Founders House launches in Helsinki to build Finland’s next global tech giants
- ByStartupStory | February 26, 2026
After supporting over 80 companies in Sweden, Founders House brings its equity-free model to Finland — uniting elite founders, Slush, Wave Ventures and leading Nordic VCs under one roof.
Founders House has officially launched in Helsinki, bringing a highly successful Swedish “founder factory” to Finland.
Founders House Helsinki is a highly selective workspace and community for Finland’s most ambitious startup founders.
The launch follows the success of Founders House Stockholm, which has become a cornerstone of the Swedish technology ecosystem and a launchpad for more than 80 companies in its first year.
Founders House Helsinki aims to produce more globally significant technology companies that contribute directly to Finland’s long-term GDP growth.
Located on the top floor of central Helsinki’s iconic Sähkötalo building, Founders House Helsinki offers over 600 square metres of workspace for up to 15 founding teams or solo founders.
Founders House Helsinki provides selected founders with a free workplace that enables full focus on company building, without taking any equity.
The value is built on curation and direct daily access to top-tier investors, serial founders and operators. The mission is to consistently produce global-scale companies, driving national economic growth and ensuring Finnish startups scale and compete at the global level. The model is simple: curate exceptional founders, bring them together in a shared physical space, and create the conditions for ambitious companies to be built faster.
The first residents include founders with backgrounds from Forbes 30 under 30, Oura, BCG, Supercell, and ICEYE.
Residents are selected via a competitive open call, inviting applications from founders currently based in Finland or those seeking to relocate to Finland to build their next global technology venture.
In 2026, the Sähkötalo building will become a new hub for Finnish economic growth. Founders House will be joined by Slush and Wave Ventures, both relocating to the same building and creating an exceptional density of talent, capital, and operational experience in a single location.
Founders House Helsinki is co-founded by Camilla Komulainen, former Slush leader, together with Johannes Korpela, exited founder and CEO of Wave Ventures. Both have seen firsthand how strongly the environment and peer community influence founder success.
“Our goal is that the companies built at Founders House have a GDP-level impact on Finland and Europe,” says Camilla Komulainen, co-founder of Founders House Helsinki.
“We are building an environment where global ambition is the daily standard and where the next industry giants will be built.”
“The Stockholm model proved that when you centralise the best founders, they push each other to move faster and think bigger. We are bringing that same intensity to the centre of Helsinki to make sure founders have the peer support and pressure required to succeed globally,” says Johannes Korpela, Co-Founder of Founders House Helsinki.
Founders House Helsinki is backed by a group of Nordic investors, operators, and ecosystem organisations, e.g. Slush, Illusian, Business Helsinki, Sitra, the City of Helsinki and leading Nordic VC’s, including Lifeline Ventures.
“Finland has exceptional talent, but the strongest companies are built when ambitious founders are surrounded by peers who challenge them, learn from them, and push them forward every single day. Founders House creates that kind of environment, where high standards, speed, and global ambition are embedded in the daily work and help teams grow faster and stronger from the very beginning,” says Marianne Vikkula, Head of Wolt.
“Great teams are the foundation of Europe’s global success. Founders House creates a setting where founders support each other, raise the bar together, and execute faster in the moments that matter most. We’ve seen this play out in the Finnish gaming industry: a tight-knit community is exactly what a small population needs to become a global powerhouse. That’s a model Europe should invest in,” says Ilkka Paananen, co-founder and CEO of Supercell.
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