Insights

Spinverse founder and Chairman of the board Pekka Koponen and Managing Director Laura Koponen share their thoughts about the year 2021, when two major EU funding programs will be launched.  The first funding program is the seven-year Horizon Europe of more than 95 B€ and the second is the European Recovery Package, which will release 750 B€ within just a few years. There are also opportunities for Finnish companies, although the competition will be fierce. Should your company join? Read here Pekka's and Laura's expert advice to companies and their executives.

This year, the jury consisting of leading Finnish technology influencers selected EVP and CTO Jyrki Ovaska of UPM and CTO Duleepa Wijayawardhana of Supermetrics as the winners in the CTOs of the Year 2021 Awards. As a new recognition, the Innovation Professor of the Year 2021 was also awarded, and it was given to Professor Mikko Möttönen of Aalto University and VTT.

Demands posed by digitalisation and environmental issues drive companies to invest more in R&D&I, reveals the latest CTO Survey conducted by Spinverse, Technology Industries of Finland and Business Finland. The survey sent to 400 respondents indicates a two-fold trend in R&D investments.

In close collaboration with several LuxTurrim5G partners, the Aalto Design Factory (ADF) team has developed four comprehensive collections of Smart Urban Furniture that not only fit into various cities’ requirements but also provide different infrastructures designed to equip the smart cities of the future. Based on a human-centric approach, the team developed a product-service ecosystem, where technology is used to enhance citizens’ wellbeing. The results of the extensive work of the design team were presented in a showcase in mid-December 2020.

The newly launched National Battery Strategy strengthens Finland’s role as a competitive, competent and sustainable player in the international battery industry. Spinverse collaborated with Gaia Consulting to provide their collective expertise on the battery strategy work for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The FuturoLEAF research project was kicked off in autumn 2020 after receiving funding from the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) EU call. The aim of the FuturoLEAF project is to design a solid-state cell factory (SSCF) that efficiently captures CO₂ and light by using photosynthetic microbial cells and nanocellulosic building blocks, thus enabling more efficient and sustainable chemical production. Spinverse supported the project consortium in the project proposal phase, securing a winning proposal in this competitive call.

Horizon Europe is the next framework program to fund state-of-the art innovative projects. The  EIC Accelerator is the flagship funding instrument under Horizon Europe for start-ups and SMEs with radically new ideas for rolling out marketable innovation solutions and breakthrough projects. Winning companies with ambitions to grow and scale up may get an opportunity to receive up to 15 M€ in equity investments and 2.5 M€ in grants. 

The annual CTO Forum co-organised by Business Finland, Technology Industries of Finland and Spinverse is approaching on the 16th February, 2021. The spring event boasts interesting keynotes about sustainability and green digitalisation from ABB and SSAB, and award ceremonies for CTOs of the Year 2021 and Innovation Professor of the Year 2021. This spring, the event is virtual and we want to welcome everyone to join in!

Many companies have offerings that are just as suitable for the international market as they are for the Swedish market, which means it is interesting for companies to expand globally.
"It is both difficult and expensive for suppliers to enter markets abroad. However, with a delegation trip, where several operators collaborate, a neutral platform is created that can easily open doors," says Frida Barrett, Innovation Project Manager, IMCG, and recently responsible for a delegation trip to Chile.

Spinverse is one of the nine partners in the STARDUST project, launched in 2017, to create a miniaturised neurosurgical implant leading to a proof-of-concept for a new treatment approach for Parkinson’s disease. The four-year project has now progressed to its final year, coming a few steps closer to introduce novel ways to treat a wide variety of diseases.