Thomas Grandell

CEO & Co-founder of Etsimo

think that any other country in the world has this data available, so Finland is an excellent laboratory for building healthcare innovation. When the models have been built here, we won’t need to have access to the same degree of perfect data outside Finland, rather look for only the data that we need in order to deploy the same models and solutions in other environments and markets.

We have also seen the rate of chronic illnesses increase dramatically in recent years. How is this going to affect Etsimo?

Detecting chronic illnesses before they break out is one of our key themes; we know if you have a high risk of heart disease or respiratory disease or diabetes. These are often unpreventable, but we can prolong the outbreak of these diseases if we can detect the signals in time. From a societal point of view its extremely important that we start early and help change people's lifestyle so that our health won’t deteriorate as fast as previous generations.

Etsimo Healthcare has recently raised funding from Terveystalo. Can you tell our readers about this arrangement and what it means for the future of Etsimo?

Terveystalo, which is the largest private healthcare provider in Finland, have a really big customer base, which means that we have a constant flow of data. Also, they have the right mindset, because they too believe that the future of healthcare is going to be data-driven. To be able to build that data-driven medical provider you need both the patients and their data. To get this, you need to build a really good user-experience, and you need to build trust so that the patients are willing to give you this data. This allows us to segment patients in terms of risks and needs and that means you can give

personalized healthcare and estimate the risks beforehand while predicting the future health of the consumers. When you can predict, you can advise patients before a serious problem occurs. We believe that the future healthcare provider will look at your well-being as a whole, it will be a 360-degree view of your health. As a result, doctors will not always be the answer: it could be a personal trainer, a nutritionist, a psychologist, a life coach, but it is all about pushing the risks away towards the future.

Helsinki has been acknowledged as a northern hub for life science and medical innovation, a place where ideas such collaboration and knowledge sharing are highly valued. What is it about Helsinki that has given rise to its status as a hotbed of medical innovation?

I think, first and foremost, we have two excellent universities in Helsinki. Fortunately, these universities have been very strong in artificial intelligence and machine learning for years now. We have the Finnish Centre for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), which is a collection of the best talent and a spearhead of Business Finland, the agency for Innovation. They have helped to create and promote the buzz around Artificial Intelligence in healthcare in Helsinki and Finland.

Regarding our location, some refer to us as the gateway to Asia and the rest of the world; this might also be a contributing factor.

In the last ten years, after Nokia, the Finnish Government realized that something had to be done; they have steadily been building the reputation and capabilities of Helsinki and Finland as a whole ever since.

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around

them?

I think that the idea of recycling and circularity is something that should come natural to everyone; businesses which are having a negative impact on the environment need to change their practices. I do not understand companies who freely pump out stuff into the sea just because there is ample room there. From our point of view, we have a software product which allows people to be taken care of remotely and removes the need for logistics.

What would your message to our VoL readers who are perhaps thinking about investing in or moving operations to Finland? Why relocate and bring your family to Finland?

I would say that the skills, knowledge and data are vastly undervalued at the moment, and with the right incentives and vitamins, there is a lot that can be done with the Finnish knowledge and the Finnish companies.

Thomas Grandell

CEO & Co-founder of Etsimo

Hannu Nissinen

CEO of Klinik Healthcare Solutions

taking longer to transform healthcare than other industries. Why do you think this has been the case or do you believe that now is the time for AI to really transform healthcare?

Yes, we have seen this already. For example, in the U.K there is a shortage of GPs at the moment and we can help GPs to use their time a lot more efficiently, because they can focus on the actual cases, and AI works for them, it is not a threat to them. Some people fear that AI is here to take their jobs, this is not true; the healthcare worker shortage is a global issue, we should have a solution to help them to work properly with the resources they have. This also improves work quality because healthcare professionals often have to make decisions quickly and this information helps them greatly in making better decisions and better diagnosis.

We are seeing a number of trends in global healthcare such as: the fact that there will be more people over the age of 65 than under 15 by 2050, the rise of chronic diseases, and the demand for home-based, personalized care. How are these trends going to shape healthcare in the coming 5-10 years?

These are key trends for sure. As the population gets older, we have more people who use the healthcare resources and we don’t have the number of healthcare workers to meet this demand, so there is a big gap in that sector. I think we need all the digital and AI solutions we can get in order to control the situation; that is the real challenge.

You guys have said in the past that: “We at Klinik stand out from the mass in that we measure benefits in concrete terms.” Can you elaborate on this?

We have carried out studies, and have already published our findings with Aalto University

Helsinki, where we studied the health centres in Vantaa where they were using the traditional way of handling patients, and we compared this to patients in the same area where they were using our solution. The study started on the very first day there, we did not have time to ramp up the solution or to train the people to use it properly but, anyway, we had 14% decrease in costs than the traditional way. In Finland, this translated to a €31 per patient cost saving. It is a really promising number, and we believe that we can achieve even better numbers. We are doing similar studies in the U.K and Portugal at the moment and we are really looking forward to having those numbers.

How important is industry-academic collaboration to Klinik Healthcare Solutions?

It is very important. I would name the U.K as the most important market for this collaboration. It depends on the market and how big a part the universities play. In Mexico, for example, we have not recognized this kind of straight connection; in the U.K we are cooperating with several universities. It is really important because they don't have any expectations for our services, they just want to know how the users see it, if there are any problems that users face when using our system or how the professionals see it, the overall outcomes and these type of things. They are just doing their job properly and it really helps us when we find some issues or things we need to develop.

It has been said that the future of healthcare is digital, personalized and preventive. Do you think Finland can become a global leader in these areas?

We are creating a new standard for the frontline of healthcare. We believe that the first point, the frontline, in each hospital should be digitized

Essentially, our mission is to improve healthcare and to be able to handle these trends such as the aging population. We want to be able to improve healthcare in order to be able to treat every person, regardless of where he or she lives.

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around them?

