How Nokia’s falling star has led Finland to boost its startup and healthcare ecosytems

Ever since Nokia began to downsize, Finland has committed to building a new generation of technology companies spanning education, energy, and healthcare, among others. Case in point? The headquarters of Business Finland, which combines Finnish trade promotion organization Finpro and Tekes, the Finnish funding agency for innovation, is located in the seven-year-old high-tech quarter of Ruoholahti. Across the street is the $2 billion gaming company Supercell, that created the hit mobile game Clash of Clans, secured seed funding from Tekes, and is one of the country’s startup success stories. The gaming industry has considerably enhanced the profile of Finland’s tech ecosystem and the country would like to see its healthcare startups enjoy a similar level of success.
To make that happen, the country has combined investment in the local healthcare startup community with initiatives at home and abroad to foster the growth and development of the nation’s healthcare ecosystem. But Finland has some significant headwinds to overcome. It has a small population of 5 million and is trying to compete with much larger EU economies of Sweden, UK, Germany, and France.