views magazine 2014

TEKES VIEWS MAGAZINE 2014 1

Tekes Magazine 2014

approach to programming

A fresh

ARCTICEXPERTISEIN DEMAND

PAGE 6

The most promising

from Finland!start-upsPAGE 13

PAGE 20

2 TEKES VIEWS MAGAZINE 2014

02 index

Magazine 2014

Editor-in-Chief: Eeva LandowskiProducers: Risto Alatarvas, Susanna Lehto, Sanna Piiroinen, Josi TikkanenWriters: Tim Bird, David J. Cord, James O’Sullivan, Amanda Soila, Fran WeaverPhotographers: Eeva Anundi, Markus SommersEnglish Editor: WriteStuff Finland, Dave DunneEditorial Board: Mirja Kaarlela, Pekka Kahri, Kari Komulainen, Pia Mörk, Josi Tikkanen, Virpi Mikkonen

Layout: Cake Ltd. Kari LehkonenPrinted : Punamusta OyCover photograph: Markus SommersISSN: 1798-9876Circulation: 11,000 Publisher: Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation. www.tekes.fi

With Rails Girls, Linda Liukas has introduced software programming to thousands of women around the world.

SkySQL, one of champions in the Tekes Young Innovative Companies programme, profits from profound technological changes.

Climatic changes are creating newly navigable sea routes in the far north, opening up Arctic regions for development. Northern know-how, applicable in icy conditions, will soon be at a premium.

A fresh approach to programming

SkySQL finds growth in Big Data and the Cloud

Arcticexpertisein demand

06

08

20

Editorial .....................................03

In the spotlight ........................04

The most promising start-ups from Finland ...........13

Column: The Finnish start-up ecosystem ................15

Tekes at your service .............16

Tekes innovation funding in a nutshell ..............18

Column: Building success in the “New North” .................25

News and publications ...........26

Column: Biobanks advance personal healthcare ................27

A multi-parts project ..............28

Testing, testing ........................32

Contact info ...............................38

www.tekes.fi

TEKES VIEWS MAGAZINE 2014 3 TEKES VIEWS MAGAZINE 2014 3

n excellent education system, beautiful nature and an interesting Nordic culture. All true, but Finland offers so much more. As well as all this you will find top expertise and a highly competitive business

environment. We at Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation -

work with the best innovative companies in Finland. Recently, a new generation of enthusiastic, young entrepreneurs have created a booming start-up community that extends its creative spirit throughout the whole of Finnish business society.

However, innovative spirit is not a new trend in Finland. For many years, we have worked to improve our innovation en-vironment, to encourage businesses to grow and develop their know-how, as well as to cooperate with leading research groups in universities and research centres.

In the Global Competitiveness Survey 2013-2014, carried out by the World Economic Forum, Finland ranked second

Come and share the joy of innovation

editorial 03

among 142 economies around the world in terms of innovation and business sophistication. In another survey from Forbes, Finland was rated first in the innovation ranking.

I hope you can sense the can-do attitude typical of Finns in the stories portrayed in our magazine. They cover examples of young innovative companies, arctic knowledge and learning games.

At Tekes we can offer R&D and innovation funding for in-ternational businesses registered in Finland. In our programmes we can also offer excellent testbeds and platforms for develop-ment projects and pilots.

You are warmly welcomed to Finland to do business, join inspiring entrepreneurship societies and work with top experts and scientists.

Pekka SoiniDirector General, TekesPH

OTO

: MA

RKU

S SO

MM

ERS


04 COMPILED BY AMANDA SOILA

design seats

WARM, COMFORTABLE AND SECURE, the seats at the Bolshoi Ice Palace in the Sochi Olympic Park are also cutting edge in their design. All 12,000 seats at the venue which hosted the ice hockey games at the 2014 Winter Olympics have been designed and manufactured in the Finnish town of Salo, by the family-owned business Piiroinen Oy.

Founded in 1949, the company started out producing tin and nickel coatings, but later moved into furniture design. Their big international break came at the turn of the millennium with the ultralight CHIP-chair, designed by

Antti Kotilainen. The minimalistic chair – with its dura-bility and timeless design – is still one of Piiroinen’s most popular products, and has become the seating of choice for public spaces around the world.

Piiroinen chairs, with their clean-cut design and well-finished detail, are featured in some prominent spots around the world; such as the Århus Art Museum in Den-mark and Oslo University. Lately the company has been focusing on developing new, environmentally friendly chroming processes for their furniture. n

� www.piiroinen.com

Smart digital AS THE WORLDWIDE lock making industry finds itself at a point of transition - with mechanical locks being replaced by electronic ones - iLOQ has stepped up to the challenge. The company provides self-powered, digital locking and access management that revolutionises the lock making industry – just as digital cameras transformed photography.

iLOQ aims to set new standards in lock security, by replacing mechanical and electromechanical locking sys-tems with a battery- and cable-free solution - solving the problems of keys being copied or lost.

The company has also gained international recog-nition, as it was ranked as the fastest-growing Finnish technology company on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 listing in 2013. n

� www.iloq.com

LOCKS

ULTRALIGHT

In th

e sp

otlig

ht

PHO

TO: I

LOQ

PHO

TO: P

IIRO

INEN

www.piiroinen.com

www.iloq.com


HEALTHCARE START-UP MENDOR is showing itself to be a leading light in efficient diabetes treatment with their next generation diabetes care products.

According to the World Health Organisation di-abetes is a rapidly growing problem - with some 347 million people worldwide having the disease - and it is essential for sufferers to track the daily changes in their glucose levels.

To help diabetes sufferers take the measure-ments more easily, Mendor has designed a blood glucose monitoring system, which contains all the necessary components for daily blood sugar level checking. The stylish device is the size of a mobile phone and it is also discreet to use.

Mendor has also created a cloud-based diabetes data analytics and care platform, which helps in sharing information between patients and doctors.

� www.mendor.com

UPLAUSE has taken gaming to a completely new level with their ‘crowd games’. Designed for large spectator events, the audience can collectively participate in these voice-activat-ed games by cheering or clapping - trans-forming the idle moments during a sports event into interactive team play.

The company has recently joined forces with some major US sporting venues and teams. Now fans of the New York Knicks or New York Rangers can take part in a big screen Lexus car race at Madison Square Garden. In partnership with the NHL and Rovio, Uplause developed two interactive crowd games featuring the brand new mas-cot, NHL Hockeybird.

�www.uplause.com

SHIPPING COMPANIES are increasingly suffering from rising fuel prices and restrictive legislative pressures. But by collecting and analysing data on board, ship operators are able to build up intelligence on the operational effectiveness of vessels and apply this data to improve fuel efficiency.

Established in 2005 by experienced seafarers and technologists, Eniram provides the shipping industry with fuel management systems to reduce both consumption and emissions. When applications addressing speed- and engine-management are combined with trimming technology, shipping companies typically save up to 10 per cent on fuel consumption per vessel. The company’s products and analytic services are used on more than 200 vessels, ranging from cruise liners, tankers, container ships, bulker carriers and ferries.

� www.eniram.fi

THE THREAT OF CYBER-ATTACKS today forms an active hazard for any company or public actor but how can you prepare for the unexpected? Oulu-based information security company Codenomicon has found a way.

Using robustness testing tools, or ‘fuzzing tools’ as they are also called, Codenomicon helps companies discover their security flaws and be prepared if a real cyber-attack ever comes their way.

With ‘automated hackers’ customers can expose their systems to simulated cyber-at-tacks that help them discover previously un-known weaknesses. The solutions are also able to expose vulnerabilities in a more thorough manner than a human tester could.

� www.codenomicon.com

Crowd games

Understanding your ship’s DNA

Revolutionary diabetes treatment

Automated testing against cyber-attacks

Newtechnology

PHO

TO: M

END

OR

www.mendor.com

www.uplause.com

www.eniram.fi

www.codenomicon.com


06

insig

ht in

terv

iew


TEXT: JAMES O’SULLIVAN PHOTOS: MARKUS SOMMERS

With Rails Girls, Linda Liukas has introduced software programming to thousands of women around the world.

approach to programming

A freshlthough the weather outside is glum, the prevalence of thick grey clouds seems to have no effect on Linda Liukas. Bursting through the door, a bundle of energy, her smile is a permanent fixture during our conversation. The reason is simple: she has recently

returned to live in Helsinki. After a year-and-a-half working at Codecademy in New York city, the online-start-up aimed at teaching people how to program for free, Liukas is happy to be back home.

“Finland is such an amazing place to be right now,” she enthuses. “When I talk about Helsinki to people in New York, they are like, ‘Wow, what is this wonderland where you have free education, can leave work at 5 pm, still do meaningful stuff on a global level, and have a family life and enjoy nature – with zero bureaucracy?’”

