HOME›REPORTS›FINLAND STARTUP FUNDINGQ3 2026 UPDATE

REPORT / Q3 2026 UPDATE / DATA TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2026

Finland startup funding report

Finnish startups raised €899m in 80 rounds in the first nine months of 2026.

Funding data for Finnish startups is scattered. Rounds are announced by companies, funds, angel networks and the press, often months after they close, and no single database has them all or has them right.

This report builds one record from all of them: company, investor and press announcements, investors' own portfolios and posts, and public company records. It leaves out grants and loans that are reported as rounds.

It covers venture rounds and exits of startups headquartered in Finland, and of startups that started here and moved their headquarters abroad. It uses the same rules as our CEE startup funding report and sets Finland against the other Nordic countries.

We add a quarter every three months. If you are raising in Finland, it shows how many rounds close, at what size, and who writes the first cheques.

Highlights

€899m
Raised in 9M 2026
January to September 2026

€899m in the first nine months. The largest round is ICEYE's €450m growth round, 50% of the total.

53
Seed and later rounds in 9M 2026
80 rounds in all

53 seed and later rounds this year, and 80 rounds in all. Pre-seed is where the record of recent rounds is least complete, and its count will rise as late rounds surface.

7
Venture-backed exits in 9M 2026
January to September 2026

Seven venture-backed exits by September. Buyers include Ilkka Oyj, Aiven, Real Asset Acquisition Corp and Herenco.

01 / THE MARKET

The market

€899m in 80 rounds so far in 2026.

Capital raised by stage, € millions
SHOW DATA
Capital raised by stage
RowPre-seedSeedSeries AGrowthTotal
9M 20261185181622899

Finland raised €899m so far in 2026. The largest round, ICEYE's €450m, is 50% of it.

9M 2026 covers January to September 2026.

Number of rounds by stage
SHOW DATA
Number of rounds by stage
RowPre-seedSeedSeries AGrowthTotal
9M 2026273416380

80 rounds so far in 2026. Some rounds are recorded months late, so the latest quarters will rise.

Capital by quarter, € millions

Quarter by quarter, capital swings with the timing of large rounds. The count of rounds is the steadier signal.

The latest quarter is still filling in and will rise.

02 / FINLAND IN THE REGION

Finland in the region

Finland raised €159 per person so far in 2026.

The same record and rules for all five Nordic countries, so the comparison is like for like. Capital per person divides each country's capital by its population.

Five Nordic countries, 9M 2026, most capital per person first
Capital and rounds by country, 9M 2026, with capital per person
Country€m 9M 2026Rounds 9M 2026€ per person 9M 2026
Sweden2882303272
Finland89980159
Iceland4421113
Denmark50612985
Norway39011870

Population on 1 January 2025.

Finland and its neighbours, capital by year, € millions
SHOW DATA
Finland and its neighbours, capital by year
Row9M 2026
Finland899
Sweden2882
Norway390
Finland and its neighbours, rounds by year
SHOW DATA
Finland and its neighbours, rounds by year
Row9M 2026
Finland80
Sweden303
Norway118

So far in 2026, Finland closed 80 rounds, against 303 in Sweden and 118 in Norway.

03 / STAGES AND ROUND SIZES

Stages and round sizes

The typical seed round so far in 2026 was €2.5m.

Rounds by company stage. Where one round can move a stage's total, the count and the typical round tell more than the capital.

Rounds, capital and median round by stage
Rounds, capital and median round size by stage and year
RowRounds 9M 2026€m 9M 2026Median 9M 2026
Pre-seed27€11m€1.0m
Seed34€85m€2.5m
Series A16€181m€8.4m
Growth3€622m-

Median shown where at least three rounds of the stage disclosed an amount.

Pre-seed

27 rounds so far in 2026. The typical pre-seed round was €1.0m.

Seed

34 rounds so far in 2026. The typical seed round was €2.5m.

Series A

16 rounds so far in 2026. The typical Series A round was €8.4m.

Growth

Three rounds so far in 2026.

04 / SECTORS

Sectors

Defence and security raised the most this year: €469m in eight rounds.

By number of rounds since 2026, the largest sectors are AI (31), enterprise software (28) and health and bio (12). A company can sit in several sectors, so sector totals overlap.

Capital by sector, € millions
SHOW DATA
Capital by sector
Row9M 2026
Defence and security469
AI277
Enterprise software253
Health and bio79
Energy and climate46
Mobility and logistics26
Hardware and robotics6.4
Food and agri2.4

Ranked by 9M 2026 capital. Sectors overlap.

Rounds by sector
SHOW DATA
Rounds by sector
Row9M 2026
Defence and security8
AI31
Enterprise software28
Health and bio12
Energy and climate10
Mobility and logistics5
Hardware and robotics1
Food and agri1

Same sectors, counted by number of rounds.

05 / LARGEST ROUNDS

Largest rounds

The largest round this year: ICEYE, €450m.

Largest rounds, 9M 2026
Largest rounds 9M 2026
CompanyStageAmountMonthLead or first investor
ICEYEGrowth€450mJun 2026General Atlantic
VerdaGrowth€172mSep 2026Emergence Capital
Kasvu TherapeuticsSeries A€30mSep 2026Hadean Ventures
QutwoSeries A€25mMay 2026Max Junestrand
AlgorithmiqSeries A€18mMay 2026United Ventures
KelluuSeries A€15mApr 2026NATO Innovation Fund
CactosSeries A€13mJun 2026Union Square Ventures
CurifyLabsSeries A€12mJul 2026Sandwater
Capalo AISeries A€11mFeb 2026Heartcore Capital
QuanscientSeries A€10mMay 202655 North

Rounds with a disclosed amount.