That is exactly how I feel; I hate the traditional thinking where companies are first and foremost for their investors and for growth. There is no point having a company in today’s world that operates in this way. We have the responsibility for the people who work for us; they should have a better quality of life, because they have been working in our company. They should feel that they improve their local world, if not the global world. They should feel like they are having a positive impact on the world.

This is exactly what Klinik thinks; we are here to have a positive impact and for our people to feel that they are making a difference. This is something that drives us. It is a great transformation among the mindset of workers.

What would your message to our VoL readers who are perhaps thinking about investing in or moving operations to Finland?

We are really hard-working, humble people. We are already executing the growth; we are not waiting for easy money. We do what is required to grow business to the next level. This Finnish work ethic is really hard to find elsewhere and is something we are very proud of.

because we believe that when we have proper AI doing that job, it gives us consistency, there are no bad Mondays or bad mornings. It is a highly supervised learning our AI, our medical team has taught the machines how to react in a given situation. Every patient is handled as it should.

What does Finland as a healthcare brand represent to you?

I think that Finland and healthcare are a nice combination because Finland embodies a lifestyle of trust and reliability; we tell things the way they are. When we promise something in terms of healthcare solutions or whatever, it can be relied upon.

Professor. Edward Haeggstrom of University of Helsinki has said: “I have been to Stanford, I have been to Harvard. The guys here are equally good. They just don’t make a big noise of themselves.” Is there an argument that Finland needs to be more outspoken and confident in order to become a globally recognized brand of innovation and excellence?

Yes, I’m sure we are learning; when we have the winning solutions our self-confidence really grows and we start to believe in ourselves even more. That is absolutely something we should look at, but maybe it’s good that we are still humble, which helps us deliver really good solutions. We are continuously looking to improve.

At last year’s Slush CEO of Sulapac Ms Suvi Haimi mentioned how “The choices we make today form the heritage we leave for our children”. What is the legacy you, as CEO of Klinik Healthcare Solutions, would like to leave for future generations here in Finland and further beyond?

Hannu Nissinen

CEO of Klinik Healthcare Solutions

Prof. Edward Hæggström

CEO of Nanoform

has become such a hub for medical innovation and why more and more investors are interested in coming here?

Finland has diligently worked to become a key player in the global medicine and med tech fields. Joining the EU made more people in Finland look at the bigger picture. Nokia made Finland a global brand and taught us how to play in the tech world. Software development has since become very popular in the country. Our geographic location makes it possible to develop new technology and test it locally before expanding into international markets. We are fortunate to have an educated workforce and a moderate salary level. Nanoform has benefited from all of these factors.

Finland is very familiar with topping global lists, such as the world’s happiest country and the highest ranked in the Good Country Index. It also leads the world in cancer care research, representing the pinnacle of the health sector in terms of world-class research and technology and is also known as one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world with 100% population penetration in electronic health records (EHR). What factors do you believe have led to such outstanding healthcare in Finland? What lessons can Finland teach the world in this respect?

It may go back to Archiater Arvo Ylppö’s work that aimed at reducing child mortality by developing pediatric clinical and social care. Maybe our fondness for record keeping has played a role in helping us produce one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world. Finland has also significantly invested in education, which is fundamental for the creation of an efficient healthcare system.

benefits of this, and how does state-of-the-art nanotechnology achieve this?

State-of-the-art nanotechnology can enhance drug molecules that previously would fail to reach the market. It also enables extended patent protection to new dosage forms and indications. In Nanoform’s case, this is achieved by employing our proprietary CESS™ technology to create small and homogeneous drug particles that are pure and crystalline, without the use of excipients. Such stable particles address problems of solubility and bioavailability and therefore increase the number of drug molecules that reach clinical trials.

How does Nanoform’s Controlled Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (CESS ™) technology offer advantages for the pharmaceutical industry, with respect to innovation, cost effectiveness, and business expansion?

CESS™ is an innovative, proprietary technology. It can supply the means to prolong patent protection, address new indications and produce new dosage forms. The technology can provide a way to resuscitate failed drug molecules, enable new drugs and shield against generic competition. STARMAP™, our patented AI solution, can help pick winners at an early stage, enabling more months of high sales at the end of the patent protection strategy. It can be used for both small molecules and biological drugs. Existing drugs can also be improved by lowering the dosage to reduce side effects.

Looking now at Finland’s landmark innovations in healthcare — Helsinki has become the Northern European hub for life science and health tech innovations, business development and collaboration. Can you tell us why Helsinki

term goal is for 1 billion people to be positively impacted by a drug containing a nanonized API. To get there we need to become a trusted partner in the pharma industry and focus on strategic collaborations with a number of large companies. We are a Finnish company with international ambition. This includes our more personal goal to ring the bell at the NYSE!

It is estimated that by 2050, globally, the over 65s will outnumber children under 15 for the first time in history. The changing face of society will force Finnish cities to progressively adapt their urban structures to take into account the increasing age of its inhabitants. What challenges does this pose for the Finnish healthcare sector and how is the health sector going to involve in the next 10-15 years?

The aging population will greatly increase the cost of the healthcare sector as people suffer from more illnesses with advancing age. Novel and more efficient therapies will be required to treat age-related diseases. The increasing problem of loneliness in society is another challenge that has to be overcome as loneliness has been found to have an adverse effect on health.

Why should international investors look to Finnish nanotechnology companies like Nanoform?

The rule of law in Finland is strong. It is considered important to undersell and to deliver on one’s promises. This is a good foundation for a constructive relationship. The high level of education within the Finnish workforce, together with a moderate salary structure, is another good reason why international investors should look to Finnish nanotechnology companies. Entrepreneurship has become fashionable, and as technology interests a wide range of people, this provides an opportunity for investors.

What are Nanoform’s strategic plans for the near future, over the next 5-10 years?