Growing up in Espoo, in the Greater Helsinki region, Liukas first became interested in software programming when she was a teenager. However, her role model at the time was somewhat unorthodox amidst her friends’ love of pop stars and movie idols.

“My path to programming was born with Al Gore,” she recalls, flashing an-other smile. “I was 13 and super in love with him. He was so inspiring. I would build websites and did all sorts of tinkering around the Web.”

This initial spark for programming eventually faded, however, replaced by an interest in philosophy, French and boys. Ten years later, whilst study-


them that “hey, programming is cool”. Ignit-ing an unexpected flurry of tweeting around the globe, before long they were invited to Singapore to conduct a workshop there. Shanghai soon followed, and in March 2012 the extent of their popularity saw them open-sourcing a guide to organising a Rails Girls course. The floodgates opened. To date the courses have been organised in over 160 cities around the world.

Rails Girls attracts a wide range of ages, from 16 to 65, and the events are flourished with cupcakes, champagne and posters of heartthrobs adorning the walls, offering an avenue for participants to feel girly amidst the technology.

“Software development is a 21st century way to express yourself personally, build something that’s meaningful in itself and influence society on a profound level,” Liukas explains. “It is changing our society faster than anything else: faster than law and large corporations. Girls bring a fresh perspective to problems and solutions. Just by the virtue of having different people with different experiences, we will end up having different kinds of software.”

Liukas sees software overarching many aspects of modern working life, with people encountering engineers, updating websites and using software applications daily.

Similarly, Rails Girls has also tran-scended numerous political and geograph-ical borders.

“We have had events in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Palestine. At first I wondered if it was possible to connect the neighbouring rails developers. And yes I can. We had the same situation in Pakistan and India, where the Indian organisers helped the Paki-stan organisers. Technology is somehow removed from cultural conflicts.”

Getting with the program

Participants feel empowered after at-tending a Rails Girls event, even though one captures a mere glimpse of software engineering. The overriding feeling is that of solidarity, as women who are equally ex-cited about programming find themselves in one another’s company. Their main obstacle has been simply taking the first step, Liukas states.

“I understand that programming alone can be intimidating and scary, but

ing at the ME310 course at Stanford – a project-based design engineering course conducted in collaboration with Helsinki’s Aalto University – the buzz returned.

“I took part in a rails class and felt the same crazy expressive enthusiasm I had when I was 13. I wondered why on Earth did I lose ten years not programming?”

Another question arose soon afterwards: How she could harness similar fervour in other girls?

“When I think about teenage girls, whatever their passion is, whether it is Mark Jacobs high heels or Justin Bieber, their energy is one of the most unused resources we have,” Liukas recalls. “At university, my guy friends would fight over who would do the laundry. They would build an app for it, a laundry

that’s why there are other people around to help out. It’s about the way that people approach technology – whether they own the technology or whether the technolo-gy owns them. Programme or be pro-grammed. People feel very empowered after the event.”

Given the wide reach of the Internet, the Rails global community remains tight-knit, with Rails Girls refraining from doing any promotion other than via Twitter.

“Everybody knows each other,” Liukas explains. “Programming is about problem solving, working in teams. There are a lot of graphic designers, programmers and business people involved. People build stuff together. The whole backbone of the Internet – companies like MySQL, SSH, IRC, Skype, Git and Linux – all of these technologies that power the world right now were built right here in northern Eu-rope. Somehow this is because of our social democratic way of thinking. Similarly, we wanted to build our stuff for everyone’s benefit, to open-source it for everybody.”

“Software development is a 21st century way to express yourself personally, build something that’s meaningful in itself and influence society on a profound level.”

app. But online the majority of girls are just clicking, retweeting, using Tumblr and so on – curation, not creation, per se.”

So, at the age of 23, Liukas sought to channel this creative energy towards the uncharted terrain of software engineering from a female perspective. With this as her goal, Rails Girls was founded in 2010 with Karri Saarinen.

On the rails

The first Rails Girls event was a big success. Organised for a group of their friends, Liukas and Saarinen simply wanted to show

08 insight interview


Youthful programming

Now that she has introduced the world of programming to many women around the globe, Liukas’ focus has recently shifted to youngsters.

“Nobody’s talking about technology or engineering in the children’s book world. Kids at a very young age could be learning to think like a programmer and seeing the possibilities.”

Liukas envisions Hello Ruby as a bedtime story being read by a father to his daughter, introducing all the exciting things in his programming world that he has no other way of sharing with her.

“It’s a human connection instead of a computer connection, where the child would be alone and looking at the comput-er. There is so much to programming that doesn’t happen in front of the computer, the concepts can be taught with different mediums.”

These include altering the traditional school curriculum.

“Whether having Python program-ming be a part of maths lessons, or build-ing user interfaces at arts school, why not have kids grow up paper prototyping, for example? One of the big challenges is that technology moves so fast. Whatever structure we create is going to be outdat-ed, so we also need to empower kids to be teaching one another, as they learn fast.”

Amidst this flurry of enthusiasm, one begins to wonder whether Liukas has

mapped out a complex algorithm of future plans to embellish her programming rev-olution. So, what lies ahead? After a long pause, her answer is refreshingly modest.

“The best things in my life have happened by accident: getting involved in Stanford, Rails Girls, the book. I’m wait-ing for another happy accident to come along.” n

“Nowadays, software is changing our society faster than anything else: faster than law and large corporations.”

“We wanted to build our stuff for everyone’s benefit, to open-source it for everybody.”

“It’s about the way that people approach technology – whether they own the technology or whether the technology owns them,” says Linda Liukas.


10 y

ou

ng

an

d in

no

va

tive


SkySQL, one of the champions in Tekes Young Innovative Companies programme, profits from profound technological changes.

BIG DATA AND THE CLOUD

TEXT: DAVID J. CORD PHOTOS: MARKUS SOMMERS

SkySQL finds growth in


seems so simple. You go to a travel website, enter your home city, desti-nation and travel dates

and receive a list of results to choose from. It is completed in the blink of an eye. The process appears to be easy and painless, but you didn’t see everything that happened when you clicked the ´search´ button.

“Think of all that data,” says Patrik Sallner. “You have all those hotels, all those prices, all those customers. A lot happened when you made that query.”

Sallner is the CEO of SkySQL, a software and services company based in Espoo, Finland. SkySQL specialises in an open-source relational database manage-ment system called MariaDB. Their clients are companies and organisations which need to manage enormous amounts of data, such as Google, Harvard Universi-ty, and the travel website Booking.com. Only three years old, SkySQL is growing explosively.

Into the cloud

SkySQL’s roots are in MySQL, a popular open-source relational database system, of-ten described as the fundamental building blocks of the Internet. When the corpora-

12 young and innovative

tion developing the system ended up in the hands of Oracle, some employees left to start a new company in 2010.

“About 80 per cent of our employees are from the MySQL company,” Sallner says. “We had a very strong start because there were dozens of customers who want-ed to move to an independent vendor.”

From the beginning the company focused upon ´the cloud,´ hence ´Sky´ in their name. The cloud is a network of virtual servers, some of which run appli-cations and some of which store informa-tion. Cloud applications often involve ´big data,´ extremely large and complex data sets. All the text and images of SkySQL’s client Wikipedia is an example of big data. SkySQL is developing MariaDB to address the needs related to big data and the cloud.

“Data was structured in tables, but new data is unstructured,” explains Sallner. “Instead of having one huge mainframe computer you have a thousand servers. The nature of the data and hardware changed, and this gave us new opportunities.”

Help from Tekes

When SkySQL was founded they discov-ered strong demand for their services and

“The cloud revolution is only starting, and with the cloud

comes open-source.”

Booking.com


The most promising

from Finland!start-upsTekes’ Young Innovative Companies funding is intended for Finnish start-ups seeking rapid international growth.

Companies younger than six years old can apply for funding for Young Innovative Companies (YIC). This funding is meant for the comprehensive development of their business activities.

YIC funding can be up to one million euros, granted in several stages. Before granting a new funding phase, Tekes sets new and challenging goals for the company, such as acquiring new customers, accelerating growth or attracting more investment from venture capitalists. Companies which complete the YIC funding programme will get a YIC Champion title. In 2013 there were 22 new YIC Champions.

YIC CHAMPIONS 2013

Faron PharmaceuticalsFaron has three major drug devel-opment projects focusing on acute traumas, metabolic syndrome-re-lated vasculopathies, inflammatory diseases and cancer metastasis. The company sources its innovations from academia.

Merus Power DynamicsMerus Power offers clean technology to improve power quality, energy efficiency and environmental perfor-mance in several business sectors. Merus’ sales are in a rapid growth phase.

Medeia TherapeuticsMedeia Therapeutics Ltd. is a private biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing new therapeutic approaches to diseases with high unmet medical needs. Medeia’s focus areas include the dis-covery, preclinical research and early development of novel therapeutics.

