First ’90 Day Finn’ program ends – participants have founded two new companies, more than half are planning to stay in Finland

The massively popular ’90 Day Finn’ program arranged by Helsinki Business Hub is ending in October. A group of 13 international business professionals, selected from thousands of applicants, arrived in Helsinki, Finland with their families at the turn of July-August. Now, at the end of the program, they all agree that their three-month adventure in Helsinki has been a success.

For the participants, the ’90 Day Finn’ program has been an effective way to get acquainted with business and investment opportunities in Helsinki. For the local ecosystem it has provided new business opportunities and a way to expand its international network.

“It seems that all participants have succeeded in finding business opportunities in Helsinki and in expanding their networks. Many have said that the program has provided them a fast lane access to the Helsinki ecosystem. Without the support of the program and meetings tailored to their needs, the participants would not have been able to make such a significant impact this quickly,” explains Vera Hallikainen, Marketing and Communications Director at Helsinki Business Hub.

Supporting post-pandemic economic growth has been one of the goals of the program. Significant success stories include the two new companies that some of the program participants have founded during their stay.

Jaime Alvarez and Andro Lindsay, both of whom participated in the program, co-founded a company called 100 Thousand Million with their business partner Alberto Scherb. The company aims to build and implement a methodology for designing and building sustainable cities. William Carbone, another 90 Day Finn participant, joined forces with Vlad Lichtenthal and Nick Sgobba to found The Adjacent Possible, an open innovation studio which generates ideas, products, and patents, with the goal of interconnecting innovation ecosystems around the world with their technology.

Many participants are also currently in the middle of promising business negotiations, and more than half of the participants have planned to stay in Finland.

“The participants’ families have also enjoyed themselves in Helsinki, which is why so many people want to stay in the country. Ensuring the comfort of families and individuals is absolutely essential if we want to attract investments to our country,” Hallikainen says.

In addition to the business and family life opportunities, Helsinki receives praise from the participants for i.e. the city’s functionality.

“Moving to Helsinki was nice and simple. Public transportation works well and finding accommodation and working space was also easy. Big thanks to Helsinki Business Hub for arranging all this. In addition, there is a lot of software and clean tech expertise in Finland, so this is a great place for recruitment. We have already found great candidates,” says Taggart Jefferson, one of the participants and CEO and Founder of GridCure.

‘90 Day Finn’ has also been an unprecedented success for Helsinki Business Hub. Information about the program has spread like wildfire around the world, and inquiries about possibilities to become a 90 Day Finn and to move to Helsinki are still coming in.

“Originally, ‘90 Day Finn’ was a pilot project designed to test whether we can attract experts, companies and investments all within a single program. Along the way, it has grown much larger than we could have imagined. If the participants’ ongoing projects and plans are implemented, the ’90 Day Finn’ program will have met all the goals we had for it,” says Johanna Huurre, Business Director of Helsinki Business Hub.

Due to the successful pilot program, Helsinki Business Hub is planning to launch a new ‘90 Day Finn’ program soon.