We want to give our customers the ability to derive more value from their R&D and sales in relation to innovative drug products. Our long-

Prof. Edward Hæggström

CEO of Nanoform

Yrjö Närhinen

CEO of Terveystalo

well. This means that there is an element of the startup spirit, we have the ability to think a little bit like a startup, even though we have the resources of a larger company, which I think makes quite a unique combination and that, in a sector of healthcare which goes through quite hectic development as of the moment, I think the combination of that has allowed us to approach healthcare from a different angle, and maybe not have as much historical baggage. This, I think, has led to us to become quite keen on utilizing data and technology for the improvement of the individual.

Nowadays, there is a demand to shift from acute care to home-based healthcare, how do you see that shaping the healthcare industry over the next 5 to 10 years?

The phenomena of going what I’d call reactive to proactive is really the notion of putting the majority of the effort of healthcare to treat illnesses or to intervene earlier and not to have it. To simplify the math, at the end of the day, we treat illnesses better than ever, globally. So actually, our healthcare and our lifestyle have improved our life expectancy tremendously. The flip side of the Western world is that we create more and more lifestyle diseases than ever. These we can prevent, because these are, in a way, created partly by us. If the information and the data allows us then to intervene early, to make sure things like diabetes would not come, or that you can live with it — I think that change is the face of healthcare. There is an increasing amount of need and demand in areas like prevention, helping people sleep better, exercise properly, in other words there’s an increasing population who’s very keen on doing things themselves to live longer and better. And I think technology is just one of the key enablers for that. The face of healthcare will

I think that’s an incredibly exciting thing because healthcare classically, is broken down into a need, a visit, and a referral. So we’re quite sporadic. The healthcare sector is going through a major transformation, driven by a change in customer behavior and digitalization. These shifts both enable and drive us to reevaluate old processes and production structures. What data, technology and personalized medicine together allow us to do is make sure that we utilize this information for better customer service, better experience, and better healthcare results, as well as make sure that we can provide this experience and service 24/7, regardless of time and place. For me, utilizing data in preventing lifestyle-related disease like diabetes or psychological issues, workplace stress, things like this, provides us with a window wherein you can access masses of data and therefore use Big Data to personalize your experience. So your need is completely different in healthcare than mine. We still need to provide that same system through thousands of specialists and hundreds of clinical units. Data and digital allows for that mass customization in a completely different way than your classical hospital.

Terveystalo is a relatively young company, having been founded only 15 years ago. How much has it changed in this time?

It’s changed incredibly, I have worked here for almost ten years here. I joined the company when it was turning over about 200 million euro, since then we’ve grown almost threefold in size, and fivefold in profit. We have grown tremendously, we have grown over a hundred acquisitions in our time. If you actually look at the past fifteen years, I think we’ve gone from 60 individuals to close to over 10,000 in that time. It’s grown very fast, and there have been a lot of acquisitions as

conclusions. We brief the physician and we match the individual and the treating professional as well as possible, understanding specialty, time, place — for that kind of vast amount of data, AI will serve. So it’s a process vehicle at this stage, then later on I think we can find clinical uses. They’ve already done that across the world, but I would say, let’s improve the process, and for that I think there are many uses for AI.

Indeed, “it’s a race with machines, not against machines.”

Not at all, and I think it’s not about replacing humans either, it’s more like enhancing intelligence as opposed to being artificial. Healthcare is one of those industries where there’s a lot of data. It’s often unmodularized, it’s difficult to gather, and it’s all over the place. We can utilize these technologies to make sure that we draw the right conclusions and we reduce quality variances.

What does Finland as a healthcare brand represent to you?

Finland is a country that I look at as having high quality healthcare, high quality education, and safety. We are a country where everybody has access to high quality healthcare and education, so in that way Finland is very fortunate. That also means that we need to be the ones that should develop the face of healthcare. We are fortunate that everybody has full access to healthcare to begin with; not everybody in the world does.

change to be more holistic in a way that is not only treatment but is also prevention and a long-term relationship. And that will tend to change from acute care to more of a relationship. I don’t think you need to go home, because you can equally have that relationship here.

During the last year, we invested in well-being services. The major health challenges facing our society, including lifestyle diseases and musculoskeletal disorders as well as mental health problems, involve high costs for Finland. We aim to support comprehensive preventive practices that keep people as healthy as possible. We want to be partners in everyday life, and less frequently at times of illness.

On the subject of new technologies, would you say that AI is still latent in the healthcare sector?

In healthcare, we work with several different IT systems, the data is quite scattered around in healthcare, so it is relatively complex to first gather the data into one set of systems, which we’ve done. We operate our 260 clinics through one MRI system, one lab system, one patient record system and one billing booking so essentially you come here and it’s all in the one system. So every physician has the same data. Now once you start to accumulate that data, the question is, how do we convert that data to a physician, in a way that helps them make better decisions? AI, in our case, needs to harness the data to allow the professional to make better decisions. I’m not looking at ways to replace the individual, in our case, it’s to reduce quality variances to make sure that the treating physician has the best possible data in the easiest possible way. We look at ways to quickly match the need and the professional. And there we can use AI so it can use learning mechanisms to make sure we draw right

Yrjö Närhinen

CEO of Terveystalo

Maria Lavonen

CEO of Vivago

Vivago CARE watch?

We are one of the first companies bringing the activity wrist unit into to the market. It is like a normal watch but the key is that we are able to monitor the health status with the help of our algorithms. We transfer the information to the cloud system which can be accessed by the healthcare professionals and relatives, providing them with real-time, online analytics. We can indicate the changes that are relevant for the user’s health. This information is vital and allows preventative care and the health providers can quickly act. These services allow people to stay at home longer and also prevent the need to go to the hospital. The services can be also used in rehabilitation and for a faster discharge from hospital.

How difficult a challenge has it been to digitalize the elderly healthcare market?

Everything is digitalized today: we have cloud systems, mobile apps, and the technology change is continuing to accelerate a lot to build up services and solutions - things we couldn’t really do five years ago are now possible. Real-time data can be used to help our living and health standards. The issue that the number of people who need to have this help keeps growing, which creates huge opportunities for such healthcare technology. We can measure the quality of the care and the conditions, and also the functional capability of the person and any changes. That's why you can decide whether the person can live at home or would be better to receive treatment in the nursing home or need for acute care.