NetcyclerNetcycler is an online service for consumers that facilitates the exchange, giving away and trading of pre-owned goods between users. The service is currently available in Finland, the UK and Germany.

Grey AreaGrey Area is a Finnish gaming company best known for their location-based mobile games. Grey Area has received investments from London Venture Partners, and Lifeline Ventures - who also invested in Supercell.

In4MoIn4Mo’s solution is based on the concept of integrating the latest mo-bile and internet technologies into the property damage claim handling process. Its customers are mainly insurance companies.

Goodmill SystemsGoodmill Systems Ltd. is a global market leader in critical broadband connectivity for vehicles. This ensures uninterrupted connectivity, even on moving applications, such as in emergency services vehicles

MagissoMagisso is a production house for design and innovation. The compa-ny’s products include cake servers, cutting boards, magnetic kitchen cloth holders and the award-winning Magisso Tipping Teacup. Magisso’s products are available in over 20 countries.

specialised expertise, but they knew they needed to expand in new directions.

“SkySQL knew how to deliver services around the MySQL database, but pure ser-vice delivery won’t take a start-up company far,” says Kaj Arnö, the company’s vice president of collaboration.

“There were several directions into which products around MySQL could be taken, and most interesting was how to map databases onto the cloud. We approached Tekes in order to help us take SkySQL in two directions; from a services company to a product company, and from a software company to a cloud company.”

Tekes provided both research and development loans and a grant through the YIC (Young Innovative Companies) programme, where Tekes funds the most promising start-ups.

“Tekes required a good plan,” inter-jects Sallner. “We had to set objectives and track our progress. Tekes has so much experience with start-ups, so they knew what to do. They are very professional and know their stuff.”

“If we hadn’t benefited from the help provided by Tekes, we would have had a hard time transitioning anywhere from a pure services company,” Arnö continues. “This would obviously also have negatively influenced our access to venture capital.”

Spreading virally

SkySQL had seed funding from venture capitalists, but with their impressive early track record they raised €3 million in a Series A round in April 2012. Investors included Spintop Ventures, Open Ocean Capital and the publicly-funded Finnish Industry Investments.

One year later, in April 2013, SkySQL announced a merger with Monty Pro-gram Ab, the creators of the open-source database technology MariaDB. Monty Program was founded by none other than the famous Michael ‘Monty’ Widenius, one of the architects of MySQL. Widenius joined the board of directors of SkySQL and became the chief technical officer of the MariaDB Foundation.

“MariaDB is a fork of MySQL, but it is becoming a different product,” Sallner


says. “In 2013 MariaDB was adopted by Linux distributors, so when you download the open-source Linux operating system it comes with MariaDB.”

MariaDB is exploding in popularity due to its open-source distribution model, its scalability and its interoperability with other databases. On the back of this huge growth SkySQL raised almost €15 million in new funds from venture capitalists in October 2013.

“The software is free, and open-source is an effective way to virally spread new technologies,” Sallner explains. “But com-panies need support and tools. They hire us for technical support, to test performance, or optimise the way the database runs. They need a vendor for when things go wrong.”

The fundamental revolution

One of SkySQL’s key strengths is that it is a virtual organisation. It maintains an office in the high-tech hub of Otaniemi, but the majority of employees work from their homes around the world.

“As a virtual organisation we are able to recruit the best talent anywhere,” says Sallner. “If a client has a problem, we can work on it twenty-four hours a day in a follow-the-sun support model, passing it from one group of employees to the next. By the time the client wakes up in the morning, hopefully the problem has been resolved.”

Having started with twenty people, SkySQL now has seventy. Some are in Espoo, while others are in London, the San Francisco Bay area and all points in between. In 2013 about two-thirds of their business was in Europe. For the immediate future, the US is a priority because it is the largest market.

“The cloud revolution is only starting, and with the cloud comes open-source,” Sallner concludes. “When something begins to change, people overestimate the short-term impact and underestimate the long-term impact. We are riding the wave, just like MySQL rode the internet wave. This will fundamentally revolutionise IT and there will be a new world.” n

14 young and innovative

OnboneOnbone Oy is a Finnish medical technology company which devel-ops and markets innovative and user-friendly products for orthopae-dic and traumatology use. Onbone’s main product is an orthopaedic wood cast which is manufactured from wood chips and biodegradable plastic.

ValkeeValkee Bright Light Headset is the world’s first pocket-sized device that channels bright light via the ear ca-nals into the brain. Valkee’s product is used as a cure for winter blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

Greenlux Finland Greenlux Finland is an LED lighting technology company and Scandina-via’s leading manufacturer of LED luminaries for parking garages.

SkySQL Corporation See main article.

Optomed Optomed Oy is a medical technology company which specialises in digital imaging devices both for human and veterinary medicine. Optomed’s key product is Smartscope, a modu-lar hand-held retinal camera for screening and diagnosis of various eye diseases.

Tuxera Tuxera Inc. develops and sells filing systems software. Tuxera’s custom-ers include a number of consumer electronics manufacturers of mobile phones, tablets, TVs, set-top boxes, automotive infotainment and storage markets.

Sensinode (acquired by ARM)Finnish company Sensinode was acquire by Brittish ARM in August 2013. Sensinode was a provider of software technology for the Internet of Things, which means that phys-ical products will be connected to Internet.

Moldtech Moldtech’s product Bridgecare will revolutionise the way we build, and repair, edge beams into the future. Instead of traditional, time- and space-consuming structures, the Bridgecare solution offers a more durable, safer, and efficient platform for edge beam repair work.

Analyse Solutions FinlandAnalyse Solutions provides cus-tom-made solutions for retailers and shopper segmentation for suppliers.

DealDash DealDash operates solely in the US market. It is one of the largest pro-viders of pay-to-participate auctions in the world. The company’s net sales last year was €34 million.

Oncos Therapeutics Oncos Therapeutics are developing next generation oncolytic viruses for cancer therapeutics.

Nervogrid Nervogrid helps service providers become the cloud services brokers of the future. Vendors and service providers increase their revenue by creating and entering marketplaces with a global reach.

Pegasor Pegasor Oy was founded in 2008 to commercialise breakthrough innova-tions in fine- and nanoparticle-sensor technologies. Pegasor’s particulate matter sensors are intended for continuous real-time monitoring in applications like engine emissions, stack emissions, indoor air quality and ambient air quality.

P2S Media GroupP2S Media Group’s product Scoop-shot is a photo crowdsourcing eco-system, helping thousands of media companies and millions of brands engage with their customers while sourcing relevant content.

YIC CHAMPIONS 2013


Column 15

hat about Finland?” Ask me this two years ago and I would assume you were talking holiday destinations, cross country skiing or improbable military successes. Today I know better.

Nine times out of ten the question now relates to the success of the Finnish start-up ecosystem.

This perception stems from a few obvious tent poles: Angry Birds, Clash of Clans and a much lauded education and welfare system (we loved the baby box delivered to William and Kate!). Ask us again after a few swift drinks and we’ll also praise Finnish start-ups for their international outlook, though we think it stems from the same reason your English is so good: population size.

Still this is a radical change over a short period of time and it borders on miraculous considering it has occurred during the very public fall of Nokia. Not many have linked the flood of (well-supported) Nokia talent into the job market as actually being a key driver in Finland’s start-up growth.

Fewer still know Tekes, but they really should. After a slow start, English entrepreneurial progress is gaining momentum, but it would’ve occurred far faster had my government focused on supporting start-ups with assessed grants and loans rather than incentivising multinational corporations to nurture start-ups through tax breaks. This nurturing often leads to early buyouts or competitions where the winning start-up exchanges mentoring for an equity stake.

Still the UK has a good crop of start-up heroes these days. Swiftkey (ingenious soft keyboards), GoCardless (PayPal for ongoing payments), Hailo (taxi tracking/ordering service) and Moshi Monsters (children’s game with 87m users) lead the way. Language learning system Busuu should be next. It has attained 40 million users with just a single €3.5m round of funding. None match the size of Rovio or Supercell (though Moshi Monsters beat Angry Birds to cinemas with an – admittedly terrible – film) but heart is taken from their variety of industries.

By contrast Finland gets stereotyped as a mobile games specialist, something the imminent and seemingly inevitable success of Grand Cru may perpetuate. That said this should be tempered in time with the rise of Finnish gems like Holvi, Kiosked, Indoor Atlas, Mendor and ProtoGeo.

And yet it seems Finland is still not the model other countries choose to copy. Some might say its lower profile is to blame, but I suspect more fundamental differences in education and government funding systems are the more likely factors that keep it unique. I wouldn’t be too disheartened. Finns have never enjoyed being the centre of attention. n

the Finnish start-up ecosystem

Gordon KellyThe writer is a UK-based freelance journalist and

media consultant specialising in the tech sector.

