ESA BIC Finland Welcomes Four New Space-Related Startups

The ESA BIC Finland program, coordinated by Aalto University Startup Center, continues to foster innovation in the space sector by supporting early-stage startups through the European Space Agency’s business incubator program. Cense Analytics, Polar Orbital, SKYA, and Twinverse join the program now.

Promising new companies have been selected to join the program, further diversifying the scope of space-related entrepreneurship in Finland. “The need for space-related innovation has been on the rise for years and keep growing, and so are the resources and investments”, notes Kaisa Ahonen, Manager at ESA BIC Finland. Recent ESA Ministerial Council in November 2025 established an increase of budget for 31% from 2022 with the goal to start implementing the ESA Strategy 2040. European space ambitions are growing, and European space commercialization networks like ESA BICs and ESA Phi-Labs are an integral part of the strategy, which includes the following goals: 

• Protect our Planet and Climate
• Explore and Discover
• Strengthen European Autonomy and Resilience
• Boost Growth and Competitiveness
• Inspire Europe

ESA BIC Finland, a part of ESA’s European-wide incubation network, conducts biannual application rounds to attract startups with unique space-related business propositions. Eligible startups must be based in Finland, be less than five years old, and demonstrate a connection to the space industry—whether through satellite data applications, positioning, timing, and navigating, or materials designed for extreme cold environments. Aalto Startup Center, situated in Otaniemi, Espoo, spearheads the program with support from the University of Vaasa and city collaborations across Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, and Turku. 

Startups that successfully pass the selection process gain access to comprehensive resources, including business coaching in areas such as financing, communication, marketing, and team building. Additionally, they benefit from technical expertise provided by partner companies. Integration into the international networks of Aalto Startup Center, ESA BIC, and Finnish partners introduces them to pivotal connections and insights. Financial backing up to EUR 90,000 is jointly offered by ESA and Business Finland, amplifying the growth potential during the program’s course. 

The recent cohort of startups joining ESA BIC Finland in January 2026:

• Cense Analytics provides accurate and cost-effective soil carbon data through advanced in-situ sensing and AI-driven remote sensing technologies.
• Polar Orbital develops satellite ground station systems to support current and future Earth-observation services and infrastructure.
• SKYA develops resilient precision navigation, communication, and agentic manipulation systems for mobile robots such as autonomous drones.
• Twinverse creates large-scale living industrial digital twins. 

“ESA BIC offers us a remarkable opportunity to develop our business towards our vision of providing our customers a full view on their operational sites and all the activities in them in real-time. As part of the ESA community we are also looking forward to expand internationally”, comments Ismo Olkkonen, CEO of Twinverse. Harry Edelman, CEO of SKYA has similar expectations: “We are excited about the opportunity to explore the business opportunities related to our technology in the space domain, especially related to future space robotics.”

These startups join a prestigious network alongside previous participants like Solar Foods, Kuva Space, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, Zero Gravity, Elfys, and WinsePower. These alumni companies’ path has taken them to several ESA commercial projects, CASSINI and NATO Diana accelerators and even the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The latest successfully incubated startups (ColdXRay, KOKO Forest, NorthBase, Oinride, Sharpnav) were presenting at the graduation ceremony at the Winter Satellite Workshop Investing in Space -session on Tuesday, January 20th, 15.30-16.30 in Dipoli, Espoo.

For further information on the application process or program details, please contact ESA BIC Finland 

Source: ESA BIC Finland