The Hottest Startups in Helsinki in 2024

Helsinki’s startup country evolved astir behemoths specified arsenic Nokia, games elephantine Supercell and nutrient transportation level Wolt. It’s reaping the rewards with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and engineers powering a lively country based astir the Aalto University field and the startup festival Slush, 1 of the world’s largest gatherings of investors and startups.

“We admit work-life equilibrium and collaboration,” explains Jonne Kuittinen, lawman main enforcement of the Finnish Venture Capital Association. “The Supercell guys were precise unfastened astir paying each their taxes successful Finland and this giving backmost mentality is disposable present these founders are helping retired connected a batch of the existent backing rounds. I deliberation the country is astir to beryllium turbocharged.”

The country’s debased unemployment has meant coders person been hard to find, says Claes Mikko Nilsen, main astatine VC Nordic Ninja, but a receptive authorities launching a accelerated way D visa successful 2022 has boosted planetary recruitment. The adjacent step? Larger funds for late-stage investments.

Paebbl

“Concrete is the astir consumed merchandise connected the satellite aft water, and that’s not slowing down,” says Paebbl co-CEO Andreas Saari. Concrete’s main ingredient, cement, is the root of 8 percent of the world's c dioxide emissions. Paebbl flips this, utilizing stone weathering, oregon mineralization, to crook c dioxide into stone. Carbon captured astatine concern sites is mixed with h2o and crushed silicate to nutrient a coagulated carbonate-based worldly utilizing a method developed by Paebbl CTO Pol Knops. Paebbl founders Jane Walerud, Marta Sjögren, ex-Slush CEO Saari and Knops raised €8 cardinal ($8.9 million) successful effect backing from clime tech VC Pale Blue Dot, French capitalist 2050, the Grantham Foundation and respective angels successful October 2022. In May 2024 the aviator reactor sequestered its archetypal ton of CO2. A objection works comes online aboriginal this year, and the chromatic volition beryllium deployed successful the tract successful spring. Next up—selecting sites and partners for 4 commercialized standard plants, operational by 2030. paebbl.com

Distance Technologies

Distance Technologies has developed a prototype mixed-reality mentation of a subject pilot's heads-up show (HUD) that works similar a glasses-free 3D monitor. An LCD sheet projects 3D images onto transparent surfaces, specified arsenic a car windscreen treated with a reflective coating. The institution is discussing applications from elaborate 3D topographic maps projected onto cockpit windscreens for pilots and nighttime imaginativeness footage of the roadworthy up for drivers. The prototype is fitted with a manus tracker, truthful users tin interact with the surface hands-free. Founded successful 2023 by co-founders Jussi Mäkinen and Urho Konttori, who met astatine Helsinki-based mixed world headset institution Varjo, it raised $2.7 cardinal (£2.04 million) successful a pre-seed circular led by FOV Ventures and Maki.vc, with Business Finland and David Helgason’s Foobar.vc. Discussions are present underway with car, aerospace and defence companies. distance.tech

Steady Energy

Steady Energy began successful the state-owned Technical Research Centre of Finland erstwhile founder, CEO Tommi Nyman and co-founder Hannes Haapalahti decided to commercialize the center’s debased somesthesia atomic reactor, the LDR-50. Most existing atomic reactors run astatine astir 300°C, superheating steam to thrust dense turbines. The modular LDR-50 operates astatine betwixt 65°C and 120°C and heats h2o directly. This volition beryllium pumped astir territory heating networks, providing vicinity systems with lukewarm h2o from a cardinal powerfulness presumption carried done insulated pipes to vigor houses. These networks person agelong been fashionable successful Scandinavia and the USA, and are spreading to different European countries acknowledgment to past year’s EU directive expanding their use. Having raised €15 cardinal ($16.7 million) from Lifeline Ventures, Yes VC, and Reid Hoffman’s Aphorism Foundation, Steady Energy has preliminary agreements for 15 reactors with inferior companies Helen and Kuopion Energy. Construction is expected to commencement by 2028, with cognition opening successful 2030. steadyenergy.com

Skyfora

Skyfora is processing state-of-the-art instruments to amended the accuracy of upwind forecasts. The institution offers 3 antithetic meteorological probes called StreamSondes—ultralight atmospheric transmitters that hurricane hunters driblet successful the way of storms. The institution is besides adapting outer receivers successful telecom basal stations into a web of upwind scanners, which tin analyse h2o vapor, somesthesia and aerial pressure. CEO Fredrik Borgström, CTO Kim Kaisti and co-founder Antti Pasila raised €5 cardinal ($5.5 million) successful 4 backing rounds from Icebreaker.vc, Voima Ventures and different concern angels. The company’s StreamSonde was deployed successful July’s Hurricane Beryl and Skyfora is present moving with telecom operators to acceptable up proof-of-concept aviator towers. skyfora.com

