Think about it: if you had 90 days to explore all the possibilities that Helsinki has to offer for expanding your business, what would you do?

The 90 Day Finn program turns chin stroking into action – offering tailored Helsinki business support to show you why the city is your best next step.

Back in 2021, American Ladi Carr, the Senior Director for Global Engagement at the University of Washington, was drawn here to learn more about Finland’s renowned approach to innovation, education and design.

She wasn’t disappointed.

“It became one of the most joyful and rewarding experiences of my life,” she reflects. “The relationships we built, the professional collaborations, and the chance to live and learn in the happiest country in the world, Finland, continue to enrich our lives years later.”

Indeed, the impact of the program can be felt far beyond those initial 90 days. Not only during the program itself, Helsinki advisors actively help alumni find suitable opportunities after its completion.

The proof is in the academic pudding: the University of Washington announced separate partnerships with Aalto University and the University of Helsinki in 2025, deepening research cooperation and establishing a seed fund to tackle real-world challenges.

Helsinki business support enables long-term success

While Ladi’s experience acted on a cultural curiosity that blossomed into academic collaboration, other 90 Day Finns already had established connections with this northern land before partaking in the program.

“My relationship with Finland started over 20 years ago,” Chilean Andro Lindsay recalled, in an interview with Business Insider. “I’ve been a part of several businesses with links to Finland, and some of my best friends are Finns.”

This number has only grown. After his participation in the inaugural 2021 program, not only did Andro plant roots here with his family, but he also founded a company in Finland with Chilean business partners.

Even though this original venture eventually didn’t flourish, Andro tapped into Finnish sisu and pivoted to something even better. Thanks to the 90 Day Finn program he had already met with “most of the Finnish ecosystem in the built environment, energy, mobility, construction, and architecture spaces”. This led him to collaborations – including with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland – and ultimately to a role there as a Business Development Manager for Carbon Neutrality.

Andro’s determination to build bridges between his original and adapted homes bore significant fruit in 2025 when he played a meaningful role in Finland and Chile initiating a long-term partnership.

As a result, Chile’s development agency CORFO pledged USD 20 million in seed funding to kick-start pilot projects and create new business opportunities.“With CORFO’s public funding, we can combine Finnish technological expertise with Chile’s production potential and create sustainable solutions to shared challenges,” Andro said at the time.

90 Day Finn builds relationships with impact

From South Americans to North Americans – VTT has also had a sizeable impact on the climate tech pursuits of Canadian alumni Vincent Marsland and Jan Gunash, thanks to connections made during the 90 Day Finn program.

After participating in the 2024 and 2025 programs respectively, the duo cemented an ongoing partnership with the research centre.

“We found them extremely easy to work with,” Vincent states. “We’re in the energy and AI space, and they are a leader in many ways in both of those. There are some extremely talented people in-house that I feel privileged to be working with.”

In addition to their VTT collaboration, the duo has also been actively hiring in Finland, drawing on the local pool of expertise to boost the fortunes of their company, CoeusAI.

“The 90 Day Finn program exceeded our expectations here at CoeusAI and changed the trajectory of our business,” Vincent states. “I often equate the 90 Day Finn program to the closest thing to an accelerator program that is not called an accelerator.”

Photo Svante Gullichsen

Why global investors invest in Helsinki

Alongside these success stories, the 90 Day Finn program has also helped ignite the upward trajectory of numerous Finnish up and comers by bringing investors to these shores.

Case in point: Colin Brown. Originally from the UK, Colin became a 90 Day Finn in 2022, drawn to Finland’s human-centred take on leadership, education and innovation and, unsurprisingly, the startup potential here.

A deep dive into the local tech ecosystem crystalised his opinion.

“Finland is the best place to grow and invest in businesses – full stop,” Colin says. “One of the reasons it’s a great place is you’ve got really high-quality founders, and they are desperate for capital.”

Seizing the opportunity, Colin announced a new fund in late 2025, joining the Helsinki-based Sparkmind Capital as a General Partner.

“When you look back at your life it will come down to a few pivotal decisions that changed your path,” he recalls. “The 90 Day Finn was one of those for me and my family. Game changer.”

What Colin’s story shows is not an exception, but a pattern. Once investors spend time inside the Helsinki ecosystem, exploration often gives way to commitment.

The same dynamic has also played out through Venture Nordics – a 90 Day Finn spinoff Helsinki ecosystem immersion for international investors with several notable participants, including Milapsinh Jandeja, Linn-Cecilie Linneman and Ana Lopéz Soler, going on to invest in Finnish companies and VC funds.

Many reasons to expand to Helsinki

Shwetank Verma and Rajul Garg from the Singapore-based venture capital firm Leo Capital couldn’t agree more. Following their stint as 90 Day Finn, Leo Capital launched its Nordic headquarters in Finland in 2024 along with its €25M Europe Fund I.

“For us, Finland is exciting because it mirrors what we know in Singapore – dynamic markets with a combination of government support, talent and entrepreneurial zeal,” says Shwetank.

Their first investment cab off the rank was in the quantum technology software company QuantrolOx. They followed this by joining a $2M seed round for NROC Security, specialists in enterprise AI governance and control.

In its brief time here, Leo Capital has also been integral in bringing companies to Finland as well: not only did it invest in Blueprint Crusher, an AI assistant that automates and accelerates the bidding process in the construction industry, but also convinced the founders to start building the company here.

“This is a very exciting time to be in Finland because the elements to create a global powerhouse are all there: the right amount of venture capital, the right amount of hungry entrepreneurs, and a deep ethos of great product design and technology,” Shwetank states.

“I think bringing all of that together and creating truly global companies is what is going to happen over the next 10 years, and I’m really excited to be part of it.”

Find out how leading members of the international business community become success stories from Helsinki.