Finland’s N2 project’s regional cooperation model brings together budding entrepreneurs, academia, researchers and business leaders to provide the coaching and support needed to turn an idea into a successful start-up.
- 23 November 2017
The N2 model offers a shared, inspiring and supportive path towards entrepreneurship in the region. It facilitates more efficient use of resources and improves the quality and availability of offered services. It is now a permanent part of our region’s business counselling services.
Although Finland’s economy is becoming increasingly dependent on entrepreneurs and start-ups, the country lacks formal initiatives to support their development and success. To resolve this, the New Businesses with New Methods (N2) project created a collaborative model comprising all relevant business development stakeholders. In addition to providing business-support services specifically tailored to start-ups and entrepreneurs, the project is also organising workshops, providing entrepreneurial coaching and hosting an innovation idea bank.
Connecting the start-up dots
The Finish economy is experiencing a fundamental shift. Rather than being dependent on a handful of large multinational companies, today the country’s economic growth is being driven by innovative start-ups. As these start-ups are the answer to job creation, it is essential that Finland builds a strong foundation to support a pipeline of new businesses. Although there are several business development organisations available in the region, there is often no formal cooperation between them. This results in an overlap and gaps in the services they provide, making it difficult for users to find the information they require. Furthermore, much of what is available is geared towards established businesses rather than to the unique needs of entrepreneurs.
To fill this gap, the N2 project brings together entrepreneurs, academia and industry experts to provide ongoing training and support. To accomplish this, the project exploiting Finland’s ample, albeit disconnected, resources. For example, although the country employs the highest percentage of GDP in R&D within the EU, this spending has not resulted in the creation of new businesses or jobs. Thus, the N2 project is connecting this R&D with academia, business experts and potential entrepreneurs, including more than 800 former Nokia and Microsoft experts who are currently unemployed. By connecting up these individual pieces, the project is providing the support and training Finland needs to solve its start-up puzzle.
A multi-disciplinary approach
One of the project’s key contributions is the organisation of hands-on ‘StartingUp’ workshops on entrepreneurship. Available in both Finish and English, there are four series covering such topics as business modelling, sales and marketing and financing. Each series comprises six individual workshops geared to entrepreneurs interested in launching their own business. Participants are assigned to a multi-disciplinary team, in what is known as ‘TeamingUp’, where they work with other entrepreneurs, business leaders and researchers with the ultimate goal of launching a new start-up.
In addition to these workshops and start-up teams, the project has also launched a regional idea bank whereby those ideas developed during the workshop which are not being pursued by any of the N2 teams are saved for future reference. The innovative ideas are made available to other interested parties, including large companies, SMEs, established start-ups, universities and even municipalities.
Building the next big idea
All of this – the workshops, teams and idea bank – are hosted at SparkUp, a state-of-the-art co-working space located in the heart of Turku. Here, the project has successfully held 48 workshops, involving over 750 participants, and is hosting 50 multi-disciplinary teams – all busily working on their next big idea.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “New Businesses with New Methods (N2)” is EUR 596 567, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 417 596 through the “Sustainable growth and jobs 2014 – 2020 – Structural Funds Programme of Finland” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.