On Tuesday 10 November around 350 investors gathered to network in Helsinki, at the Investor Day Slush pre-event. Among them was Investment Manager Filip Petersson from SEB Venture Capital, at Slush for his second time.
“It’s impossible not to come back if you’ve been here once,” Petersson says. “The mix at Slush is quite good for our preferences.”
Life sciences and medical technology are growing and converging with the more traditional Finnish information technology sector, a trait that has also been noticed outside of Finland.
“Many investors are interested in the health track here,” Business Advisor Juho Pirinen from Helsinki Business Hub says.
SEB’s current portfolio includes 32 different companies with a total turnover of almost 280 million euros and more than 2,200 employees. Since 1995, SEB Venture Capital has invested over 300 million euros in 100 companies, with a focus within technology and life science.
“We have no investments in Finland at the moment, but we would love to do some investments here,” Petersson says.
Text: Eero Vassinen