Finnish cleantech financing entities
Several financing entities are active in the cleantech field in Finland. Government-backed research institutions are increasingly focusing funding on cleantech-related research programs. Also foreign companies operating in Finland are eligible for a wide range of government and EU incentives on an equal footing with Finnish companies.
Private equity houses and venture capital are also active in the sector. However, the amount of venture capital available in Finland is limited.
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation is the main publicly-funded expert organisation for financing and maintaining networks for a wide range of R&D&I projects. Tekes has several active programs which fund cleantech research, including the BioRefine, Built Environment, Fuel Cell and Water programs.
Sitra is an independent public foundation that operates under the supervision of Parliament and is dedicated to promoting the economic prosperity and future success of Finland. One of the four focus areas of Sitra is energy including clean energy and energy efficiency.
Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (Finnfund) is a Finnish development finance company that provides long-term risk capital for profitable projects in developing countries and Russia. Finnfund finances private projects that involve a Finnish interest.
www.finnfund.fi
The Finnish business partnership programme, Finnpartnership, provides advisory services for business activities of Finnish companies in developing countries and financial support in the planning, development and implementation phases of a project.
www.finnpartnership.fi
VNT Management is a Finnish VC focused on clean technology. The focus of the investments is on renewable and distributed energy generation and energy-saving technologies, especially in electrical and power electronics applications. The key executives of VNT posses core experience in the power conversion and control industry, providing essential added value to the Fund's target companies.
Other private equity houses in Finland that have invested in cleantech included the Teollisuussijoitus government private equity fund that invests in funds and directly in companies, Biofund, a life sciences fund focused also on environmental technologies, and Eqvitec advising six funds with a total capital base of over €500 million.
The FVCA, the Finnish Venture Capital Association promotes private equity and venture capital as an industry and is an active player also in Finnish cleantech sector.
Cleantech Invest provides an investment advisory service for large institutional and industrial investors. The company's extensive experience and successful track record enables its clients to make informed decisions on direct and fund investments in the cleantech investment field.
Lahti Science and Business Park, co-ordinator of the Finnish Cleantech Cluster
Lahti Science and Business Park provides the national access for Finnish cleantech growth companies covering over 60 % of cleantech business in Finland. Defined national operations include the promoting the broader funding base on the sector by offering the regular deal-flow and the neutral party information on investment opportunities in Finland.
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