As it is always interesting to read lists of hot and interesting start-up companies, me, Timo Norros and Olli Pölönen, decided to put together few companies to see which start-ups are currently the most exciting ones in the game from our point-of-view.  As the companies vary greatly in their stage and current revenue streams, we ended up forming four categories: On Fire, Rising Stars, Interesting Newborns and Interesting Business Models. We examined mostly the success potential of the companies, evaluating if they are going to be big or not. Naturally, the estimates are mostly rough guesses and these lists are certainly not definite, just our current favorites. In addition, many promising companies are missing because of our limited understanding of the market, for example, from the life sciences category. Nevertheless, we wanted to spotlight the companies as equally within different industries as it is possible for us, so this is indeed not a list of only social media or web 2.0 companies. We hope these lists give a nice picture of what’s happening right now and which companies are interesting to follow at the moment.

On Fire

The companies  falling into this category are the ones that have already established themselves by receiving a significant amount of funding or are already generating considerably sales. There is definitely something for every entrepreneur to learn about these cases.

• Aava Mobile: In the near future the smartphone in your pocket could be based on the ‘mobile motherboard’ concept of these guys from Oulu. Aava has impressed industry veterans by cramming Intel’s Moorestown processor into an incredibly small platform. Aava has currently raised €3M. 
• Aito Technologies: Customer experience management software for mobile phone operators and others. Aito provides a truly refreshing way to gather customer data. Conor and Creandum have invested in Aito. 
• Beneq: One of the true nanotechnology companies in Finland and definitely a forerunner in coating business. Beneq’s technology enables multiple applications and uses from R&D pilots to full-scale industrial production lines. Inventure and Via Venture Partners have invested in the company around €4M. 
• Blyk Services: Despite the difficulties in UK, Blyk’s business model of building an intelligent network around an advertising funded mobile operator is truly an interesting one. Blyk’s investment rounds have been extremely large by Finnish standards. 
• Canatu: Another significant Finnish nanotechnology company. Canatu produces carbon based nanocomponents for mainly electronics, optics and energy industries. Canatu has received more than €2M financing. 
• Confidex: RFID solutions to where no tag has gone before. Confidex has quickly built a remarkable global presence, which an area where Finns have been historically very unsuccessful. Swiss Logispring and Aura Capital have invested in Confidex. 
• Enfucell: Both flexible and thin power sources for various small applications. Enfucell promises to keep the production costs low and their products are environmentally very friendly. Enfucell has received about €3.5 funding.
• Eniram: Finnish ship-building knowledge combined with right software specialists have converted into energy-saving solutions from single onboard applications to fleet-wide systems. Eniram’s investors include Ferd Venture, Conor Venture Partners, and Finnish Industry Investment with management and employees as shareholders.
• Envault Corporation: Products helping enterprises and governmental organizations to protect their confidential information against endpoint data leakages. Envault’s customers include, for example, Finnish Defence Forces. The company is owned by private investors and VTT.
• EpiCrystals: Having a projector in your cell phone sound pretty neat! I hope the guys at EpiCrystals can keep up with the Asian players in the same field. Both the Finnish Industry Investment and VNT management have invested in the company.
• Footbalance System: North America is about to be conquered for this sports tech start-up. Footbalance’s business idea is to provide easy and cost-effective way for retailers to make custom insoles. Scope Capital’s €7M round probably wasn’t unnoticed by anyone.
• Fruugo:  We know what you’re thinking, they have received awful lot of money, however, no impressive results yet. Still, just check out the website, the service looks and feels incredibly neat. Now it seems to be all about marketing...
• Imbera Electronics: Imbera’s technology allows manufacturers to produce compact and inexpensive integrated electronics with improved thermal and electronic properties. Imbera has raised around €11M in funding.
• MultiTouch: These screens have gathered respectfully media attention around the world. Especially the bigger public displays are impressive. Would love to have one in my future penthouse...
• Oncos Therapeutics: Viruses as treatment were studied a lot in the former Soviet Union, somehow these studies were forgotten for awhile. However, the current advancements in virology have produced promising results. Oncos is using viruses against cancer cells. HealthCap Venture Capital and Lifeline Ventures have invested in this company.
• Picodeon: ALD technologies have been a hot topic already for awhile. Picodeon’s approach is ultra-short pulsed laser deposition. Picodeon has raised venture capital from Scatec.
• Powerkiss: While moving towards world without without wired technology, Powerkiss promises to liberate us from cables when charging our mobile devices. Powerkiss products were showcased in Shanghai World Expo.
• Rightware: Futuremark’s spinoff develops its own graphical interface to be used in mobile phones and automotive applications. Both Inveture and Nexit Ventures have invested in Rightware.
• Rovio Mobile: Our current favourite of the Finnish mobile gaming companies. Angry Birds has caught a lot media attention, even in such publications as Wall Street Journal.
• Sopima: Finnish penny-pinching companies will probably fall in love with Sopima’s cheap and easy-to-use web-based legal services. Who wouldn’t want to pay less for law firms? Sopima recently received seed financing.
• The Switch Engineering: One of the most brilliant stars in renewable energy sector, The Switch‘s expertise covers variable energy sources. Their investors include Finnish Industry Investment and VNT Management.
• There Corporation: Energy saving gets easier when There is there. There provides a platform for controlling home energy management. VNT Management has invested €4.5M.
• Visedo: We can only imagine in our wildest dreams how big Visedo can become. Their technology enables heavy duty machinery to become hybrid, which reduces operating costs, emissions and noise levels. VNT Management has invested €2.4M in Visedo.
• XIHA: As every possible player seems to want to be involved in social media, XIHA has managed to create something unique: a truly smart multilingual social network. We truly hope the service can gather enough userbase and show it to the bigger players, like Facebook.
• ZenRobotics: These guys seem to be straight from the future. We really recommend scrolling through their hilarious company slogans on the homepage. Artificial intelligence is here (and flavoured with geeky humour)!

