The Finnish government’s tech funding agency, Tekes, injects more than €500 million ($671 million) into research and development, about 27% of which goes directly into startups. This is part of the government’s ongoing effort to turn Helsinki into the best startup hub in Europe.
A decade ago, Finland’s national pride was Nokia, the cellphone company whose products blanketed the world. Now, Nokia is being acquired by Microsoft, and Finns have turned to startups as their new economic engine. Their country is now known in tech as the startup hub that gave the world the popular mobile games Angry Birds and Clash of Clans.