Vivago has been awarded the Finnish OHTO Innovation Award and the German Design Award. What have been the key reasons for this suc

cess?

I think that one of our key strengths is our very high-tech monitoring system which incorporates very accurate algorithms. Our products are medical devices which have been approved by authorities, which means that the information they provide is clinically validated and proven to be efficient for purpose and safe for the user. Secondly, we have a deep understanding of the needs of elderly people and we provide solutions which are very easy to use. Patients have their CARE watch, and doctors and nurses can access this information easily.

Vivago clearly believes in Finland the brand, what does Finland as a brand mean to you?

I think Finland represents the ideas of high-technology and high understanding of advanced solutions and services. This technology is underpinned by excellent education and co-operation with clinics and hospitals; education and the healthcare segment have been co-operating for a long time. You need to have good access to clinical trials in order to design products which suit their clinical purpose. Here at Vivago, we provide the technology solutions, but the key is how our solution is used by people, how it adapts in order to provide better care; it is a tool to change the world as we continue to use information in a new way.

Helsinki is the Northern European hub for life science and health tech innovations, business development and collaboration. Why has Helsinki has become such a hotbed of medical innovation attracting an increasing number of investors?

I think that medical research has been one of the key areas of healthcare here in Finland, which has been supported by Government. Coopera

digital, personalized and preventive”. Is Finland ready to become a European or even global market leader in these fields?

Finland is very advanced in this area. The acceptance and use of the technology is high. In terms of digitalization we are going to see quite a dramatic change, not just in Finland, but around the world. Now the possibility to make very big changes in the area of healthcare is not far away.

What is the legacy you, as CEO of Vivago, would like to leave for future generations here in Finland and further beyond?

I would like to have the legacy of a person who took care of the elderly, who took care of the people with chronic illnesses. We have the opportunity to have personalized and very good quality of care for everyone. I feel passionately about taking care of the elderly, because these were the people who built this country back up after the war when we were fighting for independence, so we have a duty to take care of them and generations after.

What would you say to investors to convince them to invest in Finland?

I would say that in Finland, there is a really good understanding of where healthcare is going, where the technology is going and what is possible to achieve. Finnish people are very practical; we have the right people and the right teams here, who are capable of building up the solutions for the future.

tion with the technical universities and business schools has also been essential.

The rate of chronic illnesses continues to grow year on year. How is this going to shape the industry in the next 10-15 years?

I think that we are going to see a continued rise in the demand for much more personalized care. In order to provide personalized care we can incorporate digitalization so we can combine the existing information regarding the person's health, medication, genomics and the real-time information of health status change. When carrying out the treatment planning, one needs to understand how the medication is affecting them personally. With regards chronic illnesses, you may see your condition changing a lot and the clinicians needs to know the effects of the medication. This is where health monitoring will be so crucial in order to analyse the effectiveness of the treatment.

The Finnish town of Pori has embraced Vivago — could you tell us about this collaboration?

Pori Rehabilitation Hospital is using the Vivago system and this has helped them monitor many different types of patients. They monitor the health status information while at the same time continue with their rehabilitation services from hospital to home. Previously, people were spending a long time at the hospital, but now rehabilitation begins as soon as possible after the acute care in order to heal better and quicker. Sleep plays a huge part in the rehabilitation process and Vivago systems help with understanding and monitoring this. Vivago also allows the hospital to monitor the patients remotely at home to see whether or not their recovery is going as planned.

It has been said that “the future of health is digital, personalized and preventive”. Is Finland

Maria Lavonen

CEO of Vivago

Lauri Sippola

CEO of Kaiku Health

in Finland right now. We have been able to work with Aalto University and the university hospitals here in Finland; this collaboration has been paramount for the development of Kaiku Health in the first place. The quality of medical research in Finland is really outstanding, so we also have a great foundation or testbed for medical innovation from that point of view.

How are you moving towards your ultimate goal of predicting future symptoms?

We have already researched the results of being able to actually predict symptoms of some specific indications and treatment combinations. By combining accumulated real-world data, and science, we are also able to utilize, for instance, different machine learning models to even forecast symptoms, which enables more preventive health, and this is very important because the more preventive healthcare we can provide, the better for people and their quality of life, and the better for the health system and society, because it’s much better to be preventive than reactive.

What can we expect in 2019 and beyond from Kaiku Health?

We are expecting exciting growth; we are growing as a team, but we are also growing the pipeline of digital health interventions that we are providing to support different groups of patients, in which we are using the word “digital therapeutics”, and we also look forward to publishing more results from research and studies. We are looking forward to working with global partners in the years to come.

What does Finland as a healthcare brand represent to you?

For me, Finland represents trust, integrity, and

How is digital symptom monitoring changing the face of healthcare?

That is a very good question; in a very big picture, we are contributing to a total paradigm shift of healthcare as digital symptom monitoring contributes to, in a significant part, to value-based healthcare. Value-based healthcare is something that will be paramount to the future of our healthcare systems; these systems need to pay for the outcomes, not the transactions. To be able to pay for the outcomes, we need to be able to measure the outcomes. Digitization and digital symptom monitoring are key tools for measuring what matters to patients and to healthcare systems.

Just how important is the patient experience to Kaiku? How does this mindset affect the R&D process?

The superior user-experience is our most important asset or strength — this is something that has always been built into the design process and how we continuously develop Kaiku Health. When we started in Aalto University, we started by interviewing many patients, the first ones were from the Docrates Cancer Center in Helsinki, which is one of the leading centres in the Nordics. Later, we worked with Helsinki University Hospital and other university hospitals. Kaiku Health has been created together with patients and we are continuously looking to improve, using new user-research and working with our user-experience team.

How important is industry-academic collaboration to Kaiku Health?

