New jobs, companies and business - joint efforts of the capital region bring results and impact

A key driver of growth is the vibrant and international startup ecosystem. It attracts new companies and talent with ambitions to build scalable, growth-oriented businesses and a strong interest in open innovation collaboration. This is underpinned by the region’s strong expertise in fields such as health technology, learning solutions and the gaming industry.

The HEVinnovations programme has translated regional strategic objectives into a broad portfolio of concrete development activities. By the end of 2026, the programme has strengthened the capital region’s capacity to support the creation and growth of innovative companies, developed new solutions together with businesses, and promoted innovation across the region as a whole. These activities have created new opportunities for companies, cities, higher education institutions and research organisations.

New private-sector jobs are vital to the economic vitality of the metropolitan area. The HEVi programme has already contributed to the creation of 300 new jobs. New growth-oriented and scalable businesses have emerged particularly among technology-driven startups, with a total of 90 new companies established with support from HEVi-funded projects.
 
1,000 companies across a wide range of sectors have engaged in HEVi collaboration and services. Fifteen public-sector organisations provide companies with opportunities for innovation collaboration and business support services, while partners from civil society organisations also contribute to experimentation and development activities.
 

342 companies have participated in collaboration with research organisations. Companies are being integrated into RDI activities and the expertise of research organisations is being utilised in business-driven development. However, the use of actual RDI infrastructure, such as laboratories, has so far remained very limited among companies and there is a need to develop the opportunity to access and use infrastructure.

HEVi is a joint innovation programme by the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, designed to strengthen innovation activities and networks across the Helsinki metropolitan area. The programme is based on an innovation ecosystem agreement with the Finnish government, through which the cities will develop an extensive project portfolio between 2021 and 2027. The projects are implemented between 2023 and 2029. The agreement promotes the strategic allocation of public and private RDI funding and supports the growth of globally competitive innovation ecosystems.

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