Rising Stars

These companies have the possibility to grow really huge in the near future; however, there is still some groundwork to do for most of them.

• Axco Motors: Visedo, for example, is using these highly efficient electrical motors and generators. Their achievements lie in simple and miniaturized engineering.
• Everon: Among the players making mobile devices for geriatric healthcare, Everon seems to be the most promising. By the way, these guys are looking for financing...
• Hammerkit: The platform, which enables everyone to (punk) rock the web, is almost here. Hammerkit has also hoarded a wide range of awards for their technology.
• Maventa: Despite the hassle of using snail mail, somehow e-billing hasn’t been yet widely adopted. Maventa promises to change the fact and while doing so, save A4 sheets equating for few million trees.
• MicroTask: Well this is a truly interesting one. If MicroTask is able to carry out their vision, global multisourcing of simple everyday tasks will be here soon. They probably need few masterminds to execute the needed very complex network system...
• PlexPress: From cells to data in 2-4 hours. One can only imagine the various applications of PlexPress’ Gene Expression analysis. Probably even the guys in CSI would be jealous for this technology.
• Sendandsee: Now look, We are sure that the whole team of Sendandsee does a great job, but when I just think of the company it reminds me of Aape. Aape Pohjavirta. You need to meet this guy... Who said that Steve Jobs personifies strongly the Apple brand? Well, you can just double that up after you meet this charismatic enthusiast.
• Sibesonke: Make the world a better place to live and create some value on your way there. Sounds like a great business to me. Sibesonke empowers the life of consumers in emerging and developing countries with its SMS-based mobile service.
• Suntrica: Suntica manufactures flexible and high-efficiency portable solar chargers. Perhaps everyone on the globe except Finns can stop worrying of charging phones constantly, whilst sun handles that problem. Simply brilliant, though we wonder if Suntrica can ever develop a converter strong enough for the Finnish weather circumstances.
• Zokem: Zokem is a company of very current interest as they just received €2 million in venture financing. Zokem troops, lead by General Ludovig Gaudé, are creating value of people’s mobile consumption knowledge. Can they repeat Google’s trick with internet in the mobile space?