It is super important. We wouldn’t be here without that collaboration between academia and us. This has been very important to the whole startup ecosystem which we have here

high education. Finland, as a small country, also represents pro-global, international thinking because we are such a small country and from day one, we have thought about how we can be part of the international market.

What would you say to an audience of global investors to convince them to invest in Finland?

The healthcare system needs to change to a value-based system. In Finland and the rest of the Nordic countries, we are already several steps ahead of these chains with a much more value-based system, and there are a lot of innovations to support this, so this is the perfect time for investing, finding those innovations and contributing to also changing the whole system in the world.

At last year’s Slush CEO of Sulapac Ms Suvi Haimi mentioned how “The choices we make today form the heritage we leave for our children”. What is the legacy you, as CEO of Kaiku Health, would like to leave for future generations here in Finland and further beyond?

We want to contribute to a sustainable future for our children. There are tremendous challenges, like in healthcare or in environmental issues and we want to contribute to that. We’re not doing it because it’s easy, but it’s necessary.

Lauri Sippola

CEO of Kaiku Health

Pekka Soini

Director General of Business Finland

Can you tell us about the process of helping startups to get off the ground, and more established companies to try to go global?

In a nutshell, Business Finland can offer funding services, advice and coaching and networks; it is a public organization that is sharing the risk with startup founders and investors with grants and loans. For example Tempo funding (€50,000 grant ) is meant for accelerating the early-stage growth of startups. Business Finland funding for startups amounted to €153M in year 2018.

Our 100 experts in over 30 different countries help with market-specific questions. Business Finland programs and delegate trips offer opportunities to meet potential customers along with other companies. The go-to-market services of our partners – for example, UCLA's Global Access Program and FinChi in China – helps companies in entering new markets.

How important is the idea of collaboration to Business Finland? (In terms of companies collaborating together, industry-academic collaboration etc.). Is this something Business Finland actively promotes?

Collaboration is at the heart of Business Finland. We want to promote collaboration between companies and academia and we do this for example by facilitating the birth of different ecosystems.

Ecosystems are interdependent networks and platforms, where companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, public sector actors and NGOs can work together to create something bigger. Cities can become ecosystems, when they make the strategic decision to become testing areas for different smart solutions. While the public sector

should never take charge of managing ecosystems, it can still contribute significantly to their creation and development. This is what we do at Business Finland.

Can you tell VoL readers about Business Finland’s involvement in the healthcare sector and how it catalyses growth?

Business Finland helps Finnish companies to develop and export competitive health and wellbeing solutions and services to global markets. Moreover, Business Finland promotes especially the development of the health data business ecosystems, which utilize our digital data resources and biobanks.

Technologies in exponential performance growth paths are combining in exciting ways to unleash dramatic advances in healthcare and wellbeing. These technologies are not developed in a vacuum. They are being co-created, enhanced and cross-fertilised by other players across the world thanks to the power of democratisation of innovation.

Business Finland launched Smart Life program (2019-2022) was created to boost the digital transformation in health and wellbeing area and plans to invest €80-100m to help innovative companies and competitive ecosystems.

Another example is Business Finland’s Personalized Health program (2018-2021) which supports Finnish innovation and top-level research; creates new business around personalized healthcare area, and promotes growth and renews business life. The program also helps growth companies to raise venture capital and R&D funding, grows new know-how and attracts international venture capital, R&D and business units to Finland.

As per the State of European Tech Report, the battle to attract talent in Europe is intensifying. What is Business Finland’s role in this vision?

Globalisation has fostered a global competition for talent, as knowledge economies increasingly rely on highly-skilled workers. Finland and Finnish companies are also competing for these best talents. A big number of highly skilled workers are retiring in the coming years and the knowledge gap needs to be filled with international experts. The Finnish economy is very connected to international trade and the working culture in Finnish companies would benefit from cultural diversity. On the other hand, Finland offers attractive work opportunities and high quality of life, especially for international couples with young children and women in technology and research who find Finland a very good place to work and live.

Business Finland has started a Talent Boost program, which focuses on:

1. ”Work in Finland” country branding and international marketing in recruitment events

2. Attracting international startups to Finland

3. Funding for SME’s to encourage hiring international talents

4. Collaboration with major cities developing Talent Hub concepts

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around them?

UN’s sustainable development goals are here to stay and they are here to stay for a very good reason. When it comes to business, innovations

are the most important source of sustainable economic growth. Major global challenges, such as climate change, require a completely new way of thinking, and this is something we try to promote in Business Finland.

Finland was the first country to launch national Circular Economy Roadmap, and the Finnish Government has set the target for Finland to become the global model country in circular economy for the rest of the world.

While the technologies have developed, we have faced the scarcity of certain raw materials and the price of virgin natural resources have raised. More and more often circulating raw materials have become a real business opportunity. Today we typically refer to waste as a side stream. These side streams have high value and can be turned to valuable raw materials and products and profitable business

Is sustainability an area which Business Finland pays particular attention to? (Supporting businesses who are making the world a better place, any particular stand out stories?)

Definitely. Circular economy is one example of a trend that challenges our old ways of doing things, while at the same time paving way to sustainable, innovation-driven economic growth. Various estimates put the growth potential of circular economy in Finland alone at around EUR 2.5 billion – globally we are talking about nearly thousand times that figure. So saving the world can also be good for business.

We have launched a new four-year program, which covers innovation funding, boosting exports of circular economy solutions and attracting foreign direct investments.

Our program is part of the execution of nation

al-level Circular Economy roadmap.

To boost innovations, the budget of the new program is EUR 300 millions of which Business Finland portion is 50%.

During the first six months of the program we have already funded 66 innovative forerunner projects including both leading companies, SMEs and research organizations with 36 million euros.

As Director-General of Business Finland, what would your message to our VoL readers who are perhaps thinking about investing in or moving operations to Finland? Why relocate and bring your family to Finland?

In Finland, balancing work with life is made easy, and the whole society is committed to equality. Finland is also the poster child for education, and invests in knowledge.

