What is the Finnish Startup Community?
Finnish Startup Community was founded to advance the operational environment for startups in Finland. In short, our goal is to identify and complete critical pragmatic initiatives for startups and scaleups. As a think-tank, we also look forward to generate discussion on the importance of tech startups in the society.
Finnish Startup Community is a community, founded by 100 startups and scaleups in Finland.
We are not a political player. We do not lobby for our own benefit, like traditional industry organizations, but advance causes that benefit the entire Finnish society and the startup scene as a whole.
What does the Finnish Startup Community do?
Community’s purpose is to make Finland the most attractive place to found and grow startups, and to work in one. It pulls the local ecosystem and companies together. Our most important strategical goals are:
👉 Create positive pressure to change the operating environment for startups
👉 Drive pragmatic startup initiatives that benefit the entire society
👉 Educate society to understand the impact of startups
👉 Create commitment to global growth entrepreneurship.
In addition to its societal agenda, Finnish Startup Community will act as the hub for targeted peer-support and networking.
How does this all work?
Finnish Startup Community is a registered association. The work is funded by membership fees.
FSC has an Operational Team that consists of the CEO and 2-3 team members to generate public discussion, conduct needed analyses and organize events. In addition, it will use outside experts in e.g. advancing legislative projects.
Companies are qualified to join us based on their stage and growth or by track record as investors. Each member will pay an annual membership fee based on their size and stage, and hold a corresponding number of votes.
Finnish Startup Community has a Board. The Board consists of the member representatives selected by the Members and possibly 1-2 invited experts. The board members are broadly committed to advance the organisation’s goals. Current board members include Timo Ahopelto from Lifeline Ventures (COB), Ilkka Paananen from Supercell, Suvi Haimi from Sulapac, Ilkka Kivimäki from Maki.vc, Miki Kuusi from Wolt and Kaisa Salakka from Unity Technologies.
Membership criteria
The Finnish Startup Community accepts ambitious startups and growth companies as members. FSC also accepts active early-stage funds as investor members. In addition, FSC welcomes individuals who otherwise actively support our goals.
The FSC board processes all membership applications individually and approves them according to the membership criteria. The current membership fees here: Startup Community Fees 2022