Nordic Startup Awards Finland: Winners Announced

On September 7 Microsoft Flux in Helsinki was turned upside down as the Nordic Startup Awards crowned the winners of Nordic Startup Awards in Finland. The Finnish event brought together around 300 people to celebrate the accomplishments of Finnish startup scene. The official part was followed by networking drinks to connect local startup ecosystem.

“The first time we have had the awards, half of the nominees did not show up, and the audience was not really there. Today, it is an event that people wait for and really try to be a part of. This shows just how much the scene has developed since just a few years back and the direction that Finland is headed for.” – commented Dmitri Sarle, a host of Nordic Startup Awards Finland.

This year we had 14 categories with a couple brand new ones: Startup Ecosystem initiative, Best Food Tech Startup, Best Social Impact Startup. Scroll down to see who are the champions in Finnish start-up scene.

The Finnish winners of the Nordic Startup Awards 2017 are:

Best Accelerator Program: Startup Sauna, an Espoo-based accelerator for top notch tech teams focused on business development and finding the right go-to-market strategy and product-market fit.

Best Bootstrapped: Vainu.io, data-driven sales prospecting platform for B2B sales professionals.

Best Coworking Space: Maria01, is a startup campus located in central Helsinki at a former Maria hospital.

Best FinTech Startup: Moni, is the hub that transforms the financial industry into a consumer-driven business.

Best FoodTech Startup: Wolt, a mobile app that gives people a fast and simple way to handle physical-world payments on their mobile phone, enabling them to skip production queues and waiting in restaurants, bars and cafes.

Best Health/Lifestyle Startup: Oura, wellness ring and health tracking app.

Best IoT Startup: Sense of Intelligence, tech company specialized on pet well-being.

Best Newcomer: ResQ Club, food rescuing company.

Best Social Impact Startup: ResQ Club, food rescuing company.

Best Startup Ecosystem Initiative: Polar Bear Pitching, Oulu-based pitching competition held in a hole of ice.

Founder of the Year: Miki Kuusi, CEO and co-founder of the Helsinki-based tech company Wolt. Previously, Miki ran Slush as co-founder & CEO and has been listed as #32 on Wired’s top technology influencers in Europe for 2015.

Investor of the Year: Lifeline Ventures, a company investing in health, games, web and tech.

Startup of the Year: Next Games, a publicly listed mobile game developer and publisher specializing in games based on entertainment franchises, such as movies, TV series or books.

We salute the winners and wish them to multiply their success next year. For all the rest – don’t give up! Hard work and persistence pay off better than any award. Success is a journey, not a destination. Keep it up!