MoneyTalks® in Tampere

Once a year MoneyTalks® Tampere gathers together hi-tech and innovation-based start-up and growth companies and financiers. Altogether over 70 participants witnessed three great seven minute pitches and several one minute elevator pitches. The pitching sessions were followed by relaxed networking and business talk over light snacks and drinks.Entrepreneurs and investors had also taken advantage of the possibility to pre-screen participants and request meetings before the event. As a result the one-to-one meeting rooms were fully booked until the end of the event.

Below you can find the seven minute presentations of Team Action Zone and TTS-Ciptec. We also hope to have the presentation by Injeq shared as soon as possible.

Kar Laurila pitched for Team Action Zone (TAZ), a developer of innovative outdoor games that make people move around. TAZ games utilize latest technologies and are designed to be easy to learn. In all TAZ games, exercise, fun, team spirit and ecological aspects are strongly present. TAZ also arranges outdoor game events, which are especially suitable for company teams and groups of buddies in general.

TTS-Ciptec Ltd provides optimizing services for industrial washing systems. Tuomas Pahlman demonstrated how their product provides savings in time, water and energy, reduces environmental impacts and ensures the highest levels of hygiene. The TTS-Ciptec technology and services have been noticed by the world’s biggest dairy corporations and its innovative business model has received multiple awards.

Injeq Ltd, presented by Kai Kronström, develops bioimpedance measurement based tissue identifying medical needles for epidural anesthesia and other medical applications.  The company has its roots in biomedical research conducted at the Tampere University of Technology.

Additionally, the audience was informed how growth, development and competitiveness of technology businesses can be secured by proper intellectual property rights, fertile connections between businesses and research institutions as well as through fundraising and training services provided by MoneyTalks® partners Berggren, Hermia, Innolink and Tampere All Stars.

The next MoneyTalks® event will be held in Helsinki March 13th. Please note that we offer also the opportunity to request meetings in advance, hence do not hesitate to sign-up. Deadline for the pitching applications is February 27 and can be accessed from our events page.

Aalto University Small Business Center Organizes Two Matchmaking Trips to Russia

Succeed in Russia! Aalto University School of Economics Small Business Center is organizing two and networking expeditions for representatives for Finnish SMEs to our Eastern neighbour, Russia in the coming months.  The first matchmaking trip will head to St. Petersburg from the 13-15 of March, 2012. Nizhniy Novgorod is the second destination, which will be explored on the 23-26 of April, 2012. On these trips you can learn about the prevailing market conditions and business opportunities as well as form new contacts. Private meetings with pre-selected preferred local partners will also take place on both visits. Below you will find more information and registration details.

St. Petersburg 13.-15.03.2012: The price of this trip is €600 and it includes train tickets (round-trip), a group visa and the required registration payments, accommodation (one-person room) and all the organized transport in the destination as well as the services of an interpreter and a tour leader.

Nizhniy Novgorod 23.-26.04.2012: The price is €1375 and includes the flights (Helsinki – Nizhniy Novgorod – Helsinki), accommodation (one-person room) with breakfasts, as well as all organized and group transport in the destination. The price does not include a visa, travel insurance, or meals.

Registration can be completed in www.pienyrityskeskus.aalto.fi > training. The registration deadlines for the trips are the 20.02.2012 for St. Petersburg and the 09.03.2012 for Nizhniy Novgorod.

For further information, enquiries and possible cancellations contact Elena Mochnikova , tel. 050 4385 737, elena.mochnikova@aalto.fi.

(The Aalto University School of Economics Small Business Center reserves the right to make changes to the presented information)

Newest Trends and Opportunities in Recruitment as the Focus at UpcomingTechnopolis Business Breakfast

The Technopolis Business Breakfast event returns on the 10th of February, 2012 from 8.00 to 10.00 in Innopoli 2 in Otaniemi, Espoo with a special emphasis on employer branding in social media and global trends and opportunities in recruitment. If you decide to come, you will be treated to a fine breakfast and a great opportunity to network, while getting to hear two excellent presentations on this up-to-date topic.

