Tech transfer region: Finland

In Finland perhaps more than in other countries, the role of universities within the venture ecosystem seems fundamental. Finland is home to a well-educated population. With 10 multidisciplinary and six specialised universities, the country was ranked sixth out of 46 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for the level of tertiary education attainment among 46 to 55-year-olds (38.5%), and 10th for 25 to 64-year-olds (44.3%) in 2017. Significant in research funding is the Finnish Innovation Fund, known as Sitra, an evergreen fund whose operations are funded by returns from an endowment currently valued at €771m ($880m) and originally granted by the Finnish parliament. The fund functions both as a think-thank and as an investment company, producing research, events and training centred on three core topics – capacity for renewal, carbon-neutral circular economy, and sustainable economy. Sitra is not directly state-funded and is not answerable to the government. In a 2008 interview with Finnish technology online forum Hightech Finland, Esko Aho, prime minister between 1991 and 1995 and a former head of Sitra, said: “Finland’s excellent record in education cannot be emphasised enough as a fundamental factor in Finland’s competitiveness and technological excellence.” Ten years on, this statement is still valid. Many innovation initiatives can be attributed to university students. One of the most important is Slush, which has become a landmark event for the startup and VC community worldwide. Dubbed the “true embodiment of Europe 2020” by the Wall Street Journal, Slush describes itself as a student-driven non-profit movement originally founded to change attitudes toward entrepreneurship. Over the past 10 years, the event has grown from a 300-person gathering to a global community, with 75 events and an estimated 40,000 attendees globally. Slush has been exported to Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore, with “each city and each community adding its own local flavour to the global network”, according to its organisers. Anne Jalkala, vice-president for startup and fund investments at energy provider Fortum, said: “Slush is a great example of the type of startup activity that has been developed by students in Finland. It is one of the largest events of its kind worldwide and has benefited us in many ways as a great platform to meet new startups and co-investors. It really shows how students, companies and government can work together to pull off something truly valuable for the ecosystem.” Another student initiative is the Helsinki Challenge – a science competition in which teams from 10 Finnish universities…

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