Through English Eyes:


idea!

16 Tekes at your service

Did you know?Companies seeking for international growth can apply for innovation funding from Tekes. The most ambitious and rapidly growing companies may take part in the Tekes Young Innovative Company funding scheme.

Did you know?Tekes currently runs 16 programmes, which offer funding for research and development projects and network companies, and research groups in chosen thematic fields. The programmes are an excellent platform to follow-up and influence the developments in their area of business.

Would you like to take your idea further and make it a successful, growing business? Or do you want to improve the management practices of your company? What about investigating your target markets before launching your product? Let us know your plans for the future.

Exploring a new business areaWe have been a customer of Tekes since 2012. Our goal is to triple our company’s turnover in a couple of years’ time. We have a new product that will take us to a totally new business field – risky, but the potential for success would be huge. We have money for simple R&D work, but Tekes will help us to achieve even better and bigger results. At the moment, we are developing our products and analysing our potential customers and their needs. We have been also encouraged to focus on the IPR (intellectual property rights) questions at this early stage. We are putting a lot of effort into developing a new business model, with a help of one of our good customers. They really are a key player in our project.

Looking for new ideas and contactsWe would like to know how gaming companies are able to grow in such a fast and creative way. Maybe there is some secret to learn from them and use to develop our business model. That’s why we are following the Tekes programme called Skene - Games Refueled. A few weeks ago we participated in their workshop and got some inspiring thoughts and contacts. I had a really interesting talk with a scientist from the local university. We may even start planning a common project together.

Present your


Getting ready for global marketsWe just got a call from Tekes that our funding application has been accepted. Now we can begin the market surveys we need and start testing our concept with potential customers. During our negotiations with Tekes we got advice on the next steps. For example, we had to improve our business concept quite a bit. Also, our team was evaluated, in order to make sure we have the right people to reach our ambitious goals – create a global business from the starting point.

Science meets business Our research team has received funding from the Tekes Green Growth Programme. We cooperate with three companies that are partly funding our research project. The business perspective gives us insight into the companies’ needs and challenges and encourages us to focus on questions that will be important when our results will be commercialised. We have presented our work at a few international conferences and have had interesting talks with other top experts in our field.

Investing in peopleWe have recently renewed our company strategy and chosen the personnel’s motivation as our most important goal. We think it is the best way to improve our results and the quality of our work. We are running a development project partly funded by Tekes. The work will help us to implement new tools for sharing knowledge and increasing interaction between different units. Our organisation is rather big, and constantly changing, so we have also engaged external experts to help management and personnel to together develop the way we work.

Did you know?Tekes offers a variety of services for small- and medium-sized growth companies to widen their knowledge of business opportunities in different parts of the world.

Did you know?As a part of the R&D project, Tekes can fund the development of an organisation and management.

Did you know?Research projects are encouraged to include international cooperation. Around 40 per cent of Tekes funding is targeted towards research work at universities and other research organisations.


Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - offers funding for research and development projects carried out by companies and research organisations working in Finland. We are here to help you to find the best way to take your research and development work further. All our services are free of charge.

Company fundingTekes funding can be used in numerous ways to develop better products, services, a business model, and methods or for example the organisation’s competence and management. Often companies carry out their research and development project in collaboration with a university or research institute. Tekes will fund part of the project’s costs.

The company funding options include a low-interest loan and a grant. Tekes’ share of the project costs can vary between 25–75 per cent depending on the nature or the project. Most of our corporate customers are small- and medium-sized companies developing their business to grow into global markets.

www.tekes.fi/funding/companies

Test your ideaBefore applying for funding, it is advisable to talk to our experts. They know the programmes and networks that may be of use to your work, and they will suggest the best way of funding your project. Tekes experts can also propose other development paths for your company if our funding is not best suited for you right now.

Companies can submit a funding application at any time. Research organisations can submit funding applications on application dates published on the Tekes website. The funding application is done through Tekes’ online service. If you are dealing with us for the first time, it is advisable to start with our Feeler Form accessible at Tekes website.

www.tekes.fi/test

Tekes funding and services in a nutshell

18 Tekes at your service

Research organisationsUniversities and research institutes can apply for project funding from Tekes, when they want to cooperate with companies and carry out research that will have an impact in business life. Tekes funding covers generally 60 per cent of the project costs.

Most research organisations’ projects are connected to Tekes programmes that open application rounds for research organisations.

The programmes have had a major impact on the innovation cooperation of companies, universities and research institutes.

www.tekes.fi/funding/research

www.tekes.fi/funding/companies

www.tekes.fi/test

www.tekes.fi/funding/research


Young innovative companies

Tekes funding for young innovative companies is intended for the comprehensive development of a business. The aim is to substantially accelerate the growth and internationalisation of the most promising small enterprises younger than six years old.

www.tekes.fi/en/niy

Teaming up with the best

Growth Track

Growth Track offers SMEs the best suited public financing and expert services for international growth via a personal Growth Pilot.

www.kasvuvayla.fi

Success in global marketsWe want our customers to be successful in global markets, but realise it is not always an easy goal to achieve. To help especially SMEs to improve their competence in a new business area, we offer services which help companies to plan and develop their growth strategy for foreign markets.

Market Access Programme (MAP)

Is your company interested in expanding to the USA, China or Southeast Asia? Tekes’ customers have the opportunity to develop their international business expertise with MBA students from the world’s top universities.

www.tekes.fi/map

Innovation funding for international businesses

Tekes can also finance R&D projects undertaken by foreign-owned companies registered in Finland. International companies with R&D activities in Finland do not need to have a Finnish partner to be eligible for funding. The financed projects should, however, contribute to the Finnish economy.

www.tekes.fi/international_companies

FiDiPro, the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme

FiDiPro, the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme, enables distinguished researchers, both international and expatriates, to work with Finnish academic research groups. FiDiPro provides competitive grants to projects recruiting highly merited scientists, who are able to commit to long-term cooperation with a Finnish university or research institute.

www.tekes.fi/fidipro

We encourage international research cooperation in all R&D projects.

To facilitate international collaboration, Tekes has made several agreements with partner organisations in different countries, such as the United States, Russia, China and India.

Tekes programmesTekes has specified focus areas in which Finnish companies and research organisations have significant potential on the horizon. The focus areas are especially reflected in Tekes programmes, which are large thematical entities offering funding and expert services.

www.tekes.fi/en/programmes

PHO

TO: M

ARK

US

SOM

MER

S

www.tekes.fi/en/niy

www.kasvuvayla.fi

www.tekes.fi/map

www.tekes.fi/international

www.tekes.fi/fidipro



20 arctic intelligence

ARCTICEXPERTISE

IN DEMAND

hough the Arctic is be-coming more accessible, arctic environments will remain both highly challenging and highly sensitive to the impacts

of development. Energy efficiency becomes even more crucial in cold conditions, and clean technologies will be needed to prevent the pollution of pristine arctic ecosystems.

“It’s vital to ensure that coming operations in the Arctic region are realised as safely, efficiently and sustainably as pos-sible,” emphasises Tekes director Kimmo Kanto.

Much of Finland lies north of the Arctic Circle. Winter conditions are harsh across the country, and the waters of the Baltic Sea typically freeze over for several months. This means that Finnish indus-tries have already learnt to cope with ice

and snow, while research centres like the Finnish Meteorological Institute, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute have long specialised in ice monitoring and the compilation and processing of data on snow and ice conditions.

“In key sectors, from shipping and energy, to mining and forestry we already have a wealth of experience, capabilities and solutions that can be scaled-up for in-

Climatic changes are creating newly navigable sea routes in the far north, opening up Arctic regions for development. Northern know-how, applicable in icy conditions, will soon be at a premium.

TEXT: FRAN WEAVER PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO, EEVA ANUNDI


EXPERTISEIN DEMAND

Tekes Arctic Seas programme runs from 2014 to 2017.

Overall budget

€100 millionTekes

€45 million

ternational application around the Arctic,” says Kanto, emphasising that Finnish firms must urgently start planning to meet future demand in arctic markets.

Finnish companies look north

In the beginning of 2014 Tekes launched a new four-year programme that aims to channel up to €100 million into Finnish R&D work with an arctic angle. The Arctic

Seas Programme aims to ensure that Finnish companies will in future be pre-ferred partners for all kinds of sustainable activities practised in arctic conditions. Tekes may provide almost half of the pro-gramme’s total funding, with companies contributing the rest.

“Tekes will play a vital role, especially when it comes to building up networks that will link firms with research institutions, and also with international projects involv-

ing key countries like Russia, Norway, the USA, China and Canada,” says Kanto.

Kanto emphasises that Finland already has world-class infrastructure for arctic R&D: “Research institutes able to form effective partnerships to develop arctic technologies together with businesses include VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Aalto University and Oulu University,” he says. “At the same time we’re hoping to establish an EU Arctic Infor-

€240 billion

The business potential in the Arctic

region is estimated to be approximately


mation Centre at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, and the Academy of Finland is running a major parallel programme funding basic research on arctic issues.”

From Baltic to Arctic

Climatic changes around the Arctic Ocean mean that blue water is appearing in formerly frozen areas, at least seasonally;

but ships plying the Northeast Passage and other new routes will still have to deal with the same kind of yearly winter ice found in the Baltic, as well as thicker and tougher multi-year ice in places.

Finnish ice-related expertise in the fields of ship design, shipbuilding and nav-igation should prove particularly valuable. “This includes the innovative design of off-shore facilities, such as drilling rigs, as well as ice-breakers and other ships,” says Kanto.

Finland already has two state-of-the-art ice tanks for testing ice-resistant designs for ships and offshore facilities, at Aalto University and at the Helsinki portside HQ of specialist Finnish company Aker Arctic, who recently turned ice-breaking technol-ogies around by designing an ice-breaker that will operate sideways to clear a wider ice-free lane.

In sensitive arctic environments it is essential to choose clean technologies that prioritise pollution prevention. Examples include innovative equipment designed by the Finnish company Lamor specifically to recover spilt oil in icy waters, onboard wastewater treatment solutions created by Finnish company Evac, Auramarine’s bal-

last water treatment systems, and marine engines designed by Wärtsilä that can meet tough limits set to reduce sulphur and particle pollution.

High-tech solutions for high latitudes

Expertise in information and commu-nications technologies is also an arctic asset. “In combination with advanced

real-time environmental mon-itoring, the latest ICT innova-tions are rapidly creating new opportunities that simply didn’t exist 20 years ago,” says Kanto.

High-tech ICT innova-tions could soon contribute to pioneering developments in challenging arctic contexts. The dispersed local production and distribution of energy is one key area. Robotics and mobile communication technologies

will also be applied to build up services and infrastructure for remotely operable autonomous vehicles and facilities.

“Finland also has a lot to offer in more people-centred arctic activities, from world-class facilities for the test-driving of road vehicles in arctic conditions, to clothing and equipment for people who have to cope outdoors in conditions of extreme cold and darkness – including increasing numbers of tourists drawn to the Arctic by the amazing sights, experiences and challenges the region offers,” says Kanto.

The construction of buildings and other infrastructure capable of with-standing extreme cold is another field where Finland can excel. New ports are likely to spring up along expanding arctic sea routes. The Northeast Passage represents a logistical short cut to Europe from China and the Far East, as well as a seaway for the transportation of the Arctic’s own natural resources.


In sensitive arctic environments it is essential to choose clean technologies that prevent pollution.

Ships plying new routes like the Northeast

Passage have to cope with the same kinds of

ice conditions long found in the Baltic.


Arctic Ocean

Northeast Passage

Baltic Sea

Northwest Passage

GREENLAND(DEN)

RUSSIA

ALASKA (USA)

FINLANDCANADA

Svalbard(NOR)

Franz Josef Land(RUS)

Novaya Zemlia Queen Elisabeth Islands

Banks Island

Severnaya Zemlya

Wrangel Island

New Siberian Islands

Looking at the big picture in the Arctic

“In future we expect Finland’s role as an in-ternational hub for arctic expertise to grow with the help of intensified networked collaboration between businesses and re-search institutions, as well as international partnerships and investments,” says Kanto.

In August 2013 the Finnish Govern-ment launched a wide-ranging national

strategy focussing on how Finland can contribute to all kinds of potential devel-opments in the Arctic Region. In addition to examining geopolitical, social and environmental issues, the strategy defines objectives and actions related to emerging economic opportunities, emphasising the key role that can be played by the technolo-gies that Finland has to offer when it comes to working in cold and challenging arctic conditions.

The construction of buildings and

infrastructure to withstand extreme cold is another

field where Finland excels.

“We expect big business in future

relating to the design and construction of larger ships

for arctic waters.”

“This is the most comprehensive such strategy produced by any of the eight countries with territory in the Arctic,” says Kanto. “It gives a clear message that Finland is open to international arctic co-operation and capable of looking at arctic issues holistically, considering all the key aspects of arctic developments including safety, security, eco-efficiency, and social and environmental sustainability.” n

ILLU

STRA

TIO

N:

MIK

KO A

IRIK

KA


hips have operated in icy seas around the world for more than 100 years, but our knowledge

about the precise load impacts of sea ice on their hulls and propulsion systems is still very limited,” says Mikko Niini, managing director of Finnish ice-going vessel design and testing specialists Aker Arctic.

Aker Arctic are a key partner in an ongoing Tekes-funded project that is test-ing how the specially-fitted polar research vessel S.A. Agulhas II, operated by the South African Department of Environ-mental Affairs in antarctic seas, copes in different ice conditions. “We’re particularly looking at the loads caused by ice on the ship’s hull and propeller shaft, aiming to calibrate theoretical estimates with the loads observed in real life conditions,” explains Niini.

Experts from Aalto University in Finland and the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa are meanwhile working on the practical aspects of the project, com-piling measurements taken by shipboard instruments together with detailed obser-vations of the physical properties of the ice the ship is sailing through, including thickness, strength and salinity.

Full-scale ice trials under way

The S.A. Agulhas II was launched from STX Finland’s Rauma shipyards in July 2011. Her first full-scale ice trials were held in early 2012 in the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. Aker Arctic had already tested the ice-go-ing capabilities of a detailed scale model of the vessel in the company’s state-of-the-art ice tank facilities in Helsinki.

The next phase of the full-scale trials is already ongoing in Antarctic waters, where the vessel supplies and assists staff based at South Africa’s Antarctic research station. “The South African operators are pleased to have the ship instrumented for such trials, as they get useful information for their purposes too,” says Niini.

The three-year project is also exam-ining the levels of noise and vibrations caused as the ship grinds through the sea ice. “The idea is to assess how onboard noise and vibrations affect the comfort of the ship’s crew and passengers; but in this case we’re also uniquely assessing water-borne noise and vibrations in detail

to discover how they might affect marine mammals in nearby waters,” explains Niini.

Big business opportunities on the arctic horizon

“We’re very pleased with the hands on ex-periences and results we’ve gained from the project so far for the purposes of ice-going ship design,” says Niini. One key finding has been that ice can cause higher than ex-pected loads on the rear corners of vessels, known to naval architects as aft shoulders. The related design standards for ice-go-ing vessels may need to be toughened in response to this new data.

Niini feels that the new data obtained from the 134-metre-long Agulhas II about how larger vessels cope under different ice conditions is particularly valuable today. “We’re on the verge of interesting new de-velopments in the Arctic region. We expect big business in future related to the design and construction of larger ice-going ships for arctic waters that will soon be busy,” he says. “Ice conditions in the Northeast Passage north of Russia, for instance, increasingly resemble the conditions we’ve long faced here in the Baltic, so Finnish expertise is very much in demand.” n

icy seas As the Arctic region opens up, more ice-breakers, cargo ships and other vessels will need to be designed and built to cope in icy seas. An innovative collaborative project is providing welcome new information about how different kinds of ice affect vessels.

TEXT: FRAN WEAVER PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO, EEVA ANUNDI


Mikko Niini is convinced that findings from the ongoing antarctic research vessel project will be a valuable asset in the booming market for ice-going ships.

Testing ships for


Column 25

n the four-and-a-half years years I have been privileged to live in Finland, I have witnessed immense change – global markets shifting, disruptive technologies and transforming social

patterns around the globe – all having dramatic, and in many cases adverse impacts on the Finnish economy.

For those who hold too tightly to the realities or business models of the past, these tumultuous times to tend give rise to fear and pessimism. But for those who are willing to embrace a dramatically different future, these times, although challenging, can be full of optimism and extraordinary success. Unquestion-ably, Finland is poised, not just to share in, but also to lead in many of the opportunities arising from the vast social, economic and geophysical transforma-tions of the world in the 21st century.

There is simply no credible science to the con-trary: the accelerated climate change being witnessed around the globe is anthropogenic. Humankind’s unslakable demand for energy has, and will continue to alter the biosphere. And nowhere are the impacts of this more evident today than in the Arctic region. As the rest of the world is focusing more strongly on the Arctic, with possible new sea lanes, access to new resources, environmental challenges and increased focus on the rights of indigenous people, Finland is uniquely placed to lead into the future.