First Teemu Arina, CEO of Dicole Ltd, will provide a presentation on the global trends affecting recruiting and the potential of social media in finding talent. Arina, a technology entrepreneur and consultant, is an expert on the digital environment. His prior merits include co-authoring books, such as Megasignals and Cloud Company, giving speeches in business and academic conferences in Finland and abroad.

Fredrik Sundell, CEO of Talentor Group, will follow-up by presenting the case of TalentMatch. TalentMatch is a brand service that combines matching talent through social media and networking events with companies. This online matching tool provided by Otaniemi Marketing and Technopolis on JobGo is a social career network that creates a marketplace from which companies can find the right talent in the right place and at the right time. This tool is meant for companies, organizations, and professionals that work in the knowledge intensive sectors that want to find the best match of talent and need. This network is a new way for companies to source and recruit the best talent available, while making the impractical company CV databases outdated. This tool can be accessed through www.talentmatch.fi and further face-to-face networking opportunities will be present at TalentTalks® matchmaking events.

We welcome you to join us at the Technopolis Business Breakfast. It is a tremendous opportunity for companies and organizations alike to learn how they can take advantage of the present-day trends in recruitment to find and retain their talent now and tomorrow. To participate one must register online at www.technopolisonline.com/events by the 5th of February.

Hammerkit Secures Funding for UK Expansion

Finnish based cloud technology provider Hammerkit Ltd has secured an investment round of € 1.25 million. The company provides repeatable, digital solutions for the public relations and marketing industry and will use the investment to establish it’s Cloudstore business in the UK. In October 2010 Hammerkit opened an office in the Liverpool Science Park and this investment will be used to create a sales and production centre there.

This round was financed by multiple investors with the North West Fund for Venture Capital, managed by EV, and the North West Fund for Digital & Creative, managed by AXM Venture Capital, investing approximately € 500,000 between them. Veraventure participated with an equal amount of capital (€ 500,000) and the reimaining € 250,000 was provided by the NIY programme of Tekes, the Finnish funding agency for technology and innovation.

Hammerkit, established five years ago in Helsinki by a team of IT professionals, provides a cloud-based web development toolkit and Cloudstore that make it faster and easier to build professional-grade websites and social media applications. The key is that any site can be launched as a repeatable solution, effectively turning one-off web projects into potential best-selling digital products. Its Cloudstore has been piloted with the two global PR agencies, Edelman in Latin America and Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Europe.

Mark Sorsa-Leslie, CEO of Hammerkit, elaborated the vision of Hammerkit in the company’s press release; “The digital industry is crying out for more effective ways to produce the services that clients need. We developed the Cloudstore to meet that need and ensure that large agencies can leverage their scale to produce digital services effectively. We also want to help them join up their creative talent to ensure the best, most repeatable solutions are shared across their company to increase revenue and profit margins. We’re excited to launch the next phase of Hammerkit and the creation of a new digital industry hub in Liverpool, given its abundance of digital talent and proximity to MediaCityUK”.

Technopolisonline has a close working relationship with Hammerkit as it has and still is providing its cloud technology for Technopolis with Technopolisonline. Due to this we are elated about this recent round and will be posting an interview we conducted with the Mark Sorsa-Leslie on the investment and Hammerkit in general.

MoneyTalks Opens the Year in Otaniemi

This year’s first MoneyTalks entrepreneur-to-financier pitching and matchmaking event was held in Espoo on January 12th 2012. The event started the year well as it attracted a full crowd of up-and-coming technology start-ups and active investors to Otaniemi. The event was a success as the plentiful crowd witnessed three great 7-minute presentations from Adfore Technologies Ltd, Midaxo Ltd and Energest Group Oü, as well as multiple one-minute power pitches. Distinct and interesting software and mobile solutions were presented to the audience, ranging from business intelligence tools to software for sharing and renting electric cars. After the pitches the networking began and by the looks of it the conversation was active as new and old acquaintances shared their thoughts.

Here are links to the seven minute presentations from Adfore Technologies Ltd and Energest Group Oü accompanied by some information on both. At the moment we are unable to share the presentation of Midaxo Ltd, but we hope to have it up also as soon as possible.

