Business Finland

Business Finland is a public organization under the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy. It was established on 1 January  2018, with the goal of attracting trade, tourism, and foreign investment, and providing funds for innovation to Finland. And as such, Business Finland is also involved in funding Finnish space researches, under the New Space Economy program, as well as startup companies, under Young Innovative Company funding program among other projects. The organization is made up of two entities: Innovation Business Finland (a government agency) and Business Finland Oy (a government-owned corporation controlled by the agency).

History
The predecessor of the agency was Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Finnish: Innovaatiorahoituskeskus Tekes), while the predecessor of the corporation was Finpro Oy. Tekes was founded in 1983 through the President of Finland, Mauno Koivisto, who ratified the Act on the founding of Tekes. "Tekes" is derived from Tekniikan edistämiskeskus (Center for Advancement of Technology), also translated as National Technology Agency or Technology Development Centre. The centre was founded primarily in response to an economic recession during the 1970s. At its formation in 1983, it employed twenty people. It began researching energy technology in 1995.

In 2009, Tekes invested €579 million in 2,177 projects, of which €343 million was directed to the enterprise projects and €236 million to universities, polytechnics and public research institutes.

In 2018, the Sipilä government fused together Tekes and Finpro Oy, a government-owned corporation for the promotion of exports. The target was to streamline business services and make sure that the service chain is not broken when a company proceeds from R&D to export. The initiative also sought to gain business investors from abroad in addition to those at home.

Organization
There are currently 680 specialists working for Business Finland at 16 offices in Finland, and 42 abroad. Business Finland is a public-sector operator that is part of a larger network called Team Finland, which has a broader goal of bringing "together all public internationalization services". Business Finland also has a board of directors, which includes people familiar with the industry. The board of directors also includes a representative of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. As of 2021, this position is occupied by the vice-chairman, Petri Peltonen who is also the Undersecretary of State for Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The board of directors decides on the allocation of funding, while the executive director acts as the Board's representative. The composition of the Leadership Team and the board of directors is as follows:

The Leadership team

 * Nina Kopola – Director General
 * Ari Grönroos – Executive Director, Funding Services and Support & Enablement
 * Hannu Kemppainen – Executive Director, Strategic Performance Management
 * Teija Lahti-Nuuttila – Executive Director, Network Services
 * Satu Maaranen – Executive Director, Customer Management & Fast Growth
 * Hanna-Mari Parkkinen – Executive Director, Offering Management, Marketing & Communications*
 * Paavo Virkkunen – Executive Director, Finland Promotion Services
 * Risto Vuohelainen – Executive Director, Global Growth
 * Laura Ylä-Sulkava – Executive Director, Renewal & Human Resources

The Board of Directors

 * Chairman – Pertti Korhonen, Professional Board Member
 * Vice-chairman – Petri Peltonen, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
 * Juha Ala-Mursula – Director, Business Oulu
 * Elina Björklund – CEO, Reima Oy
 * Sami Lampinen – CEO, Inventure Oy
 * Miia Porkkala – chairman of the board, Aho Group Oy
 * Nina Vaskunlahti – Under Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Operations
Business Finland functions as a funding agency for research and technology development. Receivers of the funding are universities, polytechnics, research institutes such as VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the European Space Agency, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large corporations, and public bodies. In enterprise projects, funding is given to transform research-stage ideas into viable businesses and may combine direct unconditional funding with guaranteed loans conditional on the success of the resulting business.

At the Time of Merging
Finpro and Tekes merged into Business Finland on January 1, 2018. The staff more or less retained their roles within the newly formed organization, with restructuring only occurring towards the end of the summer. Pekka Soini, the then-Director General of Tekes, became Director of the newly formed organization. Business Finland also launched the website at www.businessfinland.fi on 8 January 2018 where its plans for the future were outlined.

Business Finland remained at the same Tekes and Finpro addresses both internationally and in Finland. At Helsinki it was located at Team Finland House at Porkkalankatu 1.

Current Locations
The agency is based in Helsinki, and is represented in fourteen regional Employment and Economic Development Centres (also known as the TE-keskus) throughout the country. The agency also has offices in Beijing, Brussels, Tokyo, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, and the District of Columbia.