the future, too.

Finpro and Tekes merged at the start of the year, and are now collectively known as Business Finland. Good News from Finland is published by Finnfacts, which is part of Business Finland.