ESA's business incubator in Finland supports space-related business
The European Space Agency's (ESA) business incubator ESA BIC Finland, which operates in Finland, has been supporting early-stage space companies for eight years.
The incubator organizes two application rounds annually in Finland, where early-stage startups can apply to join ESA's program. The requirements include space-related business, being less than five years old, and being located in Finland. The next application round opens during the summer, and applications must be submitted by September 14, 2025 at the latest.
During the history of ESA BIC Finland, 31 companies have been involved in its operations. The first company selected was Collective Crunch, and other alumni companies include Solar Foods, Kuva Space, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, Elfys, and WinsePower. After the incubator period, the companies' path has taken them to several ESA commercial projects, CASSINI and NATO Diana accelerators and even the Helsinki Stock Exchange. ESA BIC has thus played a significant role in developing Finland's space business.
The Europe-wide ESA BIC network already has 32 incubators in 22 member countries, and the community recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in Munich. In addition to the business incubator, ESA's commercial activities include roles such as Technology broker and Ambassador, which help companies utilize technology developed at ESA and find new business opportunities. At the meeting, it was reminded that companies of all sizes from member states can benefit from collaboration with ESA, for example, through patent portfolios, business networks, or commercial projects, or test the suitability of their product for space activities, for example, in a kick-start project.
In Finland, Aalto University's Startup Center in Espoo's Otaniemi coordinates ESA BIC Finland's operations, the University of Vaasa is involved as a partner, and city collaboration is carried out in Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, and Turku. The search for new city partners is ongoing, and companies from several locations have already participated in the program. In autumn 2024, KOKO Forest and ColdXray, which have backgrounds in research at the University of Eastern Finland, started in the program, Oniride and NorthBase participate from Tampere, and SharpNav has roots at the University of Vaasa. The spring application ended in February, and the evaluation team met in March. The quality of applicants was excellent, to the delight of the evaluators, and we will be able to announce the newly selected companies in the coming weeks.
ESA BIC Finland is also constantly seeking new business and community partners who want to help develop Finland's space companies. Our partners offer, for example, technical or IPR support to companies participating in the incubator or are otherwise involved in the activities. We organize several events annually for future, current, and alumni companies and warmly invite everyone interested in space technology to join. Information about our events is best obtained by following our LinkedIn page.
Aalto also coordinates the new ESA Phi-Lab Finland activity, which provides funding for the commercialization of geospatial innovations. The projects also offer expert support and infrastructure usage opportunities from partners such as the University of Vaasa, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and the National Land Survey's Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI. When the satellite and geoinformatics expertise of Aalto's departments and the active startup community are added to the equation, interesting projects are certainly expected, some of which may continue their path as new companies in the ESA BIC business incubator.
(Photos: © ESA BIC Finland)