These vast changes are creating what I have described as the “New North” where opportunities for trade, investment, and innovation as well as pro-tection and stewardship, go hand in hand. Existing relationships, and new possibilities, between Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden have immense potential in infrastructure development, extractive industries, research and development, shipping, and more. With a strong history of experience in these fields and an extraordinarily well educated population, Finland is positioned to take full advantage of these opportu-

nities – but to do that, Finns need also to embrace some internal changes too. The competition for the future is going to be intense and proficiency alone will not win the day. Rather than merely acknowledg-ing shortcomings in their marketing prowess, as they have in other sectors and skill sets, Finns could set out to be among the best marketers in the world. The pace of change in the 21st century also beckons Finns to remake their relationship with risk – to embrace entrepreneurship at all levels of society.

The United States believes profoundly in Fin-land’s unique position, leadership and their ability to once again transform themselves. And we are committed to an even broader and more successful partnership. One needs to look no further than our recent investment of over $100 million in our new Innovation Center and Embassy. The Innovation Center offers a physical platform for conducting busi-ness and connections in the New North, but it is not just a building; the work we are doing inside is what is making the difference.

We are helping to connect American businesses with Finnish companies and cities who are interested in partnering for success. A strong US company com-bined with Finnish experience and know-how in the region can be a huge advantage for both. Access to both the Finnish and the broader regional markets in Russia, the Baltics, and Scandinavia make Finland an ideal place for trade and investment. The New North is the place to do business in the 21st century.

Finally, we are looking to connect Finns to opportunities in the US. We are working to create stronger networks for trade and investment to flow both ways between the United States and Finland. As these opportunities in Finland continue to grow, it will be up to Finns to ensure that growth and devel-opment in the New North is thoughtful, responsible, and sustainable. The race for the future is well under way, lets win it together. n

Bruce J. OreckThe US Ambassador to Finland

Building success in the “New North”


Order Tekes publications at

www.tekes.fi/publications

26 news and publications

Tekes Venture Capital gives a boost to Finnish start-ups

A new company founded by Tekes will start making investments in venture capital funds this year.

“We are trying to attract more private money to Finnish start-up companies,” says Tekes director Jukka Häyrynen.

The new company, Tekes Venture Capital Ltd, will only invest in funds which are themselves investing in Finnish early stage companies.To make these funds more attractive for private investors, funds will be asymmetrical. This means that private investors will get a bigger share of the profits these funds make.

“With this new arrangement we aim to increase the venture capital available for start-ups, to increase the number of value-adding venture capital managers and to facilitate the success of Finnish companies.

The new company will help to make terms of private investment in growth-po-tential start-ups more attractive,” says Häyrynen. The new company will be launched in July 2014. It can make investments of up to €20 million each year. In practice, Tekes will decide the company’s investment policy and management. Investment decisions will be made independently and without requiring the direct involvement of Tekes.

TEXT: TIM BIRD

Do you want to know what are the changes in business opportunities and to the devel-opment of the operational environments in different countries in next 2 – 5 years? The Team Finland Future Watch service gives companies access to international foresight information and helps to develop business operations in the long run.

The service has recently published reports giving insight into the potential growth paths in China, future opportunities in the Russian waste management sector and the developing business areas in the arctic region.

Read reports at www.tekes.fi/futurewatch

Team Finland Future Watch looks at global market opportunities

Innovation funding with proven impact

The game industry of Finland

Tekes funding for SMEs – Renew, Grow, Go Global

Strategic Centres to boost innovations in Finland

New strategy for growth in Finland’s health sector Finland has a new growth strategy and action plan for research and innovation in the health sector. The goal is that Finland will be an internationally recognised forerunner in health research, innovation, and investment. The new strategy identifies segments of the innovation ecosystem that should be improved to enhance Finland’s competitiveness. The strategy was prepared by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Min-istry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Tekes and the Academy of Finland. Strategy will be available on the Tekes website.


companies.To

www.tekes.fi/futurewatch


Column 27

ersonalised health care is now being backed up and assisted by genet-ic-based information, which facilitates

more personalised care and disease preven-tion measures.

Biological sample collections and bio-banks, are becoming increasingly important to biomedical research, as disease diagnostics and treatments are becoming ever-more individualised.

Finland has a fantastic opportunity to become an early adopter and pioneer in this field; leading the way in personalised health care.

A new law on biobanks came into force in Finland in 2013, the aim of which was to establish the ground rules for biobank operators. The law provides researchers with improved prerequisites for utilising human sample collections and better protects the rights of sample donors. The first clinical biobank, Auria Biobank, was established last year in conjunction with Turku University Hospital, with four new clinical biobanks be-ing established over the course of this year in other cities with university hospitals. These biobanks are part of the BBMRI network (Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure), which functions as a platform for international cooperation.

For several decades, Finland’s public health care system has collected millions of human tissue samples that can be linked to data from hospital patient records and national health care registers. This combi-nation of samples and data creates a unique research and innovation platform for both academic investigators and companies. In addition, Finland has expert level know-how

in several therapy fields in pharmaceuticals research and in healthcare technology; for example in imaging and diagnostics. Taking into consideration Finland’s size, we also have strong ICT know-how and a robust techno-logical industry.

Biobank operations are continually being developed, with the aim of standard-ising practices and launching pilot projects designed to test operational models and pro-cesses. Instead of static sample collections, biobanks should be seen as bio-information banks, operating with systematic and profes-sional processes that cover the collection of samples and associated personal information, their safe storage, and characterisation (e.g. genomics).

Researchers should be provided with advanced ICT user interfaces to handle data sets and be offered clear operational princi-ples for cooperation with other biobanks, and for commercial activity.

Citizens must be able to rely on biobanks respecting their rights. For their part, bio-banks need to keep donors at the very heart of their operating principles, guaranteeing that decision-making powers regarding sam-ples reside with the donor and that informa-tion on the conducted research is available.

In order to be successful, bio-infor-mation banks need to advance high quality research, promote public health, and increase industry-wide competitiveness. n

Minna Hendolin The writer is Executive Director in Tekes responsible

for the strategic focus area Health and Wellbeing

Biobanks advance personalised health

PHO

TO: I

STO

CK

PHO

TO

PHO

TO: S

USA

NN

A L

EHTO


28 human spare parts

A multi-parts projectThe Human Spare Parts project is exactly that: the creation of tailored, living body tissue that draws on the innovations of cutting edge biotechnology.

he advances in human tissue engineering can be summarised by a single photo. A man holds a polymer model of his skull out in front of him; a gaping

hole exists in its right side. This is his skull after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour in his jaw, a procedure that would result in a drastic change to his facial struc-ture. However, the face of the man holding the skull now shows no sign of any trauma. The model was made before he had his jawbone repaired, using a piece of bone engineered from his own stem cells in a lab in Tampere, Finland.

“Altogether, we have had approxi-mately 30 patients that we have treated,” explains Hannu Hanhijärvi, director of BioMediTech (BMT), the joint institute of biomedical technology of the University of Tampere and Tampere University of Tech-nology. “It is already available as a service; it’s been extremely interesting.”

At BMT over 250 researchers engage in basic and applied research in biosci-

TEXT: JAMES O’SULLIVAN ILLUSTARATOR: KARI LEHKONEN

ences and medical technology, and in related development. A unique educational environment that acts as an innovative epi-centre for both biosciences and technology, its Human Spare Parts project is its most prominent innovation hub. Combining high-standard research on biomaterials, sensory technology, biomedical engi-neering and stem cells, the programme is currently developing a variety of tissue technology-related products.

The project seeks to find new therapies with bone, neural, ophthalmic (retinal) and cardiac cells. Such is the scale of their achievements that if the work is rolled out on a larger scale these therapies have the potential to become the third alternative form of treatment alongside surgery and pharmacotherapy.

Humble beginnings

After a long career in the pharmacology industry, in 2010 Hanhijärvi was asked by both Tampere universities to take a closer


look at the work they were doing in Tampere. He immediately felt that they should be looked at as one entity.

“There already was kind of an early stage collaboration between the two universities re-

lated to cells and tissues, particularly stem cells,” he recalls. “They asked if there was

anything I could put together that will create extra value. I wondered if there some way we could make 1+1 equal more than 2. I realised I could not achieve this unless we did things absolutely differently.”

Hanhijärvi soon introduced the idea of translational research to the researchers, focus-sing on developing new concepts with certain milestones in mind. The end result would no longer just be about producing a final publica-tion – it had to be something more substantial. And so, the group leaders embarked on a training course at Stanford Research Institute in the autumn of 2010, in order to understand what innovation is and plan their own project with longer-term milestones. Their enthusiasm was immediate. The Human Spare Parts project was away.

Innovation the key

In a short period of time, the project has gone on to pioneer significant innovations. These include using stem cells derived from patients’ own fat tissue to individually treat cranial bone defects and urinary incontinence.

“We are in a continuous process of making new discoveries, and are patenting new things practically on a weekly basis,” Hanhijärvi states. “It is now quite the machine that is producing lots of stuff. It’s really moving along.”

Aside from moving towards the landmark goal of creating new therapies Hanhijärvi has

“Innovation is a daily bread of everybody.”


been pleasantly surprised by the subsidiary successes accumulated along the way.

