Helsinki was ranked fourth best in Europe in terms of performance by The Global Startup Ecosystem 2022 Report. Helsinki is not only the capital city of Finland but the heart of its startup ecosystem, with over 2,138 startups and scaleups in the Greater Helsinki area alone.  

Startups in the capital performed as expected in artificial intelligence, digital health, big data and analytics. Helsinki has roots in technology education and R&D providing an excellent base for startups. In the past, talent was working for larger corporations, whereas now more and more people have the desire to work in startups and establish their own company.  

What else attracts people to Helsinki? The quality of life, access to talent and ease of doing business are key factors here. 

“I am fortunate to have set up companies in 19 different countries, and four American states which gives me a broad perspective on what makes a great ecosystem. Essentially, you need low friction in setting up, maintaining and supporting the company and onboarding top talent. Helsinki has that and more,” exclaimed Colin Brown, Founder at Capability Brown.  

It’s a tight-knit community making it easy to find relevant networks, contacts and talent. “What’s unique about Helsinki as a startup hub is it’s been built bottom-up where a lot of the activities and support organisations are closely connected with founders and investors,” Ville Simola, CEO at Maria 01.  

Maria 01 has built an ecosystem of 1,400 strong global startup campuses and an international community providing support for early-stage startups in the centre of Helsinki. It provides affordable, flexible office spaces, events, access to funding and partnerships, marketing, brand support, and community management. “In addition to startups, we have investors, corporate partners, service providers and other ecosystem organisations as part of the community. We’ve kickstarted over 560 startups at Maria 01 that have raised over €500m in funding.  

Startup support 

Helsinki was also ranked among the top 10 in Europe based on talent, experience, early-stage funding and investor activity.  

There is a host of brilliant startup accelerators, including Kiuas Accelerator, VTT Launch Pad and Helsinki XR Centre. “I am honoured to be a startup coach for Kiuas having joined in October 2022 as a way to better understand the local startup ecosystem,” said Catherine Luckhoff, Co-Founder and CEO at 20fifty.  

“Helsinki is home to excellent co-working spaces such as Sofia, Maria01, Startup Sauna and Epicentre, giving startups and SMEs alike access to a myriad of spaces, services and network opportunities,” Catherine added. 

“The level of support to help your company succeed is like nothing I have seen in my extensive career to date,” said Colin.  

“As an experience entrepreneur I have probably needed less support than most. However, through my interactions with various government agencies, accelerators and incubators, I can simply say that founders who choose to create companies in Finland are in a great position. 

“This isn’t Silicon Valley, nor is it trying to be. It’s building on the foundations laid by the education system and the commitment to research and teaching shown by the first-class universities.” 

The good, the bad and the ugly 

The city’s integrated bus, metro, tram and rail system, as well as city bikes and e-scooters make the city highly accessible.  

“Personally, the safety and accessibility of the city is what appeals the most. Coming from South Africa, my personal safety is not as guaranteed back home, whereas in Finland this is barely a concern,” said Catherine. 

One of Helsinki’s biggest limitations is its location being further away from the main global markets compared to many other European countries. However, Ville explained the importance of this has been decreasing as the remote way of doing business has been growing, thanks to COVID. 

In terms of price level, Helsinki is somewhat high-end, but the housing prices are reasonable compared to other startup hubs. Finland’s inflation level has also been relatively modest this year compared to many other countries. 

Ville explained going forward, if Helsinki is to continue dominating the startups landscape it must provide better services for foreign talent and their families for entering and retention.  

Adding to this, Catherine explained: “For non-EU or US talent, the immigration process can be time consuming and administratively heavy. This may impact our ability to bring a larger team to Finland.” 

Colin has discovered over the years that the European time zone is the optimum for maintaining excellent global relationships. What perhaps isn’t ideal about Helsinki is it is two hours ahead than the UK, great for an early start but not so easy to maintain West Coast US connections.  

Going forward, Colin hopes to see Finland optimise its ecosystem in a Finnish way. “I see opportunities around NATO membership to question the example set in Israel on using national training as the catalyst for economic growth. I see a very bright future for Helsinki and look forward to playing my part.” 

Regardless of these few limitations, Helsinki remains a hub of innovation, and despite its size, Helsinki has an endless amount to offer, from food to architecture, and museums to opera.  

There’s a reason the capital has generated €23bn in value in 2.5 years. It’s also why 555,000 tourists head to the city each year. Colin concluded: “Life in other cities and countries is hard work, there are nice bubbles of low friction, but they aren’t designed to improve happiness and make life worthwhile. Helsinki just does.”