Startup funding in Finland showed record amounts in 2023 – FVCA study

Finnish startups raised a total of €871 million in growth funding in 2023. This marked a decrease of about half compared to the preceding year’s record-breaking €1.7 billion. However, despite the challenging market conditions, Finnish venture capital funds managed to secure record amounts of new capital.

Finnish Venture Capital Association has released a study about the startup funding in Finland in 2023. AIN shares the key notes of the study.

Venture capital & venture growth 2023 in Finland

Finnish venture capital funds raised €507 million of funding from their LPs, and €389 million of investments were made by Finnish and foreign VC and growth investors in Finnish startup companies in 2023:

• Of the total amount raised by Finnish startups, €167 million (-32%) came from Finnish and €222 million (-68%) from foreign VCs.
• A total of 185 (-2%) Finnish startups raised VC or growth funding.
• Finnish VC and growth investors invested a total of €258 million (-33%), of which €90 million (-37%) in foreign startups.
• A total of 256 (-10%) startups received funding from Finnish VC and growth investors.

The successful fundraising efforts of Finnish venture capital funds enable Finnish startups to be financed further with domestic resources. However, until the scale of domestic funds matches that of international standards, we remain reliant on foreign investors for large later-stage financing rounds,

Jonne Kuittinen, Deputy Chief Executive of FVCA, comments

New Finnish VC funds

Finnish VC funds raised the second largest amount in history, a total of €507 million, in new funds for future investments:

• In May 2023, Lifeline Ventures announced Finland’s largest venture capital fund totaling €150 million;
• In June 2023, Voima Ventures raised €90 million for Fund III aimed at Nordic and Baltic startups;
• At the end of 2023 IPR.VC, announced the first closing of its €100 million film and television production financing IPR.VC Fund III;
• In November 2023, Gorilla Capital, announced the expansion of its team and the launch of its third fund;
• In February this year, 3TS Capital Partners closed its new Fund IV at €111 million.

Several new players also entered the market as Greencode Ventures, Kvanted, and Failup Ventures launched their first funds.