Helsinki – the Nordic unicorn factory

Home of Supercell and Slush, Helsinki is a tech city punching well above its weight. The Helsinki startup ecosystem has tripled in value since 2015, and competes with the top global hubs on VC investment growth and VC per capita. Our new report in partnership with NewCo Helsinki dives into the Nordic unicorn factory, with international reach.

A €25B ecosystem

The Helsinki startup ecosystem is now worth a combined €25.2B, up from €7.6B in 2015. Startup value is dominated by a few large companies such as Supercell and Wolt, but rest of the ecosystem has also continued to scale up in the last five years.

Record investment

Helsinki startup raised record investment in 2020, and are on-track to beat that total in 2021. Helsinki startups will likely raise over €1B for the first time in 2021, lead by large round for Wolt, Aiven and Virta so far.

Competing internationally

Helsinki startups are raising more Venture Capital investment per capital than their peers in Amsterdam, Paris or Berlin, and investment in growing faster in Helsinki than in London or Stockholm.

In terms of profile Helsinki is a hub world-renowned for hosting one for the world’s biggest startup event – Slush, which is attended by the highest profile investors from around the world. And these investors are taking interest in Helsinki startups too. Particularly in later investment rounds, foreign investors are responsible for a high proportion of Helsinki startup investment, though the Seed and Pre-Seed pipeline are still underpinned by local investors.

Helsinki’s strong research universities, startup-friendly business environment, and early success stories have contributed to a collaborative startup community on the global map.