In 2025, six VTT-originating startups secured a combined €445 million in equity funding. Notably, each of these funding rounds exceeded €10 million.
The Finnish startup sector has grown to over 12.5 billion euros in turnover and offers high value-added jobs to over 50.000 people. Year 2025 was record-breaking to Finnish deep tech companies that are accelerating their growth. According to Tesi’s deep tech study 2025, deep tech companies raised close to €1.6 billion in total. Of this, VTT-originating companies accounted for €445 million.
- IQM Finland – €275M
- TactoTek – €62M
- Onego Bio – €40M
- Volare – €26M
- Steady Energy – €26M
- SemiQon – €15M
“The markets believe in Finnish deeptech, as shown by the large private investments. A large share of these investments goes into further research and development to scale the technologies and to establish global businesses. We have a unique ecosystem here in Finland with much potential to grow and generate success stories. We are now seeing category leaders emerging and many companies establishing first-of-a-kind plants,” says Laura Juvonen, Senior Vice President, Strategy at VTT.
IQM’s €275 million ($300 million) Series B round was reported as the largest investment in the quantum computing sector in Europe and the largest ever completed B round in Finland. IQM and VTT are currently engaged in a joint development project that will deliver a 150-qubit superconducting quantum computer in mid-2026 and a 300-qubit one in late 2027. The quantum computers will be integrated into the Finnish high-performance computing infrastructure to promote hybrid computing.
Three startups – Volare, Steady Energy and Onego Bio – are advancing industrial plants to scale up their technologies. Volare is constructing an insect protein plant in Pori, Finland, with production planned to begin in 2026. Steady Energy is building a pilot small modular reactor (SMR) heating plant in Helsinki, Finland. Onego Bio is planning a flagship production facility in Wisconsin, United States, for fermentation-derived egg-free egg protein.
SemiQon builds silicon-based quantum hardware solutions for the million-qubit era. The company’s mission is to realise the promise of quantum computing by delivering scalability through powerful, resilient and cost-effective quantum hardware solutions. The technology on which SemiQon is based was developed at VTT during the past 10 to 15 years, with research led by founding members of the company. SemiQon is based in Otaniemi. VTT is scaling up this environment, and the new hub will include state-of-the-art equipment for chip development and pilot production on 200 mm and 300 mm wafers.
From research to growing deep tech companies
VTT creates new deep tech startups and works with growth companies by giving access to specialised technologies, infrastructure and partners. Many significant Finnish technology startups have been brought to life at VTT. Over time, there have been been more than 60 VTT-originating startups. VTT often continues tight R&D collaboration with these deep tech companies, offering in-depth expertise and access to research and piloting infrastructures. This supports the companies’ efforts to mature and scale their novel technology-based business.
VTT’s startup incubator, VTT LaunchPad, develops spin-off ventures that are based on VTT-developed technologies and geared for global growth. VTT also develops and transfers technologies as in-kind investments or via licencing to startups founded by external teams.
The total amount of funding raised by VTT-originating startups is based on data from PitchBook. The figure includes equity financing and excludes debt financing, grants and public listings.
