Insights

Allergies and asthma affect at least a quarter of the population. While often harmless, an increasing number of people suffer from severe allergies, resulting in more than 300.000 avoidable deaths per year. The WHO therefore declared allergy a major health problem of the 21st century. Currently, medical practitioners must pre-select very few allergens for in-vitro testing, based on prior anamnesis, which often results in false or incomplete diagnosis. There is no cost-efficient technology to improve the quality of diagnosis to an optimal level for patient-tailored and evidence-based treatment. The fast-growing segment of molecular diagnostic tests requires a new generation of assays and laboratory automation.

MetGen's CTO, Matti Heikkilä, and Laura Koponen, Managing Director of Spinverse were on Finnish national tv, Huomenta Suomi, discussing the grand vision: wood to replace oil. In practice wood will be used to produced products, which are currently made from oil, starting with packaging materials. Moreover, the SWEETWOODS project, a consortium of nice European companies,  has received 21M€  of EU-funding with the aim of producing wood-based biomaterials for the first time on an industrial scale. These wood-based materials can be used to replace plastic in various everyday applications.

Innovation is proven to be the single most efficient way to encourage growth and renewal. Should Finland once again be made the spearhead of innovation all others compare themselves to?

The bi-annual CTO Forum spring event was held on 19th of March at restaurant Palace. This time the focus of the event was on Finland 4.0 - how to increase the R&D expenditure of GDP to 4.0%.

Vesa Varjonen, Vice President of Research and Technology at Planmeca and Matti Heikkilä, CTO of MetGen have been chosen as CTOs of the Year 2018.  The jury consisting of leading Finnish technology influencers emphasized the significant role of the awarded CTOS on renewal of the industry. The CTO of the Year Awards are given by Spinverse together with Technology Industries of Finland and Business Finland to highlight the importance of Chief Technology Officers work on the future competitiveness of Finnish industries. 

LuxTurrim5G, the Nokia Bell Labs driven collaborative ecosystem project coordinated by Spinverse, enabled Espoo City to reach the finals of the Intelligent Community of 2018 contest. The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced the seven finalists on the 8th of February in New York. The think tank describes the finalists as cities that have done the leap from Smart Cities to Intelligent Communities.

Temperature sensors, drug tests and disease detection devices made out of paper: the future of green electronics has kicked-off  with the INNPAPER project. The four-year project aims to develop alternative solutions to traditional electronics. It is funded by the European Commission and has a budget of €7.5 million.

Spinverse and the Nordic Council of Ministers through the Danish Business Authority have broadened the CTO Forum concept to cover all Nordic countries. The first ever CTO Forum Nordics was held in Stockholm, Sweden on the 14th of December 2017. The aim of the day was to find ways to enhance Nordic cooperation in industrial digitalisation: Industry 4.0.

Tekes Smart City and Environment event “100 Lasissa”, Helsinki, 12.12.2017

Helsinki-based edtech software company 3DBear Ltd has raised over one million euros of seed funding. Investors are New York -based Rethink Education VC, a publicly listed media and publishing company Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapaino Oyj, chairman of the Board of Directors of Basware Hannu Vaajoensuu through his investment company, angel investor Tero Lehtonen and an edtech investor and founder Mitch Weisburgh. Current investors Spinverse Group, Glyn Eggar, Kaisa Olkkonen and Veli-Pekka Saarnivaara made additional investments.