06 / STARTED IN FINLAND, BASED ELSEWHERE

Started in Finland, based elsewhere

Two rounds since 2026 by companies that started in Finland and are based elsewhere. They count in the totals.

Companies that started in Finland, or keep their main team here, but are headquartered elsewhere. They count in the totals, under Finland. Companies that Finnish founders built abroad, with no base here, are not included.

Rounds since 2026, newest first
Rounds of companies started in Finland and based elsewhere
CompanyBased inAmountMonthIn totals
AlgorithmiqItaly€18mMay 2026Yes
AudicinUnited StatesUndisclosedApr 2026Yes

07 / INVESTORS

Investors

Innovestor joined the most pre-seed and seed rounds since January 2026: 14.

Most active at pre-seed and seed since January 2026: Innovestor (14 rounds), Superhero Capital (7 rounds) and Lifeline Ventures (6 rounds). Investors are ranked by the rounds they joined, led or followed, in 2026.

Most active at pre-seed and seed, 2026 to 9M 2026
Most active pre-seed and seed investors in Finland
InvestorBased inRoundsLed
Innovestorn/a140
Superhero Capitaln/a75
Lifeline Venturesn/a64
Innovestor Angel CoFundn/a41
Voima Venturesn/a31
2C Venturesn/a30
Kvantedn/a22
Maki.vcn/a22
Vendep Capitaln/a22
Antlern/a21
EIC Fundn/a21
North Karelia Growth Fundn/a21
Tesin/a21
Ikorni Investn/a20
Wave Venturesn/a20
Zach Shelbyn/a20
Most active from Series A, 2026 to 9M 2026
Most active Series A and growth investors in Finland
InvestorBased inRoundsLed
Tesin/a70
Lifeline Venturesn/a40
EIC Fundn/a21
Ilmarinenn/a21
Innovestorn/a20
Inventuren/a20
Varman/a20
55 Northn/a11
ACME Capitaln/a11
B&C-Gruppen/a11
Rounds with at least one investor based outside the Nordics
SHOW DATA
Share of rounds with an international investor
Row9M 2026
All rounds0%

Rounds with a fund from outside the Nordics: , of rounds where investor headquarters are known.

Share of rounds where investor headquarters are known: 0 in 9M 2026.

08 / EXITS

Exits

The most recent: Custobar, bought by Ilkka Oyj, August 2026.

Seven venture-backed exits since 2026: 7 in 2026 so far. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so we count exits instead of summing them.

Venture-backed exits since 2026
Exits since 2026
CompanyMonthTypeBuyer
CustobarAug 2026AcquisitionIlkka Oyj
Flow AIJul 2026AcquisitionAiven
IQM Quantum ComputersJul 2026IPOReal Asset Acquisition Corp
SaferaJun 2026AcquisitionHerenco
EmberionApr 2026AcquisitionExosens
CoreGoApr 2026BuyoutBregal Milestone
DoublepointMar 2026AcquisitionŌURA

09 / METHODOLOGY

Methodology

What the report covers

Period: January to September 2026. This record starts in 2026; comparisons with a previous year begin once a quarter can be compared.

Companies: startups headquartered in Finland, and startups that began there or keep their main team there and later moved their headquarters abroad. Every kind of startup is included: software and hardware, business and consumer.

Events: venture funding rounds, and exits (acquisitions, buyouts and stock market listings).

Sources: public sources only, namely company, investor and angel network announcements, investors' portfolios and posts, public company records, and the press.

Every round and exit named in the report links to its announcement. Totals, changes and charts are built from all rounds and are not linked.

This edition covers 80 venture rounds (57 with a disclosed amount) at 79 companies, and 7 exits. Next update: January 2027, adding Q4 2026.

Stages

Stages are the label the company announced or the source assigned. Where a label clearly does not fit the size of the round, such as a very large round called seed, the round is placed by its size. Where there is no label, round type and size decide.

How it is counted

  • Funding rounds are equity and convertible venture rounds, including angel network rounds. Grants, loans, state support programmes, crowdlending, secondary sales and investments after a listing are not counted.
  • Amounts are in euros, converted at about 1.10 US dollars to the euro. Rounds without a disclosed amount count toward the number of rounds but not toward capital.
  • Companies that are not startups are left out even when they raise venture money, such as established manufacturers, service firms and lenders.
  • Rounds and exits are cross-referenced against company, investor and press announcements where possible.

Limits

  • Public data does not capture every round, so counts are a floor. Small angel rounds are the most likely to be missing.
  • Some rounds are recorded months after they happen. Each update adds them to the month they happened in, so recent quarters, the latest above all, will rise.
  • Finland's record is our own search of local press, investor portfolios and posts, and companies based abroad (October 2026), without a startup database. It holds most of the disclosed capital; small rounds that were never announced are the most likely to be missing.
  • Where a country raises a few dozen rounds a year, one round can move a total by more than half. Read changes in capital with the largest round in mind.

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: BADIDEAS.FUND.

Raising pre-seed or seed in Finland

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