We are leaders in innovation and our startup scene is world-known.

Nature is all around, and everything just works – even the bureaucracy.

To sum it up; Finland works for us, now let it work for you.

Pekka Soini

Director General of Business Finland

Antti Vilpponen

CEO of UpCloud

value on the customer relationship. When you approach a customer relationship with that kind of respect, you only want the best for them and this is the only way that you can build a long-term relationship in my opinion. You cannot compromise on any internal practices, any security practices; you need to hold yourself to high standards and that is what we try to do every day here. We need to be doing the best job in the world on the security front. Otherwise, people would not choose us - reputation and trust are resources that you need to earn.

What is your view on the current state of education in Finland with the future needs of the country in mind (expertise in areas such as AI, cloud and digital solutions)?

I would say from a talent point of view, from a selfish company perspective, we have a very good talent pool in general in terms of the people that we are able to attract but this number is limited. Therefore, I would say that Finland needs to be able to attract more talent to the country but, on the other hand, the quality of the people that come through the education system here is very high-end. Focusing on science and education are not new concepts here in Finland; we have been very proactive in levelling out society through education, bringing in free food into schools etc. Education has been free for as far as I can remember so we really want to give everybody an equal opportunity and I think that the time is now ripe in a sense that we have realized that many countries around the world are struggling with these concepts and it would be great if we could help out in that and even commercialize these through private sector or government efforts.

Helsinki is home to at least 500 start-ups and this number continues to grow year-on-year.

What is it about Helsinki that creates such an entrepreneurial ecosystem?

I think that around 2008, many similar movements began to take place which brought a focus to startups; it was a lot more socially acceptable to start your own company than actually work for a larger company. As sad it is to say but the downturn of Nokia perhaps helped Finnish society in the sense that a lot of the talent that had been at Nokia had to go somewhere. This lead to a big startup movement, which was well supported by the Government. Finland has for the best part of 20 to 30 years had the best programs in place to support young companies.

Slush is one of the biggest things which has had an effect on this mindset. It started off as a very small tech startup event almost 10 years ago and it has grown to become one of the biggest technology conferences in Europe. This was something that was created by students and people who were involved with startups. I was privileged to be around the startup scene at that time and was able to witness how that went and I also started my own media venture in this space called ArcticStartup.

Professor. Edward Haeggstrom of University of Helsinki has said: “I have been to Stanford, I have been to Harvard. The guys here are equally good. They just don’t make a big noise of themselves.” Is there an argument that Finland needs to be more outspoken and confident in order to become a globally recognized brand of innovation and excellence?

I may answer this in a very Finnish way, but I believe that much of our reputation comes from people actually realizing our quality when they use our products/services. We have never been too much about shouting the loudest. Instead, we want to show the world through concrete products/services. However, I do think we can

azon’s Jeff Bezos, who has a great point of view in staying humble. When you look at the world with a “Day 1” perspective everything is ahead of you, no matter what successes you may have had previously. That keeps you humble which is relatively easy for a Finn (smiles) but it gives you that perspective that there is so much to do. Even though we have customers from 130 countries there are so many others we can help with UpCloud. When we help our customers with UpCloud, we believe that they can do more for their customers. We want to grow to become a bigger company in order to showcase those Nordic values.

I would like you to imagine that you are on the main stage of Harvard Business School; you are on stage along with CEOs from each of the other Nordic nations for an exhibition about investing in the Nordic region. You have two or three sentences to tell the audience of investors why now is the time to come to Finland. What do you say?

Finland is at the forefront of many newer and important technologies from a global perspective, be it circular economy, cleantech, healthcare. I don’t hesitate for one moment to say that some of the most important companies in these domains will come from Finland. We are not the biggest country but when you start looking at patents per capita and other aspects that can potentially lead to success, Finland is very well positioned. If you look at cloud technologies, some of the most important technologies within computers have come from Finland.

products/services. However, I do think we can learn from our U.S counterparts and start to make a little more noise in certain parts of the commercialization process.

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around them?

I read a quote some time ago which alluded to the fact that in the next ten years, companies are going to be valued on their values and their impact on society and the planet. I thought it was a great quote, especially from a hedge fund manager; these are the people who sit on top of a lot of people’s money and those people will have to listen to people like this. Being a relatively young person, I see no other way for society to survive; it is our generation’s turn to do something magnificent.

This is something I often ask myself, if I as the CEO of a company can’t do something, how can the average person walking down the street do something? We have begun talking about these concepts here within the company in order to try and make a difference. Recycling has always been very important here in UpCloud, it is an absolute waste to throw something away as opposed to try to find to find a new life for it, be it material or functional technology. Aligning business processes and travel are things we have also been looking at. We rarely visit customers which is quite unique in this business; we try to have online meetings as much as possible.

In November 2016, UpCloud was recognized as one of the top 3 fastest growing tech companies in Finland. What is your vision for the company for the next 3-5 years?

I have to quote one of our competitors here, Am

Antti Vilpponen

CEO of UpCloud

H.E. Sir Eucario Bakale Angüe

Minister of Transport, Technology, Postal Service and Telecommunications

investment or any business initiative carried out here is of very little risk.

Could you tell us about the proposed new city of Djibloho that is being built?

Our idea is that a part or an area in Djibloho, will become a technology city. We have started with the installation of a school, the National Institute of Telecommunications, which is already operating. We are planning to expand it, to make it into more than a school, and expand the area into a technology park, where leading tech companies could come together.

Where do you see your market niches?

We identified four pillars when designing the Horizon 2020 national economic development plan. The first was energy. Equatorial Guinea continues to have enormous energy resources, not only in hydrocarbons but also in other sources of energy. The second pillar was agriculture, you only have to see how green the country is to know that the potential is enormous. The third pillar is fishing, or the blue economy. 90% of our territory is sea – there’s huge potential for tuna production and other seafood products. The fourth pillar that was identified is services. Financial services and tourism are still untapped.

What would you like to say to potential investors?

