Finnish “unicorn herders” give a startup lecture for Hong Kong

Startups have been recognised as a bottom-up innovative force both in developed and emerging economies. Finland has become a leading European and worldwide startup hub with events like SLUSH in Helsinki with over 17000 annual participants and with its famous unicorn Rovio Entertainment Ltd. and decacorn Supercell. A top duo representing the Finnish startup scene will give a lecture at PolyU this Friday.

The next lecture in the Finland 100 series, organized by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, and the Consulate General of Finland together with PolyU, will bring two famous Finnish startup entrepreneurs, innovators and VC funders on stage: Mr. Peter Verterbacka and Mr. Antti Saarnio.

The Finland 100 lecture series is one of the highlights to celebrate the centenary year of Finland here in Hong Kong with themes focusing on our strengths and aiming at meaningful partnerships with local actors.

You are cordially invited to attend the “Centennial Lecture”, given by Mr. Peter Vesterbacka and Mr. Antti Saarnio. The title of their presentation on April 21 is Finnish Start-up Ecosystem with examples from Gaming and Digital Innovations.

Dr. Antti Saarnio is a long-term serial entrepreneur who has raised close to 100MUSD to various start-ups under his management. In 2012, Antti co-founded a startup Jolla Ltd, and managed to build with his team the only alternative mobile operating system to Android and iOS. Prior to his startup career, Antti has worked in Consulting and M&A fields, and carried out IPO’s, private placements, and acquisitions in emerging markets.

A global start-up space superstar, Mr. Peter Vesterbacka served until summer 2016 as the Chief Marketing Officer and Mighty Eagle of Rovio Entertainment Ltd. known best for their mobile game Angry Birds. Previously, he founded SLUSH and MobileMonday, among other his initiatives. More recently, Mr. Vesterbacka is co-founder of a new learning game studio Lightneer that channels the inclusivity of Finnish educational system and focuses on learning with fun; and preparing their first game launch in Hong Kong.

The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, Tekes, is strongly involved in the work “rebooting Finland”. It is the main public funding organisation for R&D and innovation making annually more than 2000 positive funding decisions totalling several billions of Hong Kong dollars. In 2015 alone these contributions generated 1,880 new Finnish products, services or processes and benefited 700 star-ups with 140 million Euros of funding.

“Finnish Start-up Ecosystem with examples from Gaming and Digital Innovations”

• Date: April      21, 2017
• Time:  14:00-16:30 (14:00 Registration,      14:30-16:00 Lecture, 16:30 Finish)
• Venue: Polytechnic University, Building Y      (Lee Shau Kee Building) Theatre Y302, 3/F

The subsequent Finland 100 lectures will include

May 9: Finland Innovation for Food and Food Safety Technology

Ms. Jaana Husu-Kallio, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact innovation consul, Dr. Sari Arho Havrén, [email protected], or Consul-General Jari Sinkari, [email protected] concerning general questions on Finland’s centenary celebration.

Info onFinland 100: http://suomifinland100.fi/info/?lang=en

Press material on Lightneer activities: http://bit.ly/2pQjIzq

Info on Jolla: https://jolla.com/