Enifer

Back successful the 1970s, the Finnish insubstantial manufacture utilized fungus to dainty wastewater and sold the resulting mycoprotein arsenic carnal feed. The method died with the industry, but Simo Ellilä, Heikki Keskitalo, Joosu Kuivanen, Ville Pihlajaniemi and Anssi Rantasalo repurposed it. Together, they founded Enifer successful April 2020 to make nutrient people mycoprotein by upcycling discarded liquid from food, agriculture and forestry. A €15 cardinal ($16.7 million) bid B circular successful April brings full backing to €27m ($30.2 million) from Taaleri Bioindustry I fund, Nordic Food Tech VC, Voima Ventures and others. Factory operation started successful May, aiming to scope concern standard by 2025, with caller sites connected the way. enifer.com

ReOrbit

ReOrbit is pioneering “software-enabled satellites”, a distributed web of unafraid satellites that enactment similar an Internet of Things successful space. Satellite manufacture hasn’t changed for 40 years, explains Sethu Saveda Suvanam, CEO and founder, due to the fact that they tin lone speech straight to Earth. Suvanam is fixing that by gathering “flying routers”, which allow, for instance, subject satellites to nonstop images of Russian ships to the coastguard done abstraction astatine high-speed, accelerating warnings. A engaged €7.4 cardinal ($8.2 million) effect circular successful September 2023 volition money an in-orbit objection satellite, scheduled for motorboat successful 2025. reorbit.space

Realm

Founders Miika Huttunen and Mikko Mäntylä met astatine Slush, a institution with a precocious unit turnover, which led to mislaid documentation and a deficiency of “corporate memory”. With erstwhile Stripe technologist Johan Jern, they created a ample connection exemplary AI that tin hunt each integer papers an enactment has ever created to supply answers to, for instance, income reps questions astir erstwhile deals. Launched successful April 2023, its archetypal backing pre-seed circular of €1.7 cardinal was led by Lifeline Ventures with angels including Helsinki founders from Zalando and Supercell. The institution is present moving with procurement analytics person Sievo, games institution Remedy Entertainment, and EV charging supplier Virta. withrealm.com

Bob W

Short for “Best of Both Worlds”, the institution operates 36 full-service aparthotels successful 17 cities crossed Europe. The institution uses a integer beforehand table tally by chatbot Bob W that handles cheque successful and retired arsenic good arsenic booking meal spots and gyms. The strategy besides informs guests of their c dioxide emissions for each prime made. Founded successful 2018 by Niko Karstikko and Sebastian Emberger, the institution has raised €70 cardinal ($78.3 million). The astir caller round, successful March, saw €40 cardinal ($44.7 million) raised by Wise’s laminitis Taavet Hinrikus and Supercell’s co-founder Mikko Kodisoja. The wealth funds an ambitious acquisition policy, buying 20 to 25 buildings crossed Europe and converting them into 1,500 to 2,000 aparthotel rooms. bobw.co

Swarmia

Swarmia is simply a bundle engineering effectiveness level designed to marque it easier for bundle teams to communicate, acceptable goals and measurement productivity. Key to this is the bundle connecting different platforms specified arsenic GitHub, Jira/Linear, and Slack, creating “working agreements”—agreed guidelines for managers and teams connected however they program to enactment together. These see targets, however they’ll beryllium met, and however the results volition beryllium measured. Founder Otto Hilska was antecedently main merchandise serviceman astatine Smartly.io. He’s raised €13.8 cardinal ($15.4 million) implicit 3 rounds, astir precocious with Dig Ventures, and is expanding successful the US. Swarmia is presently serving much than 1,500 companies including WeTransfer, Hostaway and Axios HQ, portion its aboriginal plans see reducing the size of the escaped program to boost revenues. swarmia.com

Noice

Noice is each astir the metagame. The unrecorded streaming gaming level allows viewers to gamble connected outcomes successful games that they’re watching utilizing integer cards. These mightiness predict, for instance, that the adjacent termination successful a crippled of Fortnite volition impact a shotgun. Each close paper picked wins points, and they tin beryllium bought oregon earned by watching ads. Founded successful 2020, the institution has raised a full of €25 cardinal crossed 2 backing rounds, backed by section entrepreneurs including the co-founders of Supercell and the co-founders of Wolt. Noice co-founders CEO Jussi Laakkonen, and CTO Jaakko Lukkari met astatine Applifier, the Finnish institution that helped developers make in-game replay, earlier Unity acquired the company. The institution is inactive successful beta investigating with a afloat motorboat aboriginal this year. noice.com

This nonfiction archetypal appeared successful the November/December 2024 variation of WIRED UK.