There is huge potential. Equatorial Guinea is open to work with investors. As far as the investor is concerned, the potential is enormous in our sectors and we are willing to work with and review regulations to make it more attractive.

Antti Koponen

CEO of Kiho

Lari Tirkkonen

Development Manager Kiho

Antti Koponen

CEO of Kiho

Lari Tirkkonen

Development Manager Kiho

terms of compensation. If it is wrong you can correct it and the system will learn from it. That is the power of AI – it is a user-experience. One thing the AI will do is to give us the power to create a user-experience where you can use AR glasses, because if you have the glasses you will have such a rich user interface where you can simply blink or tap which means that the data must be on time and accurate.

Kiho has already entered the U.S market, are you planning to expand further globally?

Antti: That is our plan. The U.S is going to be the first market we target and of course Europe but when you have limited resources, you have to focus on something. When you look at the market size when you want to sell in Europe, you have to have ten languages to cover, ten different cultures to cover, but if you go to the U.S. you get the same sized market with only one language and one culture, so that is the main focus right now.

Helsinki is fertile ground for innovation and creativity, so it’s no surprise that it is now home to over 500 startups. What is it about Helsinki which has helped cultivate such an ecosystem?

Lari: I think it has a lot to do with the education system, which enables you to think in new ways, rather than just pouring information at you and it also has something to do with the equality of the people so everybody access to quality education. You have the knowledge, you have the skills, and you might end up setting up your own company one day.

Would you say that Finland needs to be more outspoken and confident in order to become a

you don’t need do things with the aim of getting fast money.

Speaking of AI, how do you think it can transform traditional industries, in your opinion?

Antti: I think it will transform them completely. Many tasks that we still do today, such as inputting data, will eventually disappear. The jobs which are still present are the ones where you will have to interact with people. AI will do the management but leadership is what will be left. Innovation and leadership may be creating something new. AI provides amazing tools but you still need to understand how to use these tools. It is similar to what happened with manufacturing: the robots came and took away the basic jobs; the same is happening with the work in the office; because there is no need for anyone to make reports or analyze stuff. The information and AI will do it itself. The only thing that is left is to lead and have the vision to create new content.

Could you tell us a little more about your AI-based drivers log?

Antti: The idea is that we created a totally new user-experience for keeping a drivers logbook. Previously, you needed to choose whether this drive was your personal drive or your company drive in order to be able to receive the compensations from them. Now the only thing you have to do is basically drive because there is a tracker in the car where we can get the data from the car’s OEM system. The system will automatically make the log of the drive and based on your previous history, how you have been choosing whether it’s personal or business, it will make the choice and notify you about the allocation in

in my own personal life, and I received many comments about people who have also chosen to take action. It is the people who choose, and they are starting to choose green options. There is a strong consciousness about this topic in Finland, especially among young people. It is in the shareholders’ interests to go green because that is what the customers want. People are looking behind products nowadays, they want to know what it is made of and they make the choice based on things other than how it looks. We hope that the companies that use our products that can present it to their customers so we are recognized as a company who is trying to do the right thing.

What would you say to investors to convince them to come to Finland?

Lari: Finland is a place where you can find the best human resources, a secure environment and it’s the place of the future. We have great innovations and great talent here.

Antti: If you want to invest in a place where really cool innovations happen, Finland is the place to come. We have had to innovate because of where we are and our resources compared to other, bigger countries. Regarding our company, I think if we were in the U.S., we would never have invented this work-time management idea because we would have success with the driver logbook alone but, here in Finland, in order to compete here you need to create the most innovative solutions because the market is so small and competitive. It’s a small market with many players so you have to be the best.

a globally recognized brand of innovation and excellence?

Lari: I would say yes. It is a different thing to carry out marketing here than in the U.S.; we actually have a saying in Finland: “Your neighbors need to tell everyone how good you are, not yourself”. It is built into our culture, and it is often the way here in Finland that companies go unnoticed by the press until they receive recognition from outside Finland, and then everyone is interested. For some reason we have this low self-esteem that’s somehow stopping us from showing how good we are. However, this is changing thanks to the likes of Rovio or Slush, companies which are recognized on a global scale.

Antti, you have said in the past that you “want to save the world from global warming, and my weapon against it is Kiho”. Could you elaborate?

Antti: Quite simply because we optimize the work. Of course, you cannot change everything, but we can change something. If every company that we help optimize uses a little less resources, less fuel it can help make an impact. This also helps in terms of economics— if you can use less resources, you can offer cheaper products or services. If we take Tesla as an example, it shows you don’t have to have a bad car in order to have a green car.

On this subject of environmental impact, how do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around them?

Antti: I think this comes from the customers, they will dictate how companies change their practices. I recently reduced my CO2 emissions

Antti Koponen

CEO of Kiho

Lari Tirkkonen

Development Manager Kiho

Antti Koponen

CEO of Kiho

Lari Tirkkonen

Development Manager Kiho

Mark Cochrane

CEO of Lightneer

happy that the investors had that attitude. They committed to additional funding as well; that really validates that they really believe in us.

From the perspective of a gaming company, how do you think science is engineering solutions for future global challenges?

The power that technology can have for good is incredible. For us as a games company, we like to think of ourselves as scientists; we have a scientific approach to what we do in terms of game development. There’s little doubt that science and technology can be used to help the planet. Things like AI and advances in sciences can be applied in ways to help the world - the possibilities are endless.

On the subject of science, the Finnish government has announced its mission to transform science and education into a winning asset for Finland. If Finland wishes to continue to generate wellbeing and rank among the leading countries in the world in terms of skills, the government claims it must invest even more in education and state-of-the-art research. What’s your view on the current state of education in Finland, mindful of the future needs of the country?

I believe that the schools here are outstanding relative to the U.K; the attitude to education and learning is also very different. Here there is special importance placed on the idea of lifelong learning — here people learn and study continuously, and this is supported by the government. Here teachers are appreciated much more than in the U.K; the standards are much higher in Finland. You have to have a masters degree to be a teacher, for example. Teachers are revered like doctors.

