Scaleup Launchpad growth programme offers hands-on help for international scaling

6.9.2023

microsoftteams image 8 — Picture: Visit Tampere, Laura Vanzo

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The cross-border growth programme Scaleup Launchpad accelerates scale-up companies towards international markets. The programme is implemented in Tampere, Tartu and Norrköping. The selected companies develop green transition solutions for the operating environment of smart cities.

There are three companies participating in the programme from the Tampere City Region: Buildie, Kemion and UDT Technologies. The companies are particularly interested in the concrete measures of the Scaleup Launchpad programme, the opportunity to get expert help that is tailored specifically for their needs, and the opportunity to network internationally.

Buildie – field tool for infra management

Buildie is a SaaS-based software company, founded in 2015 and with around 30 employees in Tampere. Their product, also known as Buildie, is a field tool for infrastructure management. Customers are typically City developers, such as urban engineering or water utilities developers.

– We offer our customers a mobile solution for documentation and quality control. We have revolutionised the way infra construction is secured, says Buildie CEO Taneli Ristmeri.

Ristmeri has always considered the Nordic countries as a clear target market for Buildie.

– Scaleup Launchpad is one opportunity for Buildie to explore the target market in Sweden. Researching Tartu, on the other hand, is an interesting way to find out how our product would be seen in Estonia, says Ristmeri.

Ristmeri estimates that the exchange of information among the participating companies will be useful. It helps to understand the local markets in Sweden and Estonia – and to make sensible decisions when it's time to start opening those markets.

– The biggest challenge for us is to adapt ourselves to the local culture and the local construction industry practices. I hope that the program will find mentors who can help us, says Ristmeri.

Kemion – green chemistry

Kemion is a chemical company specialising in sustainable solutions, founded in 2013 and with 6 employees in Ylöjärvi. Their main focus is to supply green dust-control and de-icing chemicals, for example replacing the use of road salt with harmless substances.

– Kemion has lot of potential customers in different areas, starting from winter maintenance of roads, railroads and tramways, or golf and football fields, to industry and mining… anywhere where you can expect problems with ice or dust. Our vision is to be the most expert service company here in the Northern Europe, says Kemion CEO Timo Nissinen.

Kemion has worked actively in Finland and gained a good foothold. Now it's their time to move to the scaleup phase, i.e. start internationalisation efforts in earnest. Nissinen states that the Scaleup Launchpad programme hit just the right stage in the company's life.

In addition to the interesting partner countries in the programme, the analytical approach also seemed appropriate. All companies participating in Scaleup Launchpad do, for example, a HippoMeter analysis, which highlights the development needs of each company.

– HippoMeter is an interesting analysis tool, and the programme also includes company-specific mentoring. You can choose the areas that best suit your company’s needs, Nissinen says.

UDT Technologies – new urban transit infrastructures

UDT Technologies is a service company for passenger and parcel logistics, founded in 2021 in Kangasala. Their key feature is to give cities automated, intelligent and energy-efficient transit infrastructures that can be a platform for many types of city services.

– We will build an air track that has on-demand capsules with room for one or two people, reservable with a mobile app. The transit network allows people and goods to move, and the user can create travel and service chains through the system, says Jussi Niemioja, Innovation Director of UDT Technologies.

The company has signed an agreement with the City of Lahti, to explore the possibilities to construct a pilot track in Lahti. Niemioja says that the company reaches new milestones almost every month and therefore wants to participate in the Scaleup Launchpad programme – to learn, network and future-proof their business.

– We have a strong desire to be scalable as early as possible, and future-proofing is essential. Also, Business Tampere has a good reputation as an organiser of such programs, so the decision to participate was easy to make, says Niemioja.