“If you want to differentiate stem cells and make them neural, ophthalmic, bone or cardiac, you have to somehow be able to manipulate them for those purposes. Also you need biomaterials so that they live somewhere and start to move in the di-rection you want them to go. New growth environments for cells are currently being tested. If they are good, we will start selling them, creating quick business: the cell culture business.”

Another important achievement has been the diagnostic tools that are emerging.

“In the cardiac area we can take a small biopsy of your skin and translate the cells to your heart cells. Our cardiac group, led by Professor Katriina Aalto-Setälä, can identify if you have a defect in the electron-ic current in your heart, for example. The cell tells us if you have a problem. We can inform you in advance to please don’t play football, or strain yourself too much, to avoid sudden death.”

In addition skin-derived cardiac cells will be of great value for the pharmaceuti-cal industry. New, potential drugs – both cardiac and non-cardiac – should not have adverse cardiac side effects, such as arrhythymias, and this could be tested in the cell laboratory, eliminating any risk to people. Similarly if cells are derived from a skin biopsy of a patient with a cardiac dis-ease they can be used as a disease platform for drug discovery.

The new diagnostic and treatment methods are thus also directly influencing the creation of personalised therapies. They will also assist in personalising medication for patients with certain genetic diseases who are especially prone to severe cardiac side effects.

Wide reaching innovations

Finland is regarded as being a forerunner in developing bone tissue engineering on a global scale, with expertise in the field concentrated in Tampere.

“We have had a strong back-ground in biomaterials in Finland since the 1980s,” states Adjunct Professor

Susanna Miettinen, BMT’s Group Leader. “Specifically, bioresorbable materials for bone and, generally, orthopaedic applica-tions and bone tissue engineering using the combination of cells and materials are a natural continuum for this development.”

Miettinen attributes the project’s suc-cess as a whole to their multidisciplinary approach, whereby clinicians, engineers and cell biologists collaborate with the development and testing of different kinds of techniques.

Moreover, Hanhijärvi sees this collabo-rative working method as distinguishing the project from other institutions around the world that are working in the same field.

“Universities typically have a research service department, located somewhere far away from the researchers,” Hanhijärvi explains. “This is wrong, you can’t do it this way.”

30 human spare parts

“We are in a continuous process of

making new discoveries, and

are patenting new things practically

weekly.”


he Human Spare Parts research project is funded by Tekes under the funding scheme for strategic research openings. Strategic research openings are bold, visionary projects aiming to make serious breakthroughs that will lay the foundation for

entirely new areas of business. Another Tekes funded strategic research opening is looking to revolu-

tionise medical treatments. The 3i - Innovative Induction Initiative run by the University of Helsinki, the Aalto University and the Helsinki University Central Hospital seeks to enhance regeneration of heart and brain cells by utilising stem cell technology and innovative pharmaceuticals and drug delivery systems. If successful, this will revolutionise the treatment of heart and brain diseases and impact on therapeutic markets.

Tekes programmes in the field of the bio and health

Finland has internationally high standards of biomedical research and world-class companies in the healthtechnology and biopharmaceutical wellness sectors. Tekes targets 25 percent of its funding via pro-grammes, which also serve as a platform for cooperation and network-ing for companies, universities and research institutes.

BioIT – Solutions for Biological Information programme aims to help small and medium enterprises in the biosector to develop their business activities and build new value networks and cooperation be-tween traditional ICT players and experts such as biologists, geneticists and environmental scientists.

Innovations in Social and Healthcare Services programme funds projects that develop effective, customer-oriented health and social services and more extensive preventive actions. The projects involce diversified partnership and cooperation. n


Strategic research openings build entirely new business areas

Keeping things in close proximity, the project has an IPR and legal advisor, along with representatives from business development, quality and regulatory proj-ect management and communications on hand at all times.

“They are not somewhere off to the side, they are at every project meeting,” he explains. “They constantly ask what’s going on, what’s cooking? Who are you dealing with? What kind of agreements do we have? Who has the rights?”

By having such a range of experts in close proximity looking at various aspects of the process, the project has been able to assess the commercial viability of their in-novations and evolve ideas at a rapid pace.

“I’m absolutely sure that nowhere else has such a structure in place in order to help the scientists move forward,” Hanhi-järvi enthuses. “We are intimately inside the development process. We monitor you as a researcher all the time and take care of your rights. Innovation is a daily bread of everybody.”

Regulating their value

The project has been adamant in maintain-ing sound ethical standards when carrying out its work, and its resultant business practices. The Human Spare Parts project stringently follows the regulations and requirements of the Finnish Medicines Agency, and US Food and Drug Admin-istration. Keeping their progress within these strictly confined parameters is seeing Hanhijärvi’s original goal with the project becoming a reality.

“One benefit that age and experience brings, is that I only do those things where I can bring value to other people,” he states. “The value of a university comes from having three equally important jobs: first is education, the second is research and dis-coveries; the third is the social impact. It is extremely important. We have to give some return for those who pay. Our community has to get something back.” n

PHOTOS: SAMI HELENIUS



A start-up boom is thriving in Helsinki. Our reporter wanted to test out a few of the new innovative services now available.

TestingTesting

32 innovative business

TEXT: AMANDA SOILA PHOTOS: MARKUS SOMMERS


ike so many office workers, I too suffer from the modern-day ailment of sitting at a desk way too

much and exercising way too little. Lack of any real routine is one of my key problems and the constant nagging guilt has done nothing to improve my fitness motivation.

Let’s see if popular wellness motivator HeiaHeia, with its promise of low thresh-old, easy usability and a sociable online exercise environment, could give me that extra little push I need.

While many sports tracking systems are aimed at fitness enthusiasts or calorie counters, HeiaHeia takes an earthier stance; targeting people interested in what they call “casual well-being”. With 400 different activity types supported – from house-hold cleaning to triathlon – the service helps track your physical activity and gain motivation through peer-support.

Founders of HeiaHeia, Jussi Räisänen, Olli Oksanen and Ivan Kuznetsov first developed an online training diary, a pre-cursor to HeiaHeia, for their own use back in 2008. Now HeiaHeia has users in 150 countries and is the number one online exercising service in Finland.

“We have users from all sorts of sports backgrounds; some are beginners and others former professional athletes - many are something between. It’s for people who think exercising should be fun and diverse,” says Jens Alderin, Marketing Manager for Heiaheia.

Getting back out there

One of the best things about HeiaHeia is that you don’t need an expensive gadget or to go through irksome user-manuals to get started with it. Just create an account and start logging-in your exercise details. What sport did you do, for how long, how is your mood afterwards?

After couple of weeks I understood a few things about my fitness habits. Having bullied myself for not exercising enough, it comes as a surprise to see how much casual fitness my everyday life actually involves. But I just don’t get enough of the crucial sweat-breaking, muscle-aching, heart-rate raising exercise.

Actively creating more time for training does seem a lot easier when you can see a whole week’s worth of training at one glance, and getting to ‘check-in’ that hockey game or climbing session adds to the after-sport exhilaration.

For now I have used HeiaHeia just as a fitness diary, not sharing my training information with friends in HeiaHeia, or on Facebook or Twitter, but maybe some healthy peer pressure or a team challenge could be the next step.

Sports tracking for the casual mover

Getting to ´check in´ a climbing session in HeiaHeia adds to the after-sport exhilaration.

“HeiaHeia is for people who think exercising should be

fun and diverse.”


he screen fills with a map of the world and a steering wheel. It takes 9-year-old Sara Sundquist only

few seconds to understand the object of the game and start navigating the pirate ship from London to Mombasa, solving mathematic addition problems along the way. After a while, a treasure chest with

golden coins pops on the screen - reward for a game well-played.

“It’s a lot of fun, and quite easy too,” she chuckles, as she starts a new round.

The pirate-themed Math Ahoy is the flagship game of the four-man strong company Eduplus, who combine gaming excellence with pedagogical know-how.

Jere Linnanen, CEO of Eduplus, got the idea for Math Ahoy when working as a teacher. A game enthusiast himself, he realised that the games available for teach-ing just weren’t a match for the commercial games available.

“We wanted to create a game that really is a game, and not just an electronic textbook.”

Apart from teaching addition, one of the core ideas of Math Ahoy is for children to learn creative problem-solving skills, whilst evaluating situations and learning to make decisions.

“Math is used in real life to resolve situations, and this should be the case in a game too,” Linnanen explains.

Primarily aimed for use at schools,

Math Ahoy has been used during lectures for practicing basic skills, or as a reward for efficient work. There has been positive feedback from both students and teachers – a rare occurrence according to Linnanen. “Children have also wanted to play it at home with their parents,” he says.

Sara’s mother Suvi Sundquist sees math games as useful support to what children already learn at school, particularly when it comes to the motivation for repetition.