Interesting Newborns

In this category there are some recently flourished companies we have found exciting. This list could be a lot larger but these start-ups were on top of our mind at the moment.

• Ape Payment: Could this finally be THE e-wallet we have been waiting for? At least Risto Siilasmaa believed that when he placed his money and expertise on the company few months ago.
• AudioDraft: The Aalto Bootcamp-awarded company is hardly avoided. They appear in every media from Helsinki to West Cost and buzz just seems to accelerate more and more on them. AudioDraft’s collaboration platform allows you to order custom made music and commercial audio. Thumbs up here for AudioCraft.
• Cone Advisor: This humble company informed us at latest MoneyTalks event that they’re going to replace PowerPoint from management usage. They’re making it happen by offering a management system where the central figures can be visualized whenever needed without the need of preparing hundreds and hundreds of slide sets.
• Flowdock: “Teamwork is about turning communication into value” Flowdock team is about as start-up as one can get. These guys make entrepreneurship look fun and easy – like a lifestyle that has been calling them since they were kids. Check the product out.
• Hipui: Aalto BootCamp-awarded mobile start-up. Hipui wants to combine the best mobile technologies to create superb user experiences.
• Lumedy: We know where we are getting our next advertising banner. Let there be light: Lumedy’s printable OLED technology can bring glow to every imaginable printed product.
• Nicanti: Cheap and simple RFID solutions (printed electronics). The company itself tells that their solutions are a combination chemistry, electronics and information technology. Yes, you guessed it right. Nicanti is a VTT spin-off.
• Wello: Wello uses ocean wave energy as a source of renewable energy. What’s most important, the company’s solution does not harm the nature (ocean’s ecosystem). Wello got recently funded by 5.5 MEUR to build a prototype of the power plant. This could be big!
• Widsen: Helps you to go green, without sacrificing your standard of living. Widsen allows you to get full of control of your electricity consumption. Winner of Aalto BootCamp 2009.
• Ventrado: Web-based solution to help small scale entrepreneurs easily manage and grow their business. Ventrado is still in beta version but could drastically enhance the operations of very early-stage companies.

Interesting Business Models

These start-ups are somewhat a mixed bag. We definitely like all of them because they have truly thrilling business models. However, we feel that they need to refine their strategies to become really (commercially) successful.

• Ball-IT: Magnificent concept and funniest ever user experience with Blobo. Nevertheless, the company is craving for a hit game to take the next step.
• BBS – Bioactive Bone Substitutes: Biotech firm specialized in innovative therapeutic substances for bone regeneration. Seriously dude, these guys replace your fractured bone with a substitute from a reindeer and get it regenerating faster (?!)
• Sofanatics: Sofanatics aims to ease up the pain of listening your wife’s nagging whilst watching sports by offering a unique social TV service for sports. “You’ll never watch alone”
• Fambit: Fambit is a Facebook for families. Some could think that the market will be everafter dominated by Facebook, but as I have learned to think: Don’t be smarter than the market.
• Netcycler: We love this green concept. Recycle your old stuff with Netcycler, feel relieved and green, and in the best case you might end up having something valuable in your hands again.
• Muxlim: The second largest social network in the world right after Facebook? Not exactly, but that’s the vision and aim of this award-winning company. Still waiting for the breakthrough...
• Pocum: Pocum is software that helps you to manage all your daily routines in a more effective manner – and thus allows you to actually focus on your core business. Every ambitious company should at least check this service out.
• Sports Tracking Technologies: Sports Tracker is a Nokia spin-off. This application, that actually makes sweating feel funny again, works great on Nokia smartphones. Why on earth did Nokia give up on this app development?
• Web Of Trust (WOT): Now this is a must have add-on for every Firefox user. Web Of Trust is an excellent protection against harmful web sites whilst browsing. However, We are not yet fully aware how well the company has managed to monetize this.

If you want to comment our picks, we would just love to get feedback from you. (Currently the commenting here is limited to only registered users, please leave your comments for example to ArcticStartup discussion page)