Product type: Hardware

SET Ventures

SET Ventures focuses on early growth stage companies furthering the transition of the energy sector. Their customer and investor network and expertise in growing companies helps you be ready for scaling your business.

SET Ventures invests into companies doing smart energy solutions, mainly software and services. Hardware is ok as well, as long as the solution has a software or service component.

Companies have to have an impact on the energy system, furthering its transition. For example electric mobility solutions are relevant, but old-fashioned energy solutions would not be.

SET Ventures has excellent expertise in energy sector. “Many companies can skip through the first half of their presentation as we are already familiar with the basic problems and very well embedded in the whole European energy system.”

They’re looking at companies below €25M valuation pre-money (€30M post-money). The companies have to have the potential to be worth over €200M on exit.

SET Ventures seeks to hold a significant minority stake of typically 20% or more. typically takes an active board position but never sit on the management team. Fund lifetime is 10+2 years, they’re in it for the long haul (typically 4-7 years), not seeking to exit in a short time frame.

Contact to info@setventures.com goes to three people and they go through and respond to each case.

Northbound Startups

Northbound Startups is a cross-border accelerator program between Finland (Turku), Sweden (Västerås) and Estonia (Tallinn). They help startups build their business and get an investment from local and international investors. They connect startups to investors, mentors, buyers etc. from all three areas, boosting the startups’ ability to work across the Baltic sea. The program is free for startups.

The two-year project offers two comprehensive acceleration programs. one per year. Application period for autumn 2020 program is open from 15.6.2020 until mid-August and the program begins in September 2020 and ends in March 2021. The dates for the second batch are approx a month earlier in 2021.

The program collaborates with institutional investors, investor networks and other accelerator and incubator programs, such as Turku BusinessUp.

Previous similar programs, like Springboard, ignited multiple startups that got a great international start in 2 or 3 countries and cities through the program.

Elisa Finland Startup Partnerships

Elisa seeks startups to purchase innovations from as an early customer. They’re also seeking mature startups to acquire.

Their focus is on solutions that help them sell more connectivity solutions or additional services to their current customers. E.g. automation, industry 4.0, health care, entertainment, smart homes etc.

They’re happy to connect with startups that are interested in Finnish or Nordic-Baltic market.

Jätkäsaari Mobility Lab

Jätkäsaari Mobility Lab offers ways to pilot solutions in real-life city context in Helsinki, Finland. Their sweet spot is solutions that are ready to be tested, but they’re happy to discuss also with idea stage projects to see about future collaboration potential. The solutions should be related to safe and sustainable smart mobility.

They have 1-2 agile piloting calls per year, but also ongoing applications, so feel free to contact them any time.

The most recent call is open until 18.8.2020 with a maximum cost of one agile pilot being €15 000.

Redstone

Redstone has six funds and 50 CVC partners. Their funds and sectors are listed in https://www.redstone.vc/sector-funds/. They are especially interested in industry 4.0, fintech, proptech, mobility, bio materials & agrotech.

Finnish Business Angels Network (FIBAN)

One of the largest business angel networks in the world with 650 members.

Ticket range of most angels is €5-100k, median ticket size is €20k. Syndicates may invest up to €1M. Median syndicate size is €200k.

 

Smart Chemistry Park

Smart Chemistry Park is the bio and circular economy startup and innovation hub of Turku Science Park. They offer premises and infrastructure for chemistry-related startups and a network of innovators. They’re a part of the wider Clean Turku network.

Their infrastructure helps mostly startups with a a need for laboratory facilities and physical piloting, but digital-only solutions are also welcome to the network. The premises are suitable also for many pharmaceutical development projects.

 

UIA Hope

Forum Virium’s UIA Hope competition offers piloting opportunities for air quality related startups. The competition has over €200k budgeted for helping small companies pilot their air quality solutions. Piloting budgets are €5k – €40k per company depending on the track (available on their website).

Even the smallest companies can participate and offer their pilot projects for experimentation, but there needs to be a company registered in Finland by the time the pilot starts.

The solutions can be virtual or practical; hardware, software or other solutions. It has to be implementable, not completely abstract. Solution has to relate to digitality, but does not need to be completely digital.

The pilot offer can be sent in English and can be done as a PowerPoint or similar. The information on the competition itself is currently available only in Finnish, but can be translated to English upon first request. General information of the UIA Hope program is in English.

 

ProHealth Accelerator

ProHealth Accelerator can be thought of more like a hub than a typical accelerator. They have a network of mentors, potential customers and other resources for health startups. Applications are ongoing, and there is no formal acceleration program, but they organize expert events, workshops and other forms of support for their members.

Their support is focused on helping commercialize health innovations. Most of their members’ are selling their solutions to professionals (B2B, B2B2C, B2G), but B2C solutions are also possible.

They have a partnership with Verstas Labs, whose open business premises ProHealth members have access to. Verstas also offers laboratory and private business premises for rent, with the laboratory equipment and maintenance included.

Participating companies have to be based in or move to Finland.

Kiuas

Kiuas is a completely free and possibly the most well-known student-led accelerator in Finland. It’s completely free. In addition to the program itself, participating startups will get a toolbox of startup goodies, including free cloud platform credits etc.

Application period for the summer 2020 program is until Wed 20.5.2020. Autumn batch will likely be held in October-November, with application period in September.

The program is usually held onsite in Espoo, Finland, but the summer 2020 program is held as a remote, virtual one. The program is focused for helping startups integrate with their alumni and mentor community in Finland, so any non-Finnish startups that apply should be ready to move to Finland.

Their spring and autumn batches are three-week pre-acceleration programs called Kiuas Start, for which idea stage startups are welcome. The main program in the summer requires the team to have a working solution already. The nine-week main program focuses on developing product-market fit, customer relationships, team and culture building for growth, and preparing for funding rounds.