Helsinki Business Hub turned 10 last year. Instead of looking back, we wanted to hear what the local companies think about the next ten years to come.
Helsinki Business Hub turned 10 last year. Instead of looking back, we wanted to hear what the local companies think about the next ten years to come.
We commissioned Aula Research to conduct a survey and a set of interviews, focusing on 4 megatrends: globalization, digitalization, urbanization and global warming, and their impact on businesses in the coming years.
The results show that the local companies are very optimistic when it comes to their future: they see especially globalization and digitalization generating new business opportunities for them here locally. Companies also find Helsinki a fairly good platform for developing business, though with bolder and more agile decision making the cities could support the growth of the companies and the economic prosperity of the region even more.
Here are the top 10 findings from the Helsinki 2026 report:
- Solid technological know-how is our strength, and sales and marketing know-how is our weak point — this has not changed during the past 10 years.
- Some companies embrace globalisation, and some are clinging to the domestic market — there is a lot of international business potential still to be utilised in the Helsinki region.
- A well-functioning infrastructure, small size and close networks of co-operation are seen as the strengths of the Helsinki region — the region already offers a fairly attractive piloting platform for businesses.
- Cleantech is strongly led by the industry: the greatest potential exists in energy efficiency and energy production — where are the new initiatives?
- Rising housing costs in the Helsinki region are a threat to the growth of companies in the Helsinki region.
- We are too lax about the drain of experts abroad.
- Urbanisation and digitalisation accelerate servitisation — he who best understands customers’ needs, will succeed. Attention to diversity in recruitment will bring diverse customer insight and understanding in the company.
- In recent decades Helsinki has become a more attractive city to live in, but this development must be pursued – a vibrant and multicultural city will attract top professionals.
- In the Nordic reference group, the Helsinki region’s trump card, in addition to hi-tech expertise, is its location between the East and the West — an aspect that can be utilised to attract international technology hubs to the region.
- Both the corporate decision-makers and the experts interviewed hope for bold solutions from policy-makers — at the risk that not everyone will like the reforms.
Read the whole report (in Finnish) here.
We commissioned Aula Research to conduct a survey and a set of interviews, focusing on 4 megatrends:
- globalization
- digitalization
- urbanization
- global warming
and their impact on businesses in the coming years.
The results show that the local companies are very optimistic when it comes to their future: they see especially globalization and digitalization generating new business opportunities for them here locally. Companies also find Helsinki a fairly good platform for developing business, though with bolder and more agile decision making the cities could support the growth of the companies and the economic prosperity of the region even more.
Here are the top 10 findings from the Helsinki 2026 report:
- Solid technological know-how is our strength, and sales and marketing know-how is our weak point — this has not changed during the past 10 years.
- Some companies embrace globalisation, and some are clinging to the domestic market — there is a lot of international business potential still to be utilised in the Helsinki region.
- A well-functioning infrastructure, small size and close networks of co-operation are seen as the strengths of the Helsinki region — the region already offers a fairly attractive piloting platform for businesses.
- Cleantech is strongly led by the industry: the greatest potential exists in energy efficiency and energy production — where are the new initiatives?
- Rising housing costs in the Helsinki region are a threat to the growth of companies in the Helsinki region.
- We are too lax about the drain of experts abroad.
- Urbanisation and digitalisation accelerate servitisation — he who best understands customers’ needs, will succeed. Attention to diversity in recruitment will bring diverse customer insight and understanding in the company.
- In recent decades Helsinki has become a more attractive city to live in, but this development must be pursued – a vibrant and multicultural city will attract top professionals.
- In the Nordic reference group, the Helsinki region’s trump card, in addition to hi-tech expertise, is its location between the East and the West — an aspect that can be utilised to attract international technology hubs to the region.
- Both the corporate decision-makers and the experts interviewed hope for bold solutions from policy-makers — at the risk that not everyone will like the reforms.
