Green business offers a great opportunity to enhance global economic growth. Green growth leans on economically viable business models, which support the development of products and services with environmental benefits and reduce resource use and waste. Compared to traditional business models, these business models have a lower environmental impact. To these end, Green growth and eco-innovations have been given high priority on the agenda of governments and institutes such as OECD, UN and EC. In Finland, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has recently started a strategic programme for environmental business.
Green business models need new types of innovations and out of the box thinking; the environmental benefits and challenges need to be managed along the whole product or service life cycle. Creation of new sets of value networks and re-organization of the old ones provide business opportunities for different types of companies, including SMEs and start-ups, in Finland but also internationally. A huge potential for improvement of resource efficiency and new business models in global value networks lies in the developing economies and megacities in Asia.
The Tekes Green Growth programme was launched in 2011 to identify potential new growth areas for the sustainable economy business. The programme aims at a leap forward in energy and material efficiency of production and service chains over the entire life span of products. The programme targets companies seeking to grow or renew their business in the face of changes in energy and raw material prices, and impacts of laws and regulations.
Spinverse Oy, acting as the programme coordinator supports the programme in achieving its green growth targets. Along that, Spinverse promotes the general targets of green economy. By combining its industrial, financial and scientific expertise with world-wide networks, Spinverse has extensive experience with industrial and public sector clients for commercializing new technologies, including various green technologies. Spinverse also activates new innovation processes for green business ideas by helping to create new businesses.
The Tekes Green Growth programme provides funding and other services, including coaching, for companies.