Nordic growth-stage companies are worth a second look

The Nordic region has a strong track record of building companies that go on to succeed globally: Supercell, Oura, Iceye, and Wolt from Finland, Spotify and Klarna from Sweden, and the list keeps growing.

Each of those companies was once a growth-stage business on the verge of an international breakthrough, still available at a valuation with room to grow. That window is open for the next generation of Nordic companies too, and having a local connection helps investors get in at the right moment.

The opportunity for international investors

Growth-stage companies with proven product-market fit, international ambitions, and room to grow are increasingly hard to find in more established, saturated markets. In the Nordics, they’re still priced for what they’ve already achieved rather than for where they are headed.

Series A is where the achievement-based pricing dynamic matters most, as it is typically the first stage where a company has turned early promise into real commercial traction. 

According to byFounders’ Shape of the New Nordics 2025 report, fewer companies now make it from seed to Series A than in previous startup generations.

Those that pass through this filter represent a more selective group than before, making Series A a stronger quality signal and a more meaningful entry point than it once was.

“Finnish founders tend to raise late, and by the time they do, the groundwork is already done. The product works, the first customers are in, and outside capital comes in to scale rather than to build. The valuation is based more on what the company has already achieved than on its future potential”, says Aki Soudunsaari, CEO of Springvest.

Getting in takes the right approach

Getting into Finnish growth-stage companies at the right moment means getting three things right: access, timing, and capital.

Access

Nordic ecosystems are often relationship-driven. Without a local presence, international investors typically hear about opportunities only once they are already widely known.

Timing

The most interesting entry point is before a company’s international breakthrough, when the foundations are proven, but the potential upside is still ahead.

Capital

Finland has a strong early-stage investment culture, but domestic funds don’t yet have the scale to lead major growth rounds. For international investors, that creates an opportunity to invest at attractive prices. Foreign investors brought nearly €1 billion into Finnish startups in 2024, according to Finnish Venture Capital Association statistics . That accounted for the majority of all growth-stage funding that year.

None of this is easy to navigate from the outside. There is more than one way to do it, and each comes with a different trade-off between control, effort, and time.

“The easiest way in is to work with someone who already has the relationships, the deal flow, and the structure in place. That’s exactly what Springvest does. We work with companies at precisely that moment before international breakthrough, when the foundations are proven, but the investment upside is still ahead”, says Aki Soudunsaari.

“The groundbreaking ReOrbit Series A round is a good example. Finnish private investors and family offices invested alongside institutions and international VCs in a single structured round. The due diligence is done, the round is structured. All that’s left is the decision – in or out.”

Explore the current opportunities

If you want to understand what Finnish growth-stage opportunities look like in practice, the current pipeline at springvest.fi/en is a good starting point, or contact our team at coinvestor@springvest.fi.