Adfore Technologies Presentation

Adfore Technologies has developed a hyper local marketing and information solution that currently operates under the brand name Tässä.fi in Finland. The solution enables users to find information on close by amenities such as shops, restaurants, and public services anywhere in Finland.

Utilimon Presentation

Energest is an Estonian cleantech start-up specializing in energy technology and software development. Their product Utilimon is a business intelligence tool for measuring the energy consumption of large buildings. The product offers data every five minutes of the buildings energy consumption from all possible sources. This allows property owners and building managers to reduce their utility costs by pinpointing the areas that need improved energy efficiency.

Midaxo Ltd has developed a comprehensive merger and acquisition (M&A) process model that covers all the phases from screening to successful integration. The product is being developed with leading M&A companies and it provides a huge boost for its users process development effort.

The next MoneyTalks events will be held on February 9^th in Tampere and March 13 in Helsinki.

Rightware Announces Gaming Performance Benchmark for OpenGL ES 3.0/Halti

Rightware®, the provider of world’s most widely adopted benchmarking software for mobile phones, tablets and other embedded devices, today announced that it is developing Basemark™ Halti, an OpenGL ES 3.0 / Halti benchmark product slated for launch in 2012. The benchmark continues the popular Basemark™ product line’s graphic products, formerly known as 3DMarkMobile, and will set the new global standard for OpenGL ES 3.0/Halti gaming and graphics performance measurement. Basemark™ Halti will provide a solid performance benchmarking tool to semiconductor companies, device manufacturers, operators, and various other players in the embedded ecosystem across different vertical markets.

Rightware’s objective is to offer industry standard benchmark products that help its customers to identify graphics performance bottlenecks in all phases of development. For this purpose, Rightware has established the Benchmark Development Program (BDP) consisting of renowned and highly respected companies. See more from here.

The core benchmark development team at Rightware has over a decade of experience producing industry leading benchmark products. Since acquiring Futuremark Corporation’s mobile and embedded division in 2009, Rightware has created numerous benchmarks that have been adopted at large by the industry’s leading mobile phone and processor manufacturers. For example, the popular 3DMarkMobile product line was first published in 2006 and was later re-branded as Basemark ES family of products. Rightware’s indisputable leadership in mobile and embedded benchmarking is now further solidified with the introduction of Basemark™ Halti.

Tero Sarkkinen, CEO of Rightware, sees the company’s announced product as a major step for the whole embedded ecosystem: “Gaming performance benchmarks are a great way to evaluate overall graphics performance of the measured device.  Basemark Halti continues our tradition of providing the most trusted way for the industry to make product design decisions during all phases of development. With Basemark Halti, Rightware continues its track record of providing the most cutting-edge products to the embedded ecosystem and providing our customers unique product to solve graphics performance issues of future’s embedded devices.”

Tero Sarkkinen points out that despite game benchmarks providing a way to measure graphics performance, something more needs to be added for performance analysis of embedded device: “To achieve a holistic, comprehensive understanding of embedded device’s actual performance capabilities, more than just graphics benchmarking is required. Under our extensive Basemark product family, we have a wide coverage of benchmarks to also measure other critical aspects of an embedded device performance. While operating under the same product line, this provides an excellent complementary offering to our customers.”

Basemark™ Halti will support multiple software platforms, enabling its execution on any device supporting Halti/OpenGL ES 3.0. Most importantly, Basemark™ Halti will produce objective and comparable results by offering the identical workload in all platforms.

Finnish Industry Investment and FoF Growth Invest in the New Cleantech-focused Power Fund III

The Finnish venture capital company VNT Management has raised 42 million euros at the first closing of its new venture capital fund Power Fund III. Finnish Industry Investment, FoF Growth, the Finnish pension fund Varma, and private investors have made commitments in the new fund.

Power Fund III invests in early and growth stage technology companies primarily in Finland and in other selected European countries. The fund invests in new energy technology and focuses on power electronic applications in particular. The fund will seek approximately 15 companies for its initial investments. Investments will be carried out as minority investments.

