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Top 5 Venture Capital Firms in Finland

Finland’s venture capital landscape is rich and varied, home to numerous firms that play a vital role in driving innovation. In compiling our list of the top five venture capital firms based in Finland, we meticulously considered the number of deals each firm completed annually, ensuring a data-driven approach. While we acknowledge the presence of many outstanding venture capital firms within Finland, space constraints allow us to highlight only the most active players. Our focus is on those firms headquartered in Finland, recognizing their significant contributions to the startup ecosystem both locally and internationally. This list is a nod to those firms’ relentless pursuit of growth and excellence.

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Icebreaker.vc

Founded in 2016, Icebreaker has invested in over 50 fast-growing tech startups built by domain expert founders from companies like Rovio, Nordea, Pipedrive, Eniram, IBM and BCG. In addition to the fund, Icebreaker also runs a community of more than 1000 founders and pre-founders with 5+ years of relevant industry experience and the will to start,build or join strong tech companies. With the initial ticket sizes of €150k – 800K Icebreaker provides enough funding for companies to get to a position of strength and avoid post-accelerator limbo without having to resort to disreputable sources of capital and unfriendly deal terms.

Sector focus: Software, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet

Round: Early Stage Venture, Seed

Total investments: 106

Founding Year: 2016

Notable Investments: Workfellow, ReOrbit, Fixably, Aibidia, IPRally

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Maki.vc

Maki.vc is a European venture capital firm specializing in seed-stage investments. They focus on partnering with deep tech and brand-driven companies that challenge conventional norms. The firm is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs with innovative scientific advancements and a deep understanding of customer needs. Maki.vc stands out for its commitment to backing audacious founding teams and defending unconventional ideas, with an emphasis on building iconic brands and providing more than just financial support. Their approach includes a global network of experts to assist founders in future-proofing their companies.

Sector focus: Software, Information Technology, SaaS, Artificial Intelligence

Round: Early Stage Venture, Seed

Total investments: 69

Founding Year: 2018

Notable Investments: CardioSignal, QDI systems, Databutton, Strise, Quanscient

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Lifeline Ventures

Lifeline Ventures is a venture capital firm that emphasizes supporting resilient founders at the early stages of their companies, often as the first investor. They focus on a wide range of industries, including health, consumer internet, games, and deep technology. The firm values long-term partnerships with founders and offers them hands-on support. They pride themselves on being a trusted advisor and partner, rather than just a funding source, helping startups to build their vision into successful companies.

Sector focus: Software, Health Care, Apps, E-Commerce, Biotechnology

Round: Early Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed

Total investments: 155

Founding Year: 2009

Notable Investments: Solar Foods, Risk Ledger, Measurlabs, Steady Energy, Solu

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Gorilla Capital

Gorilla Capital is a venture capital firm that primarily invests in early-stage, sector-agnostic startups in the Nordics and Baltics, often being the first institutional investor. They focus on “camel” companies, which they describe as ambitious yet resilient startups. Their investment strategy is based on practicality and likelihood of success, rather than mere potential. Gorilla Capital’s team comprises individuals with entrepreneurial experience and a history of successful company exits. They offer hands-on support, mentoring, and a systematic approach to understanding customer needs, favoring sustainable, step-by-step growth.

Sector focus: Software, Information Technology, Internet, Artificial Intelligence, SaaS

Round: Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture

Total investments: 55

Founding Year: 2018

Notable Investments: DealGuru, sommifyAI, Jungle AI, Upsy Company, Xiphera

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Inventure

Inventure VC is a venture capital firm that primarily invests in early-stage companies in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Known for being the first institutional investor in many cases, they have a track record of backing over 90 teams since 2005 in various sectors. Inventure focuses on identifying ambitious founders and helping them overcome regional challenges to reach the next level of growth. They offer investment tickets ranging from €300k to €5m, with a sweet spot of €1-3m, and have a generalist approach with strong convictions in their investments.

Sector focus: Software, Information Technology, Mobile, SaaS, Artificial Intelligence

Round: Early Stage Venture, Seed

Total investments: 147

Founding Year: 2005

Notable Investments: Reveel, Leya AI, Capalo AI, Getpaid, ReOrbit

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Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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