Finnish Deep Tech Celebrates Record Funding — But Critical Gaps Remain
Tesi’s December study reveals a paradox in Finnish deep tech: while the sector celebrated a €1.6 billion investment milestone, the headline figure obscures a worrying decline in early-stage funding and ongoing commercialisation struggles.
Text by Martti Asikainen, 13.1.2026 | Photo by Adobe Stock Photos
Finnish deep tech achieved record investment in 2025 whilst confronting a troubling reality. Though €1.6 billion flowed into the sector, a closer look reveals an ecosystem struggling to bridge the gap between early promise and sustained growth.
Three companies like Oura, IQM, and Iceye accounted for over €1.2 billion of the total. Their mega-rounds (€780M, €275M, and €150M respectively) drove a 170% increase from 2024, according to Tesi’s annual Deep Tech Study Finland released last month.
Yet beneath these successes lies a concerning pattern: smaller funding rounds are declining. The study notes that outside the large rounds, “the year has been moderately quiet,” with sub-€20 million funding rounds tracking below last year’s levels.
Mind The Gap
According to the study, the capital flow into Finnish deep tech is highly concentrated, and the ecosystem requires strengthening. The problem isn’t at the earliest stages — seed funding remains relatively healthy. Nor is it at the top, where established companies like Oura achieve decacorn valuations.
The bottleneck sits squarely in the middle. “The link between early and later stage funding, i.e. Series A and B rounds, is where the ecosystem has more work to do,” the study states. Finnish deep tech Series A and B rounds have been limited in number, with many materialised rounds gathering relatively low amounts of capital.
This gap has real consequences. The report concludes the ecosystem “needs work on many fronts to fix the gap if we want to produce continuously more Finnish deep tech champions in the future.”
Survey data from 61 Finnish deep tech companies reinforces these challenges: 73% cite access to suitable funding as their biggest growth obstacle, followed by market validation at 53%.
Integration Challenges
The study also reveals a significant disconnect in how Finnish deep tech companies are approaching artificial intelligence. According to survey results, 97% of companies utilise AI in some capacity, yet only 38% have incorporated it as a core part of their technology.
Yet expectations run high as 68% believe AI is either “must-have technology” or “might enable competitive edge,” and 75% believe it can boost R&D efficiency.
Youssef Zad, Chief Economist at Finnish Startup Community, identifies the clear contradiction. Whilst almost 70% see AI as critical for competitiveness, only 38% integrate it into their core technology.
With Finnish deep tech companies spending approximately €262 million on R&D in 2023, representing roughly 5% of all domestic business R&D, Zad suggests that AI could boost R&D efficiency and increase outputs, which would be very positive for the Finnish economy.
Quantum Soars, Energy Struggles
Investment patterns vary dramatically across sectors. Quantum computing leads the surge, with IQM’s €275 million Series B exemplifying the trend. The Finnish quantum ecosystem remains active, with QMill, SemiQon, QuantrolOx, and Arctic Instruments all raising funding in 2024-2025.
However, the energy technology faces headwinds. Equity funding rounds have averaged just €2.33 million since 2015, with non-dilutive financing playing a crucial role.
According to Juha Lindfors, Partner at Lifeline Ventures, sustainability isn’t as high on some political agendas as before, and fundraising for start-ups relying on a ‘green premium’ is much harder. He still thinks that novel energy technologies still have doors open for business and investments, just not at any price point.”
Health and life sciences investment quadrupled year-on-year, driven almost entirely by Oura’s €780 million Series E, which elevated it to decacorn status. Excluding Oura, activity was muted with only 13 deals year-to-date.
The Commercialisation Challenge
Finnish deep tech revenue reached €1.26 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed €2 billion in 2025, with employment at nearly 6,000 people. This represents approximately 29% annual revenue growth since 2014. These figures demonstrate that despite funding gaps, the sector’s underlying business fundamentals remain strong.
The pipeline from universities appears healthy, with 106 active research-to-business projects concluding over the next three years. However, converting scientific breakthroughs into scalable businesses remains difficult. The study emphasises that “research-intensive solutions need skilled commercialisation professionals as partners.”
The question now is whether Finland can build the supporting infrastructure, particularly in Series A/B funding and commercialisation support, to reliably transform scientific excellence into sustained business success. With proven capabilities demonstrated by companies like Oura, IQM, and Iceye, the foundation exists.
What’s needed is systematic strengthening of the middle ground where promising startups scale into champions.
The full Deep Tech Study Finland 2025 is available at Tesi’s website.
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