Maddy Savage
BBC News, Helsinki
Maria 01
Maria 01 plans to become the largest start -up campus in Europe
The yellow diggers strengthen mounds of land, while construction workers are preparing to throw the foundations for what was to become the largest start -up campus in Europe.
The project is an expansion of Maria 01, a space for co-work and events for entrepreneurs and investors, as well as large companies wishing to collaborate with technological start-ups.
Its existing installations on the other side of the street already house 240 start-ups. They are spread over six buildings that made up the first hospital in the city, founded in the 19th century and notorious in Helsinki to treat patients with the plague.
From now on, the current 20,000 m² site is a hub for companies developing innovative health technologies, alongside AI, cybersecurity, start-ups of game and defense technologies.
“The place is really based on the community,” said Maria 01 CEO Sarita Runeberg. “We bring people together to network … and find different types of resources to develop their businesses.”
There are also office advantages, including a billiard table, table football, racing and ice bath clubs, and in a real Finnish style, a sauna.
“We wouldn’t be a good start -up center if we didn’t have our own sauna here!” Laughter Ms. Runeberg.
Maddy Savage
Sarita Runeberg oversees the great extension of Maria 01
Although co-work spaces for technological companies are well established through the Nordics, Maria 01 is the largest of its kind in the region.
It is managed as a non -profit organization partially funded by the City of Helsinki, which has invested more than 6 million euros ($ 6.7 million; 5.2 million pounds Sterling) in the center since its launch in 2016.
Ms. Runeberg believes that she will become the largest start -up campus in Europe after the completion of three new buildings by 2028, adding an area of 50,000 m².
Later this year, he launched an accelerator program designed to support and guide high-growth start-ups.
Current and former members of the CHEB have already collected more than 1 billion euros in funding collectively.
This represents around 40% of all funding at an early stage raised each year by Finnish start-ups.
Ruben Byron is the Belgian co-founder of a start-up offering cloud services to AI developers.
He has already put his business on the scale of a handful of staff members using hot hub offices to a team of around 40 workers in private offices from the old hospital, as well as distance.
“It was a great experience, which we have sort of being nourished here in a way,” he said.
Maddy Savage
Ruben Byron cultivated his company at 40 employees in Helsinki Start-up Hub
Although it is not as mature – or well known worldwide – as other European start -up centers like Sweden and the United Kingdom, Finland has regularly made a name on the technological scene in the past two decades.
The small Nordic nation, which has approximately 5.6 million inhabitants, has caused 12 unicorn companies – companies worth $ 1 billion or more – including sleeping pills and follow -up of the Oura fitness, the SUPERCELL game developers, ROVIO (creators of the Angry Birds game), and the WOLT food delivery platform.
Last year, Startup Blink, a global index mapping more than 100 countries ranking the start-up ecosystem in Finland, the 7th best in Western and 14th in the world.
The index cites factors, including hubs like Maria 01, alongside high levels of national and university support, and melting snow – a huge non -profit annual collection for start -ups and global investors.
It also highlights the culture of transparent and open affairs of Finland.
“There is an authenticity with the Finn,” said Jack Parker, a founder based in Helsinki from Newcastle Upon Tyne, who runs a health care innovation start-up.
“Ego does not really play a role. So, if I contact someone, it is most likely eight out of 10 times that he will answer.”
Maddy Savage
British entrepreneur Jack Parker says that the Finns were very welcoming
The right coalition of Finland, which came to power in 2023, aims to repel the country even more in the global indices, declaring in its official government program that the Nordic nation will become a leader in the promotion of a dynamic ecosystem of the starting and growth company.
“This is not only a question of rankings,” explains Marjo Ilmari, who heads the Business Finland starting services team, the government agency, which promotes investment and innovation.
In 2024, Business Finland alone invested 112 million euros in start-ups, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year.
“The real objective is to create an environment where our revolutionary start-ups can emerge and really take up global challenges.”
The agency hopes that this will help stimulate the growth of the Finnish economy, which has entered recession in 2023 and currently reveals a slow recovery, the Bank of Finland providing for an increase of less than 1% this year.
The country is also trying to attract more global talents by offering start -up permits to international founders who wish to develop their businesses in Finland.
These entrepreneurs are eligible for a so-called mild landing support provided by Business Finland.
“They give you advice, support, subsidies sometimes to support the initiation phase,” explains Lalin Keyvan, a Turkish origin of Maria 01 who says that the program was one of the main reasons why she moved to Helsinki.
Business Finland marketing campaigns for potential movers also highlight social and life factors: Finns tend to prioritize well-being, and there is free education and health care and childcare services.
“You don’t really have to choose between building a strong growth business and enjoying life, because you can do both,” said Ms. Ilmari.
Getty images
Business Finland highlights reasons of lifestyle to choose Helsinki
But if all this is enough for Finland to compete with the most established start -up centers in Europe is to debate.
The data suggests that it still has a long way to go to catch up with neighboring Sweden, for a long time the Nordic darling of the European start scene.
It houses more than 40 unicorn companies, including Spotify, the Klarna payment platform and the King Games developer.
In Startup, the Blink ecosystem ranking, Sweden ranks second in Europe after the United Kingdom, and at the top of the EU.
Over the past decade, he has attracted more than $ 29 billion in funding, compared to just over $ 8 billion in Finland, according to the annual report of the Atomico investment company.
“I love the daring approach to Finland,” said Charlotte Ekelund, CEO of Sting, a non-profit organization that helps develop Stockholm start-ups. However, she thinks that Finland still has years in Sweden in terms of capital and development of its ecosystem.
“We observe some of the things that the Finnish ecosystem is now doing, Sting was part of driving 10 or 15 years ago here – co -work spaces, (and) new organizations in the ecosystem that can support in different ways.”
Mikael Pentikainen, CEO of the Federation of Finnish Business, said that the country’s government is currently losing support from entrepreneurs despite its pro-start and pro-enterprise approach.
A recent survey for the organization revealed that 41% of small and medium -sized business owners are satisfied with the coalition stocks, compared to 54% in June.
A likely reason for the decline, explains Mr. Pentikainen, is the decision to increase VAT from 24% to 25.5% last September, the highest rate in Western Europe. The government said it was a “difficult but necessary” decision designed to stabilize public finances.
But Mr. Pentikainen suggests that this could make the start -up ecosystem of Finland less competitive for the international founders.
The Finnish government has also recently hardened citizenship requirements, which means that foreign entrepreneurs must now stay at least eight years instead of five to obtain a passport, and will soon also have to take a test on Finnish society and culture if they want to settle in the long term.
Back at Maria 01, Mr. Parker, the founder of the Health Company, says that the starter ecosystem of Finland is confident will continue to extend and attract international talents. But he warns that he could lose some of the aspects that have so far made an attractive option for entrepreneurs.
“The advantage of the ecosystem at the moment is this kind of” small town, everyone knows each other “(feeling). The scaling, there is the risk of losing this element.”
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