Technology seems to be embraced and encour

Completely. Schools have really embraced technology to improve the learning experience. There are now laptops and tablets in the classroom. Another important thing to note is the general levels of safety in Finland: you often see kids taking the metro or buses on their own to get to school in Helsinki. Another element of education which I like here in Finland is the emphasis on class spirit, rather than an obsession with results tables, which create enormous pressure.

Helsinki is home to at least 500 start-ups and this number continues to grow year on year. What is it about Helsinki that creates such an entrepreneurial ecosystem?

I think it began with the government investing a lot in order to attract talent, like Dublin, who were able to attract tech companies through tax incentives. Business Finland has done a great job through the funding of startups which has greatly helped companies like ourselves. The education system is extremely strong in Finland and people are generally happy here.

What do you think is in store for the future of Finnish gaming?

It’s seriously one of the most competitive markets on the planet, I think it’s one of the hardest ones to predict in terms of what’s going to happen. You have to pick your strategy and go for it. I certainly think there’s a bright future for games development in Finland. Diversity is something you need to have if things change rapidly in one area, you’re safe if you’ve got a diversified strategy.

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around

vestors to be more aware of the impact that their business practices have on the world around them?

I personally think it's really important for more companies to take social responsibility more seriously. Right now Lightneer is still in the startup process and our focus is to make money in the short term to grow as a company and we can then think about sustainability because it is something we feel very passionate about, and we want the games we create to be a force for good. We want to try and leverage the audience around our games to do something good in the future and to help causes we believe in. We want to be more than just a great games company.

Finally, could you share with us some leadership insights, coming into Finland from the UK as Lightneer’s CEO?

I’ve had a professional career for over 25 years, I’ve been lucky enough to work for some great companies like Sony and Popcap Games for example, which were pioneers in the early days. Seeing the good and the bad over the years, I bring good direction for the company in terms of avoiding some of the pitfalls that some of the studios can fall into. So I’m hoping that experience and guidance will help Lightneer chart a good course going forward. We’ve made the pivot and we’re starting to see the results of that, give us another year and I think you’ll see something really interesting happening with Lightneer in terms of results. I’ve never been happier in any company in terms of how we’re executing and the results that are coming from that, I can only see really good things at the end of this.

Mark Cochrane

CEO of Lightneer

Petteri Lahtela

Co-Founder, President and CEO of Oura

will be looking at in the future?

Yes, definitely. After the launch of this product, it has been so successful that the current picture doesn't describe the real situation: it is going to stabilize towards 50/50. There are features which we can provide to the female audience which are unique, such as those related to the menstrual cycle, as well as female athletes and how they can improve performance when they practice in the right phase of their cycle. Moreover, for those users who want to avoid getting pregnant or do want to get pregnant, Oura can help these users understand how they can optimize or minimize the probability. With this form factor, I am very confident we can increase our user base among females.

Oura has been launched in the United States and, therefore, it’s probably fair to say that Oura is a brand ambassador for Finland. What does Finland as a brand represent to you?

I think our brand is closely linked to Finland. Our brand represents this balance of things, how you can create balance in your life. In our company, it means the connection to your nature, your inner nature. Nature is very present here in Finland; it is close to us, especially for us who live in Northern Finland. Nature is the place I go to relax and become closer to myself. Finland has clean nature and clean nutrition. Another thing which is really important in Finland is respect: respèct for all humans and nature. It is this respect and honesty which is at the heart of who we are. Perhaps we are a little too naive, but that is who we are.

Prof. Edward Haeggstrom of University of Helsinki has said: “I have been to Stanford, I have been to Harvard. The guys here are equally good. They just don’t make a big noise of themselves.” Is there an argument that Finland needs to be more outspoken and confident in order to be

come a globally recognized brand of innovation and excellence?

I think this is an opportunity whereby we need to find a way which is suitable for us as Finnish people. We are humble, and we need to find our own way to do it. It is not very realistic for us to be very loud about ourselves - it doesn’t come naturally. If something doesn’t come naturally then it’s like a sticker on your head. We need to find our own way. So far, this way has been based upon doing something so well that people find it eventually due to its quality, but I agree we should be working on raising this a little more.

At last year’s Slush CEO of Sulapac Ms Suvi Haimi mentioned how “The choices we make today form the heritage we leave for our children”. What is the legacy you, as President and Chief Innovation Officer of Oura, would like to leave for future generations here in Finland and further beyond?

One of the main things about our product which we feel most proud about is that helps people to become more aware of their choices. In my view, the only way to change big things such as climate change and healthcare is to increase the awareness of each human being. When people become more aware about the things that affect them and their well-being, then their capacity is automatically in better use for bigger things. We want to empower the individual to understand themselves. This is something that makes me happy. I see that with my own kids; they are becoming more conscious about things such as sleep and are able to learn about their own health themselves.

How do you view the future in terms of global investment and the need for companies and investors to be more aware of the impact that their

business practices have on the world around them?

I would say that it should be mandatory for companies to look at things from that perspective. If you want to bring these disruptive ideas to the world, you have to have investors to work with. I have met with thousands of investors, and the vast majority are still mainly focused on the money aspect of things. That is not sustainable; there needs to be this aspect of common good and taking into consideration the impact that can be done. At Oura, our most important target is to make a big impact, but in a very sustainable way. We can help individuals, and through individuals we can help communities.

I would like you to imagine that you are on the main stage of Harvard Business School; you are on stage along with CEOs from each of the other Nordic nations for an exhibition about investing in healthcare in the Nordic region. You have two or three sentences to tell the audience of investors why now is the time to come to Finland. What do you say?

In Finland we have the best existing technologies, science and opportunities for solving the big problems in the world, be it in healthcare, climate change or to address other serious issues. There are lots of opportunities to solve big problems through investing in the teams in Finland.

Petteri Lahtela

Co-Founder, President and CEO of Oura