Tesi’s new investment strategy and financial framework confirmed – Tesi becomes an even stronger engine for growth, renewal, and investment

Tesi’s role as a market-driven minority investor is strengthened. With increased investment capacity, Tesi will promote Finland’s economic growth, renewal, and investments. Tesi aims to leverage significant amounts of both national and international funding alongside its own investment activities into Finnish growth companies, new industrial sectors, and private equity and venture capital (PE and VC) funds. Tesi also strengthens domestic ownership through its activities.

Tesi’s investment capacity is 1.8 billion euros for the years 2025–2029. Tesi will accelerate the commercialization, scaling, and export of internationally competitive innovations by investing in Finnish startups and growth companies. Tesi will also fund new industrial-scale projects with the aim of building new industry in Finland that utilizes new clean electricity and promotes a clean transition. Tesi continues to develop the Finnish PE and VC market through fund investments to increase the availability of private capital in the market.

Key elements of the reform are:

• The size of direct investments will increase, and new tasks include financing industrial-scale investments and significantly larger growth investments in the scalable growth of technology companies.

• In developing the Finnish PE and VC market, fund investment activities will become more selective, focusing more strongly on existing market gaps and taking market changes into account. Tesi aims to create new high-quality international-scale funds in Finland to strengthen the availability of private equity and venture capital funding. The investment strategy does not categorically exclude any types of funds.
• The precise investment allocation will be adjusted according to market conditions and needs. Tesi will continue to make PE and VC investments on market terms under the same conditions as private investors. Tesi does not compete with private investors and will withdraw if a competitive situation arises.

“Tesi is a growth engine that will continue to operate in parts of the market where there is not enough private financing available. Our toolbox is expanding, and the availability of financing is improving from the perspective of companies. Our goal is to attract a significant amount of private capital for growth companies, which also opens up new investment opportunities for private investors,” says Tesi’s CEO Pia Santavirta.

Tesi, together with private investors and actors within the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s administrative branch, actively aims to strengthen the development of growth sectors and ecosystems that are assessed to have both technological strength and growing market demand.

“We see that deep tech, climate tech, health tech, and defense tech are future growth sectors: they can build sustainable growth and form innovation and competence clusters in Finland that produce significant added value and enable new growth,” continues Santavirta.

The investment strategy has been prepared for Tesi in accordance with the objectives set in the Finnish Government Program, the 300-million-euro direct investment program outlined in the spring 2024 framework session, and changes in the operating environment. According to the Government Program, state PE and VC and corporate financing activities will be clarified and streamlined by centralizing operations in the Finnish Industry Investment Group. Legislative changes concerning Tesi’s operations were approved on 17 Jan 2025 and will be implemented by a separate decree in the spring of 2025.

“The government’s main goal is to get Finland back on the path of growth. Tesi’s new investment strategy and stronger industrial policy role are part of this work. The new strategy responds to changes in the market and geopolitical operating environment and implements the objectives of the Government Program,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman.

For more information:

• Press release by The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 25 Feb 2025
• Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman’s blog 25 Feb 2025
• The Government’s proposal to amend the Tesi Act and the new Industrial Support Ltd Act (in Finnish) was approved on 17 Jan 2025 (HE 86/2024). The laws will come into force at a time to be determined by a government decree later in the spring.
• Tesi’s investment principles

For further information:

Pia Santavirta, CEO
pia.santavirta@tesi.fi
+358 40 546 7749