Over 20 Indian ICT firms launched in Finland in 3 years

Small and medium sized ICT firms in India have discovered Finland as an innovation-destination that brings together highly educated and skilled ICT talent, a robust and mature tech ecosystem consisting of government bodies, universities, businesses, hubs and investors working towards developing high tech products and solutions. Finland not only combines environmental factors that equals tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Shanghai but does so affordably and competitively.

The tech ecosystem at Finland enables rapid innovation, the flow of necessary funds, access to top talent and expertise, as well as powerful networks. Many Indian companies have leveraged the advantages of the Finnish ecosystem and found solutions to their needs and established themselves as global companies with world-class products. Indian firms have also expanded to EU, USA and the rest of the world through their foothold in Finland.

Here are some of the several Indian companies that have launched their companies and products in Finland.

Mumbai based Rsmart sets up their R&D centre and EU HQ in Finland

Rsmart is a Mumbai based start-up with a product ready to disrupt one of the most challenging aspects of airport operations—cargo and ground-handlers. In a market driven by disparate and legacy software solutions, Rsmart’s integrated ERP solution for all airport ground-handlers was not only innovative but disruptive as well, being the only cloud-based and mobile enabled product.

With the help of Bangalore-based consultancy PrEver, Rsmart began their product, project and financial plan for its global outreach, and today with global sales operations led out of Helsinki, Rsmart’s ground handling product has found its way into European markets, with several global airports becoming customers.

Today, Rsmart dreams of becoming a market leader across all aviation services products by the year 2019, enabling all customers to become a digitally transformed business.

Inteliment Accelerates its product development

Inteliment is a leading data-analytics company creating leading-edge products in the area of the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. To keep up with current technological developments, Inteliment wanted to establish a product innovation centre in a location where innovation is supported and thrives.

Inteliment, guided by PrEver, chose to set up their innovation centre as Finland has a strong innovation ecosystem and market access to revolutionary technology. Inteliment met with multiple stakeholders from key organizations like Tekes, VTT, Espoo Innovation Garden, and even potential customers.

Inteliment has set up its innovation centre in Helsinki, availing its many incentives, tax benefits and availability of great talent. Inteliment is on the road to helping companies along in their digital transformation through their break-through innovative products and solutions.

2s Consulting transforms from consulting services to BI solutions provider

2s Consulting delivers solutions for business intelligence and analytics across many industries. It developed a product ‘HCare360’ to meet operational challenges of healthcare organizations, however, the product grew to support company-wide BI solutions. This product was key to transforming their business and 2s wanted to build it into a fore-runner in healthcare analytics.

To achieve this goal 2s Consulting decided to set up an R&D center in Europe. They accessed the Finnish ecosystem and key players with the help of PrEver’s expertise, connections and experience with Finland. 2s Consulting was introduced to relevant healthcare professionals, recruitment experts and funding authorities like Tekes. 2s Consulting secured a collaboration with Helsinki University Central Hospital to pilot test their product.

Finland is now the main hub for 2s Consulting’s product innovation and the company is targeting the EU and US markets from here.

Technolabs expands to EU and USA from their base in Finland

TechnoLabs is the creator of a retail cloud solution that enables retail chains to operate avoiding hardware and software. Since TechnoLabs found success in India, it decided to expand to the EU and US markets.

TechnoLabs, guided by PrEver, found Finland to be the location for product development and chose to re-brand themselves as a Finnish business and easily expand to Europe and USA. TechnoLabs went on several visits to Helsinki with PrEver and had an in-depth view of the Finnish business ecosystem. PrEver also matched them with key players from Finnish universities, government authorities and local companies.

Finland is one of the top most transparent countries in the world with low levels of bureacracy. TechnoLabs was able to  register their company, open a bank account, find and lease office space in a business park in Espoo and also recruit people in Finland in just a few weeks. TechnoLabs is now fast-tracked to global domination in the retail cloud space through product innovation and market expansion.

20+ Indian companies in Finland in just 3 years

There have been many more Indian companies that have gone to Finland and established bases there for varied reasons like establishing their R&D centres, entering the EU market, hiring skilled talent, protecting their IP etc.

Other businesses that have made Finland their EU base are:

GrayMatter, SecurelyShare, Rejuvalyte, Aggrigator, Big FISH, Vayugrid, NBWtech, CustomerXPS, Allied Digital, Ncrypted, Brainwire eUnagi, DeftEAM, Softtech engineers, SRK exports and more.

At present, Indian firms in India are working with governmental organizations to secure funding, while another is exploring partnerships with design firms. Finland is clearly a hot-spot that offers value to Indian firms, especially SMEs in the tech sector that needs high support and access to the latest tech.

These companies have found Finland to be the ideal location for innovation, securing funds, accessing top notch researchers and expertise and as a good location for entering the EU, US and beyond. Finland also has a good reputation as an innovation destination and Finnish brands are highly valued around the world. Indian companies are benefitting in multiple ways that positively affect their product innovation, research, market entry, branding and contribution to the world. ICT firms should consider exploring Finland as a pathway to expanding and growing their business.

Text: Debashri Mishel Dutta, PrEver

Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse