4 reasons why international investors invest in Helsinki: the Leo Capital story
Most international funds look at Helsinki from a distance. Picking. Choosing. Leo Capital moved in and put down roots. What they found in Helsinki’s startup ecosystem might change your mind about where you set up next.
Two decades is a long time for an investor. Shwetank Verma wants to say he was there at the beginning. Not in Singapore, where he co-founded Leo Capital in 2018. Not in Southeast Asia, where the firm built three successful funds. But in Helsinki – backing the founders who will build Finland’s next generation of global giants.
“If 20 years from now we can say we were part of those companies when they were getting started in Finland, that would be an enormous success.”
Shwetank Verma, Managing Partner
For him the appeal is simple: “Such a small country produces so many global behemoths.” That conviction brought Leo Capital to Helsinki in 2024, armed with a €25 million early-stage B2B fund and a clear Nordic investment thesis. Business Finland Venture Capital – now part of Tesi – signed on as anchor investor. They were home.
Invest in Helsinki while still is under the radar
Helsinki first appeared on the radar for Verma and his fellow founder Rajul Garg via a Helsinki Partners program promoting the ecosystem to international companies looking to invest or expand their operations in the Nordics or Europe. What they found felt familiar: the same combination of government support, talent and entrepreneurial zeal they knew from Singapore. Small market, global mindset. Convincing enough to choose Helsinki over another European base they were considering.
“Most entrepreneurs in Finland understand that the Finnish market is not big enough,” Verma says. “They’re already thinking globally from day one.”
In a Nordic landscape where Stockholm often attracts most of the attention and competition, Helsinki struck Leo Capital as equally strong. How? Try richer proprietary deal flow and fewer funds competing for the same deals. A portfolio trio took shape. QuantrolOx, NROC Security, Blueprint Crusher. The latter came with a twist: Leo Capital brought the construction tech company to Helsinki from the United States.
The relocation process turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. Visa issues. Red tape. The company flourished regardless. Leo Capital dug its heels in. Olga Balakina signed on as their fulltime Helsinki-based VP. Leo Capital now had something rare among VC funds: a permanent on-the-ground presence.
Long reach
Small city
Knowing the room
Based at Maria 01, Balakina moves through Helsinki’s startup ecosystem like a seasoned local. Because she is. She helped take Slush global and launched Voima Ventures to back deep tech founders. She doesn’t just know the ecosystem. Balakina helped build it. For Leo Capital, that translates directly into proprietary deal flow.
“Some of the most interesting founders we meet are building in categories that are still emerging globally. That international perspective is naturally aligned with Leo Capital.”
Olga Balakina, Vice President
The newcomer in Leo Capital’s portfolio is Solid IO, a University of Helsinki spinout building tumor-on-chip technology to end trial-and-error in immunotherapy treatments, starting with cancer. “It’s quite fascinating to see something that is known to be very local and very niche being transformed, with the help of AI, into something cross-border that nobody has done before,” Balakina says of the latter. In short: exactly the kind of company Leo Capital came to Helsinki to find. “It’s a tough company to diligence if you didn’t have somebody with Olga’s skill set on the ground,” says Verma. “Translating that into an actual investment is what Olga drove.”
Going global, faster
In a founder-led ecosystem where global ambition is the default, Leo Capital’s edge is the bridge it can build: US go-to-market playbooks and VC networks on one shore, the India Advantage – engineering talent and a fast-growing consumer market – on the other. “Finland is well positioned to create some great AI application companies,” says Verma. Deep tech, healthtech and fintech are also all in the fund’s sights. And others’.
Finnish startups raised a record €1.9 billion in 2025 – €687 million of which from VCs. According to the Finnish Venture Capital Association, one concrete unmet need now lies beyond the early stage.
“A later stage fund is the natural next step and something we’re looking at very carefully,” Verma says. “We think we will build something along those lines to help some of the Finnish scale-ups access Asia specifically.”
Small city, long reach
For international investors considering Helsinki as a base, Verma is unequivocal. “Our pipeline has never been this full,” he says, nodding to around seven or eight great opportunities for every investment they make. Getting a foothold here doesn’t happen by accident. Helsinki Partners delivered: introductions, practicalities, the kind of local knowledge that takes years to build.
“When we were starting in Helsinki, we were told it’s a bit of a country club, so make sure you have the right sponsor. Helsinki Partners is a great sponsor – they can get you connected to the people and the events that matter very quickly,” says Verma.
Ready to invest in Helsinki or explore the city’s venture capital ecosystem?
Venture Nordics is Europe’s top program for international investors interested in exploring the investment scene in the New Nordics, one of the region with most unicorns per capita (100+). The participants of the program get the chance to meet with the top-performing Finnish VCs, Nordic LPs, experience the ecosystem firsthand, and attend Slush.