Insights

Ian Roberts, CTO of Bühler and Michael Thiel, Chief Science Officer and Co-founder of Nanoscribe have been awarded with the title European Chief Technology Officer of the Year 2016 in their respective categories: large corporations and SMEs. The awards ceremony took place during the CTO Forum 2016 in Evonik Creavis GmbH, Marl, Germany on October 27^th, 2016. Both awardees serve as prominent role models fuelling growth and strengthening European innovation and technology leadership.

The European innovation and business environment is facing severe structural changes, requiring key players to continuously update strategies to maintain and foster competitiveness. Hence, a new breed of innovation is emerging. It exploits disruptive technologies to solve societal challenges sustainably and profitably by blurring the borders between research, industry and governments. It is called Open Innovation 2.0.

Carl Haglund, the Vice President of  Kaidi’s European strategy, has been appointed CEO of Kaidi Finland. Up to date, the acting CEO of Kaidi Finland has been Pekka Koponen, CEO and Founder of Spinverse. Koponen undertook the role of CEO of Kaidi Finland initially as part of Spinverse's task of building one-stop-shop Finnish operations for Kaidi Finland. Koponen continues his role as chief adviser in the Kemi biofuel refinery project as part of the cooperation between Kaidi Finland and Spinverse.

Shipping companies are actively looking for solutions to reduce fuel consumption and environmental emissions of vessels, particularly due to the recent fuel price instability as well as the forthcoming environmental regulations. Spinverse customer Norsepower is ready to address this challenge utilising new technology, advanced materials and leading-edge control system.

Starting in October 2016, Small and medium-sized enterprises in Finland will be able to benefit from the Innovation Voucher scheme. Introduced as a pilot venture by Tekes financial services, the Innovation Voucher is worth 5 000 € and is meant for micro-enterprises and SME’s. A company that receives the voucher can purchase professional innovation services from a service provider, that has a special know-how or expertise that the voucher recipient does not have. The Innovation Voucher is a part of the Enterprise Package that the Finnish government announced in April 2016. The package aims to promote entrepreneurship by providing SMEs with access to tools they may require to realise their innovation potential.

5 small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) from Finland have been selected in the latest round of Horizon2020 SME Instrument Phase 2. Each project receives up to € 2.5 million to finance innovation activities. Three out of five Finland’s winning cases in this cut-off secured funding with the help of Spinverse.

Spinverse focuses on growth and expansion. Since May 2016, we have opened a new office in Sweden and significantly reinforced our team of experts.

Disrupt or Be Disrupted: do you know what will reshape your industry?

Launched in October 2015 the Fingrid idea competition challenged companies of all sizes to submit their business ideas addressing the topic of grid maintenance development. Which, essentially, means enhancing grid performance, reducing inconvenience caused by power outages and lessening environmental impacts and energy consumption. All while reducing the cost of power delivery.

Spinverse has recently opened a new office in Stockholm. Located at the Ringvägen 100, at the heart of the central Stockholm district of Södermalm, the new address offers excellent connections around the "Venice of Scandinavia" for the Spinverse team.