Finnish Trade Bodies Target New York

Three Finnish trade associations are setting up shop in New York to help promote Finnish mobile industry expertise and help Finnish companies expand into the US. 

The Finnish Mobile Association (FinnMob), Greater Helsinki Promotion, and Finpro aim to open doors for Finnish businesses who want to enter mobile marketing and mobile media. 

FinnMob and Finpro are also establishing a new incubator and co-working space for Finnish companies in New York. They will offer office space as well as mentoring services and introduction to local investors. The companies say that there are now more investments made in technology companies in New York than in Silicon Valley. 

“We can certainly see a shift from West Coast to East Coast happening in the technology market.” says Ismo Rantala, MD of FinnMob. “As convergence of mobile and media is continuing, it is important for mobile companies to be in New York, where all the major digital, media and advertising agencies are based. We believe that the next big revenue source for mobile will be from media and advertising.” 

FinnMob aims to find 30 media houses that could benefit from mobile technology and introduce them to Finnish expertise.

The second goal of the project is to attract R&D to Finland. Rantala says that Finland is a world leader in mobile gaming – lest we forget that Angry Birds originated from the country.