100x100

100x100 PLAYBOOK

100 Finnish startups with over €100M in revenue

Finland needs faster, stronger growth than ever before. Growth doesn’t happen through talk – it happens through action. And those actions are taken in ambitious growth companies.

Globally, seven of the ten most valuable companies are technology companies. In Finland, however, the trend is moving in the opposite direction: fewer high-growth tech companies are being founded.

That’s why the 100x100 initiative was created.

Our goal is simple and concrete: 100 Finnish startups that each grow to €100M in annual revenue. The entire startup ecosystem stands behind this mission.

When we reach this goal, Finland will see a new kind of economic growth, tens of thousands of new jobs, and a significant increase in annual tax revenue. But the impact won’t stop there.

Growth companies are working on the world’s biggest challenges, from climate change and social inequality to curing diseases. At the same time, successful tech companies create a new generation of founders who reinvest their experience, expertise, and capital back into the ecosystem — building the foundation for the next wave of growth.

Tech companies in Finland with €100M+ revenue

19/100

This is how we achieve the 100x100 goal

1

Making Finland one of the best places in the world to build a company

When both top local talent and the best international founders choose Finland as the place to start and grow their businesses, growth is not a coincidence but becomes the natural outcome.

  • Finnish universities should actively attract international students and researchers.

    They should also support Entrepreneurship Societies and make entrepreneurship a core part of their curricula, especially in technical fields. Aalto University’s Founder School is a strong example of how this can be done in practice.

    The conditions for research commercialization must be strengthened so that Finland attracts top researchers interested in entrepreneurship and offers them a clear and competitive path to building research-based spinout companies.

  • Developing the Maria 01 campus into an even more international startup hub, one that attracts top teams from around the world to Finland.

    The City of Helsinki to invest in the renovation and long-term development of the Maria 01 campus to support this ambition.

  • Specialists and experts relocating to Finland should be offered a two-week service guarantee.

    Within this timeframe, their visas or residence permits would be processed, and essential practical arrangements, such as opening a bank account and securing childcare, would be handled efficiently and seamlessly.

  • Taxation should be fair and designed to support growth. It should encourage companies to scale and make it attractive to bring international talent to Finland, for example, through competitive key employee tax schemes.

  • More broadly, European legislation should support startup growth and consistent rules across all countries (EU-INC).

    Europe, including Finland, needs to be a competitive platform for startups, capable of competing with the best ecosystems, such as the US.

2

The best companies are built when diverse people come together to solve problems. That’s why entrepreneurship should be accessible, welcoming, and appealing to everyone.

Making entrepreneurship attractive to everyone

  • Support grassroots initiatives, such as student-led startup projects and early-stage entrepreneurs, for example, by increasing the grants distributed by the Startup Foundation.

  • Accelerate the commercialization of research conducted in Finland by fostering stronger collaboration between the startup ecosystem and the research community.

    Provide better incentives for research groups and create a clearer path from research to commercialization.

    Introduce a tax deduction system for R&D activities that better supports startup companies and uses tax credits to attract skilled R&D professionals.

  • Showcase entrepreneurship early and widely. Through school visits, events, and positive media coverage, starting a company should be seen as a realistic career path, giving young people early exposure to the startup world.

    Lower the threshold for top professionals. Encourage experts in their fields to start growth companies by making it easier to move from specialist to entrepreneur.

    Build a “learnings-to-entrepreneurship” culture. Inspire experts who have gained experience in growth companies to build their own ventures.

    Put growth entrepreneurs at the center of decision-making. Encourage large companies and organizations to involve growth entrepreneurs on their boards and as advisors, spreading expertise, ambition, and entrepreneurial thinking more widely.

  • If women were as active as men in founding growth companies, Finland could see a 78% increase in startups.

3

Improving the chances of startup success

Finland doesn’t just need more growth companies — it needs bolder, stronger startups with the potential to compete at the very top internationally.

  • Send more Finnish startup teams abroad, giving them the chance to learn from the world’s leading ecosystems, such as Silicon Valley or Stockholm.