“The repetition of learning routines with parents can result in mutual grinding of teeth, but a fun game like this can really help make progress.”

Learning by peer teaching

A spectacled owl stands behind teacher’s podium teaching fractions to an eager -looking mouse. Sara presses the correct one of three options, making the mouse throw up its paws in delight. SmartKid Maths is a familiar game to Sara, but with a 100 different levels planned according to school syllabus, there are many more fun exercises yet to be discovered.

SmartKid Maths, one of the newcomers in the field of math gaming has already won several notable gaming prizes in Finland and made it the num-ber one downloaded app in ten countries.

Based on the idea of peer learning, the game has a firm foundation in research in pedagogy, educational psychology and neural computing.

“When working as a teacher I realised that regardless of the grade, children learn best when teaching one another,” says Har-ri Ketamo, the creator of SmartKids.

With this realisation in mind he start-ed developing the game, in which children teach cuddly animals math skills while learning in the process themselves. Aimed at 4- to 9-year-olds, SmartKid Maths starts from the very basics and then moves on to the more complicated tasks of fractions and division, aiming to cover the age-ap-propriate syllabus. For parents, SmartKid Maths offers analytics of their children’s progress, as well as feedback on where they need more support.

Ketamo is also pleased that the game has helped children to become interested in math, especially those who previously dreaded it.

In the Sundquist family, math has always been a well-liked topic, but mother and daughter think the cute characters are adding to the fun of learning.

Targeted primarily at consumers rather than classrooms, Ketamo sees the game as a good fit for those idle moments in every child’s life such as waiting for a

hobby to begin or their lift back home. “The optimal learning results are

gained with 5-10 minute time slots several times a day,” he says. “With five minutes of active concentration a child can learn surprisingly much.”

Sara’s gaming time is up. She solves the last one of the fractions with a pleased smile and hurries off to play with her friends. n

When math is fun and games

The game has helped children to become interested in math,

especially those who previously dreaded it.

“Math is used in real-life to resolve situations, and this should be the case in a game too.”



It takes 9-year-old Sara Sundquist only few seconds to get started on navigating the pirate ship from London to Mombasa, solving additions on the way.


elsinki’s public transport - which has several times been voted as the best in Europe - saw a new

addition joining its ranks this year. Along with the metro, bus, tram and rail services, ‘on-demand’ bus service Kutsuplus has been greeted with excitement and, if comments on Twitter are anything to go by, users have been positively surprised with the smooth-ness of the service.

Having lived in Helsinki most of my life, I know the downtown transport with my eyes closed. But going to the neighbour-ing town Espoo always gives me headache.

So, when travelling to a work-related meeting at Aalto University, I didn’t want to take any risks. It is the time to try out the much-hyped Kutsuplus.

Smooth ride and bonus smiles

Designed to be the missing link between the bus and taxi services, Kutsuplus minibuses can be requested online and passengers can choose the pick-up and drop-off points, as well as between the slower, cheaper option and the direct, slightly more expensive one.

After creating an account and upload-ing money to a virtual ‘trip wallet’, I place the order choosing the cheaper option: which means that the probability of pick-ing other passengers on the way is higher. The car is five minutes early at the nearby

bus stop and takes off as soon as me and my colleagues have climbed on board and presented the reference code. Twenty min-utes from departure the driver drops us at the closest stop to the campus and waves us goodbye with a big smile.

Pioneering software

The Kutsuplus service is based on a research project at Aalto University. The service is now in a three-year pilot stage and operated in cooperation with Helsinki Region Transport and Ajelo – the company

behind the pioneering soft-ware of the fully-automated service.

“The urban transporta-tion system is eventually go-ing to suffocate on its own impossibility if it continues to rely on private cars,” says Teemu Sihvola, CEO of Ajelo. “Just reducing rush hour traffic would have an

enormous effect on the environment and citizens’ general well-being.”

With a flexible, personalised service, one of the long-term goals of Kutsuplus is to try and tempt people to make the leap from behind the wheel of their private car towards public transport. For their future plans, Ajelo are looking to go global.

On the way back from Aalto we nearly miss the minibus at its stop. But happily on board, we are thankful for not having to stand at a bus stop waiting for the next regular connection when it’s so cold outside.

Even though we picked the worst evening rush hour time, both trips worked like a dream. n

The writer is a Finnish journalist living in Helsinki, who likes independent movies and cross-country skiing.

Smart transit on demand

Kutsuplus wants to tempt people to make the leap from behind the wheel of their private car towards public transport.


For work trips Kutsuplus minibuses are a useful alternative to a taxi or bus.



38 contact us

United States

Tekes is an active partner collaborating with local start-ups and entrepreneur ecosystem in the ares of for example learning, eHealth, gaming and digital solutions and big data. We also cooperate with local universities in various research topics.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Jukka SalminiittyCounselor, InnovationTel. +1 202 203 [email protected]

PALO ALTO, CA

Tiina Tanninen-AhonenHead of Office, Silicon Valley

Tel. +1 (408) 893 [email protected]

Hanna ArtmanManager, Innovation CooperationTel. +1 (408) 464 [email protected]

www.tekes.fi/usa

Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - employs approximately 400 people in Finland and abroad. Tekes’ headquarters are located in Helsinki. Part of the personnel in Finland work at the regional Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres), located around the country. Tekes offers funding for research and development projects carried out by companies and research organisations working in Finland.

Internationally Tekes works as a part of the Team Finland network promoting research, development and innovation cooperation between companies and research groups around the world. Tekes also facilitates international business operations and investment in Finland and helps to understand global innovation signals and market changes in different areas.

mailto:[email protected]



www.tekes.fi/usa


Helsinki, Headquarters

Address

Kyllikinportti 2, Länsi-PasilaP.O.Box 69FI-00101 HelsinkiTel. +358 29 50 55000

Find Tekes personnel

www.tekes.fi/en/search

Brussels, Belgium

Tekes’ liaison office for the EU interaction between Tekes programmes and the EU’s research programmes and maintains contacts with EU bodies, especially the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Esa Panula-OnttoCouncellor, Research and Innovation

Finnish Liaison Office for EU R&D

Tel. +32-2-287 [email protected]

www.tekes.fi/brussels

India

In India, Tekes promotes innovation cooperation in the areas of health, cleantech, learning solutions, smart cities, digitalisation and resource efficient frugal innovation.

NEW DELHI

Riku MäkeläCounselor, Innovation

tel. +91 88 6060 [email protected]

www.tekes.fi/india

Russia

In Russia, Tekes provides funding for small and medium-sized companies with FASIE (Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises) and the Skolkovo Foundation. The Finnish participant is funded by Tekes and the Russian party by FASIE or Skolkovo.

ST. PETERSBURG

Virpi HerranenHead of Office, Tekes RussiaTel. +7 921 942 [email protected]

MOSCOW

Pavel CheshevAdvisor

Tel. + 7 495 280 0287GSM +7 925 125 [email protected]

www.tekes.fi/russia

China

Tekes has bilateral agreements with key science and technology bodies in China. The agreements have created excellent collaboration in areas such as ICT, nanotechnology, Cleantech and urban development.

BEIJING

Kari HiltunenCounselor, Science and TechnologyTel. +86 1391 1874 [email protected]

SHANGHAI

Sari Arho HavrénConsul, Innovation

Tel. +86 1381 6232 [email protected]

Jarmo HeinonenConsul, Science and Technology

Tel. +86 1366 1878 [email protected]

www.tekes.fi/china

P.O.Box

www.tekes.fi/en/search


www.tekes.fi/brussels


www.tekes.fi/india



www.tekes.fi/russia




www.tekes.fi/china

Tekes key figures 2013

of company project funding to small and medium-sized companies

1,860funded projects

1,270Projects completed in 2013 generated

products, services or processes

of Tekes customers state that the Tekes funding was a significant factor in their success

80%Over

Views Magazine is published once a year by Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - the main public funding organisation for research, development and innovation in Finland. Tekes has a wide-ranging impact on the creation of innovations, company growth and research quality in Finland.

www.tekes.fi/en

€577Tekes R&D funding in 2013 total

million

Order Views Magazine and other Tekes publications at www.tekes.fi/publications or by sending an email to: [email protected]

If you don’t wish to receive Views Magazine in the future, please email us at: [email protected]

67%150%

9/10fastest-growing technology companies in Finland are Tekes customers

of well-known Finnish innovations

65%Tekes has partly funded€228

million to universities and research organisations

€349million to companies and public organisations

Annual growth of young innovative companies funded by Tekes was

2€

For every € invested by Tekes, companies increase their R&D expenditure by

www.tekes.fi/en




views magazine 2014

Documents

tekes magazine

tekes views magazine

tekes innovation funding

writestuff finland

promisingfrom finland

innovation work

terms of innovation

innovation ranking