Insights

Business Finland launched a competition in early 2020 for leading companies (so called Veturi companies) with international operations to challenge them to solve significant future problems and increase their research, development and innovation investments in Finland. Four leading companies with three projects were announced as the winners of the competition. Nokia, one of the four winning companies will launch a project called “Unlocking Industrial 5G” which allows the company to innovate new products, services and solutions in Finland and develop and commercialise them together with the companies in the local ecosystem.

Spinverse customers Fortum and Metsä Group join forces with Business Finland to create a world-class R&D programme with pulp fibre from renewable and sustainable sources as its node. The 4-year joint R&D programme, called ExpandFibre, aims to develop ground-breaking technologies and smart business concepts that are required to convert straw and wood pulp fibre into novel bioproducts, such as textile fibres. The R&D programme has been granted EUR 20 million from Business Finland. 

In the midst of the pandemic, Spinverse welcomed several new colleagues onboard. Some of them started as permanent employees and some joined us for the summer. Between April and early June, we have onboarded a total of nine new colleagues at Spinverse with little or no face-to-face contact. How did it go?

The European Commission has announced a remarkable investment programme worth 10 B€ or more, focusing on highly innovative, mature technologies and big flagship projects that aim to bring significant emission reductions in Europe. We asked Risto Savolainen, our Vice President for the Sustainable Industries business unit, to shed more light into this topic.

Business Finland held an interesting webinar on EU funding recently and we collected some key messages for you in two parts. In this second part, we summarise what our Principal Consultant Eeva Viinikka shared regarding practical matters on how to get started with building the consortium and EU funding proposal. She knows what she is talking about: Eeva has supported our clients with EU applications at Spinverse for over six years and helped them secure funding worth millions of euros.

There is a multitude of opportunities in EU funding instruments for sustainable industries who are ready to reinvent and renew their business practices. Applying for EU funding is a long and competitive process but doing your homework will increase your company’s chances to succeed and reap the benefits of European collaboration for years to come. In this first part, we collected some key messages from a recent Business Finland webinar on European Union funding and collaboration. 

Nokia and its partners are targeting the global smart city markets, worth tens of billions of euros.  The LuxTurrim5G ecosystem coordinated by Spinverse has just completed a one-of-a-kind piloting environment that boosts the development of new data-driven services for cities both in Finland and abroad. It covers the route from Nokia HQ Campus in Espoo, Finland, to the nearby Kera railway station. Comprising of 19 smart poles with the latest 5G technology and altogether 250 interconnected devices, it brings super-fast connectivity and extensive sensor network available for practical piloting of digital smart city services. 

Despite the global crisis or perhaps because of it, this is a perfect time to innovate, renew and collaborate. Why is that? We talked to our experts Laura Koponen and Patrick Halford to get an overview of how these times of uncertainty could actually benefit companies developing solutions in health, well-being and sustainability.   

Do you want to deepen your knowledge and understanding on EU funding and co-operation? To continue their introductory-level webinar Business Finland held earlier this year, they are now arranging a webinar delving a bit deeper into the topic and opportunities for companies and other organisations in the field of sustainable manufacturing. The webinar takes place on 27th May, 2020 at 12.15-16.30 (UTC +03:00). 

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus closed schools worldwide and forced educators to discover distance learning solutions to keep up with the school curriculums. In March, a Finnish innovation consulting company Spinverse sponsored Koulu.me website to showcase Finnish edtech companies that offer free access to their solutions for the duration of the crisis. The campaign has been warmly welcomed by the participating companies, educators and educational organisations around the globe.