  • Collaborate with top international programs like Seedcamp or Y Combinator, and involve the best growth company entrepreneurs as mentors.

  • Startups should be seen as a pathway for turning inventions arising from university and company R&D into products, productivity, and societal impact.

    Create systematic opportunities for both young and more experienced entrepreneurs to build growth companies based on university-originated inventions and research results.

  • Connect experienced and new-generation entrepreneurs more actively. Encourage knowledge-sharing and mentorship to pass on lessons and expertise.

    Train more product experts and software developers. Develop talent at every level of education and inspire them to become growth entrepreneurs.

    Encourage aspiring founders to explore technical fields as a path to entrepreneurship.

Contributing to the 100x100 goal

Slush

  • Slush is the world’s largest gathering of venture capital and a meeting place for the global startup ecosystem. Most importantly for the 100x100 goal, however, is to annually introduce 2,000 young volunteers to the startup ecosystem.

Maria01

  • Maria 01 attracts top international founders to Finland by offering them a base where they can grow, build networks, and strengthen the ecosystem’s international growth.

Junction

  • Junction is Europe’s largest hackathon organizer, offering thousands of young people a startup simulation that encourages them to build things together.

Founders House Helsinki

  • Founders House Helsinki brings Finland’s most ambitious early-stage founders under one roof into an environment where they challenge each other to think bigger and move faster. When top talent builds side by side with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem support, the conditions are created for the emergence of globally significant technology companies and GDP-level growth.

Aalto Founder School

  • Aalto Founder School was established to shape Aalto students into the builders of the future. The Founder Sprint program focuses specifically on training students to become entrepreneurs who aim to grow their companies to €100 million in revenue.

Mimir

  • MIMIR advances the 100x100 goal through its grassroots programs and advocacy, which change the culture, structures, and ways top teams are born around university research. MIMIR aims to tenfold the number of spinouts originating from Finnish universities over the next ten years, together with policymakers, universities, investors, and other ecosystem actors.

SILTA

  • SILTA raises the ambition of Finland’s startup scene by opening doors to Silicon Valley for growth entrepreneurs and helping them scale their ideas into world-class success stories.

Finnish Startup Community

  • The Finnish Startup Community strongly influences society to make Finland the best place in the world to found and grow startups. Members of Finnish Startup Community form a strong network where peer learning and mutual support encourage growth companies to scale toward the 100x100 goal.

FR8

  • FR8 brings the world’s sharpest young tech talent to Finland and exposes the Finnish ecosystem to the global top level. The ambition, networks, transfer of expertise and rise in standards strengthen Finland’s position as a place from which companies can realistically grow to €100 million in revenue.

Wave Ventures

  • Wave Ventures is Europe’s largest next-generation VC that supports the 100x100 goal by making venture capital easily accessible to founders. Beyond capital, Wave provides comprehensive support for the key early-stage steps of a company — from direction and strategy to networks and follow-on funding.

Kiuas

  • Kiuas is a Collective Founder Office for early-stage teams, combining space, community, and momentum to build faster and go further. We push early-stage startups to reach the 100x100 goal, faster than ever.

Tesi

  • Tesi invests directly or through funds into the most promising, scalable Finnish high-tech companies together with private investors, so that more growth companies founded in Finland can reach €100 million in revenue.

Dash

  • Dash brings hundreds of interdisciplinary students together to solve problems and learn about entrepreneurship.

Business Helsinki

  • Business Helsinki participates in the 100x100 goal by supporting the creation of new growth companies through startup and scale-up advisory services. We strive to advance startup entrepreneurship among women to balance the gender gap and unlock the full entrepreneurial potential in our city.

The Shortcut

  • The Shortcut improves the retention of top talent in Finland by supporting spouse integration. We envision a Finland where talent isn’t limited by background, and empower this by fostering a more inclusive and diverse Finnish workforce.

The 100x100 project and the 100x100 Playbook were supported by funding from the TT Foundation.