Set up a business
Set up a business in Helsinki
Set up your business in Finland and enter the European market through the Nordics – the easy way. Take advantage of our Business Advisors to help you when navigating Helsinki’s ecosystem, introduce you to key players in the market and provide you with practical advice on how to establish yourself here.
Join one of the most innovative business ecosystems in the world.
In order to be able to apply for the Finnish residence permit, you will need to first obtain the eligibility statement from Business Finland. The eligibility statement is valid for 2 months and should be submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service in order to obtain both the Finnish startup and personal residence permits.
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After receiving the eligibility statement from Business Finland, you can submit your application for the Finnish Startup Permit to the Finnish Immigration Service. Remember that the eligibility statement is valid for 2 months and it is a critical document for the Finnish startup permit application.
- NOTE: Demonstrating that you have sufficient financial resources for your own living costs (at least 1000€ per month) is essential
Start the process by choosing a unique name that is relevant to the business. The name must also satisfy certain legal requirements. Check the Business Information System (BIS / YTJ) for the names that are already in use in Finland.
Read more:
- Finnish Patent and Registration Office: Company name instructions
Most foreign companies and organisations in Finland operate as private or public limited liability companies, or through a Finnish branch office. Other options for a business entity are general or limited partnerships, or co-operatives.
In Finnish sources that have been translated into English, ‘business structure’ is often referred to by other terms, such as “company form”, “form of enterprise” or “form of business”.
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Some trades and professions are regulated and subject to license. Examples of such businesses are the serving of alcohol, debt collection, and security guard businesses.
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To register your company, file a start-up notification to the Trade Register and the Tax Administration. This can be done by a single form called the “Y form”.
The Trade Register announces their processing times monthly. You can monitor the progress of your notification via their online service Virre.
Establishing a new company based in Finland:
Now it’s time to focus on the practicalities. To open a separate bank account for your company, arrange accounting, rent or buy premises, and purchase the necessary insurances.
You can also create an account in My Enterprise Finland to access various services. Log in to the site using your online banking credentials.
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Want to get your idea off the ground? Our friends at NewCo Helsinki are happy to offer confidential business advice for starting a company, developing new business, growing a business and internationalising Finnish startups. Read more on the NewCo Helsinki website.
Thinking about raising funding? We connect Finnish startups with international investors. We have strong relationships with angels, VCs and CVCs, and we regularly deliver hand selected deal flow for investors based on their requirements. Submit your startup to get discovered! Should you have any questions, send us an inquiry via the contact form.
8 steps to set up a business in Helsinki
Setting up a business in Finland is an easy process that takes only a couple of weeks to complete.
Want to grow your startup in Finland?
The Finnish Startup Permit makes it possible for international growth entrepreneurs to build a startup company in Finland and to become part of Finland’s vibrant startup ecosystem. The permit is meant for innovative startup founders coming from countries outside the European Union.
Thinking about raising funding?
We connect Finnish startups with international investors. We have strong relationships with angels, VCs and CVCs, and we regularly deliver hand selected deal flow for investors based on their requirements. Submit your startup to get discovered! Should you have any questions, send us an inquiry via the contact form.
Why Helsinki
Helsinki is a thriving business hub that has a stable and innovative business environment along with a high quality and talented work force. Setting up a business in Helsinki takes only a couple of weeks and the vast majority of services are in English with plenty of information available. Helsinki Partners, along with other public organisations, backed by the City of Helsinki, are here to ease your entry into the market. Besides, you will get to enjoy one of the most equal capitals in the world and the world’s best city for establishing a healthy work-life balance. Read below the top 5 reasons why you should start a company in Helsinki. If you’re curious for more reasons why Helsinki might be the right place for you, find them here.
1. Helsinki as a Service
What sets Helsinki apart is great access to services for young and established companies alike. Helsinki-as-a-service comes in many flavours, like fast 4G across the whole country, innovative testbeds, proactive city and government organisations, and much more.
© Jules Hatfield & Christine Williams
2. Great access to talent
Helsinki offers a huge pool of technical and creative talent. And for an employer, the timing is perfect. Growth companies like Wolt, Smartly, and Supercell have trained Helsinki’s tech workers what real growth looks like, and they’re hungry for new opportunities.
© Jussi Hellsten
3. An attractive business environment
The Finnish business environment is based on trust, facts, sharing and frankness. It has ranked as the most attractive environment in the world, and in the EU, thanks to such factors as security, extensive IP rights, and consistent political stability. Helsinki is an innovative region full of enthusiastic people, and the city’s startup hub is the 8th most valuable in Europe – which is constantly growing year by year.
© Maija Astikainen
4. A collaborative ecosystem
Helsinki offers a huge pool of technical and creative talent. And for an employer, the timing is perfect. Growth companies like Wolt, Smartly, and SHelsinki is an innovative region full of enthusiastic individuals who love to solve problems together with likeminded people. Information is shared both peer-to-peer and between academic, private and public organisations. Open data and public testbeds bring innovators together and help them learn from each other.
© Mikael Ahlfors / Keksi Agency
5. A nurturing environment for early-stage businesses
Finland-based startups benefit from public funding programs and cost-free coaching provided by organisations such as NewCo Helsinki. They also receive continuous support from several publicly and privately funded incubators and accelerators as well as from nurturing communities such as Maria 01. Moreover, Helsinki is the home of Slush – the largest single gathering of venture capital in Europe with over 1,500 investors to match and meet with.
© Jussi Hellsten
Want to get your idea off the ground?
Our friends at NewCo Helsinki are happy to offer confidential business advice for starting a company, developing new business, growing a business and internationalising Finnish startups.
The voice of customers doing business in Helsinki
Explore the thriving business ecosystem and get to know some of the international companies that have made Helsinki their home.
A word from a customer
Our business model requires a highly efficient patent law infrastructure and related capabilities, a global mindset, a diverse group of technology-driven companies (SMEs and multinationals), and a venture capital infrastructure. We find everything we need in Finland, and particularly in Helsinki.
William Carbone
Co-founder & CEO at The Adjacent Possible
© Peter Forsgard
Contact info
If you are interested in setting up and starting a business in the capital of Finland, our dedicated team is ready to help you deep dive into the Helsinki business ecosystem. Contact us to get you started.
Irma Ylikangas
Senior business advisor
(Smart & clean, China, Singapore, Europe & USA)
Johanna Huurre
Director, Invest in
Juha Paakkola
Director
(Health Capital Helsinki)
Kaisu Sutinen
Senior business advisor
(Health Capital Helsinki)
Lauri Kuronen
Senior business advisor
(Health Capital Helsinki)
Maria Melnikova
Senior business advisor
(ICT, Europe & USA)
Olivier Bonfils
Senior business advisor
(Smart & clean, Europe)
Sandeep Shah
Senior business advisor
(ICT, India)
Sonja Malin
Senior business advisor
(Smart & clean, Japan)
Xin Wang 王昕
Senior business advisor
(ICT, China)
Contact Helsinki Partners
Your thoughts
If you are interested in learning more about Helsinki and its possibilities – please contact us via the form here. We’ll make sure to get back to you within a few working days.