Jarmo Saaranen, Chairman of VNT Management comments: “We are looking for companies that have potential to succeed on a global scale. They should have strong technology and a functioning prototype, as well as a team that has the right amount of knowledge, experience, and drive for business development. We are particularly interested in Blue Ocean strategies. We believe that renewable energy production will grow significantly, the efficiency of traditional energy forms will receive more emphasis and that we will see more investments in energy efficiency in the future.”

In addition to energy and climate regulations, the strong growth in developing countries’ energy demand has aroused interest in the cleantech sector and made it grow rapidly. This, in turn, has created the need for new solutions in clean energy production and energy efficient solutions.

“Power Fund III has found a niche in energy technology that uses Finnish expertise in power engineering in a promising way,” says Riitta Jääskeläinen, Investment Director at Finnish Industry Investment.

“Power Fund III continues the tradition that VNT Management has managed to successfully create through its two previous funds. The management’s strong background and expertise is reflected in the fund’s narrow focus area. VNT Management is currently one of the most experienced venture capital investors in the cleantech sector in Europe,” says Esko Torsti, Chairman of the investment council of FoF Growth. 

Ubisoft® Acquires Redlynx, Creator Of Popular Digital Brand “Trials”

Ubisoft announced that it has acquired RedLynx, the Finland-based creator of the renowned digital brand “Trials”.

Founded in 2000, RedLynx is a pioneer in digital games, developing more than 100 high-quality titles for a wide range of digital distribution channels, including PC, consoles, mobile phones, tablets and interactive TV. After initial success on PC and wide acclaim for its highly realistic, physics-based game mechanics, Trials, RedLynx’s flagship brand, has now become one of the best-selling games ever on Xbox™ LIVE Arcade, with over two million paid downloads across the main game and both DLCs. Trials Evolution, the next title in the franchise, will be released in the coming months. The recent DrawRace 2 for the iPhone and iPad was lauded by both press and gamers for its innovative physics-based touch-controls and asynchronous multiplayer gameplay. Upon its release, DrawRace2 became the best-selling racing game in both Europe and the United States.

Commenting on the acquisition, Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft, stated: "The team at RedLynx has developed exceptionally strong digital brands that stand out for their high replay value, their long tail sales and their multiplatform positioning. We are delighted to welcome RedLynx to the Ubisoft family. Their expertise in asynchronous online games and physics-based game mechanics provides us with a great opportunity to bring their powerful brands, most notably Trials, to an even broader range of fast-growing digital platforms."

"We were attracted by Ubisoft’s focus on creativity and quality, and the fact that they base their long-term strategy on both the traditional and digital distribution video game markets. The reality of today’s market is not about platforms, it’s about creating excellent gaming experiences that consumers can play on any device or screen they like.” stated Tero Virtala, chief executive officer of RedLynx. “As part of the Ubisoft team, RedLynx will be able to focus even more intently on creating stand-out, excellent brands that push the boundaries of online gaming in many new growth areas. With Ubisoft, a wider audience will get the chance to enjoy our games, we‘llgenerate more value for our brands, and also leverage our experience more broadly in digital distribution channels."

Following the acquisitions of Massive Entertainment, Nadeo, Quazal and Owlient, RedLynx represents the continuation of Ubisoft’s focus on strengthening its online expertise and infrastructure in order to expand its portfolio and use of new online business models. The success of The Smurfs & Co social game on Facebook, the upcoming launch of the AAA project Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online in open beta, the enthusiasm of the TrackMania community, the success of The Settlers Online in Germany and the Uplay online services platform are the most recent implementations of this digital strategy.

Previous Ubisoft acquisitions in the online segment:
- November 2008: acquisition of Massive Entertainment, renowned for their specialty in creating multiplayer games. Massive is collaborating on or responsible for the development of several ambitious unannounced projects.
- October 2009: acquisition of Nadeo, creator of cult hit multiplayer driving game, TrackMania. TrackMania 2 Canyon and ManiaPlanet has been recently released.
- November 2010: acquisition of Quazal, a leader in the creation of online technical solutions. Assassin’s Creed implements Quazal technology for its multiplayer mode, which received the Game Critics Award for "Best Online Game" at E3 2010.
- July 2011: acquisition of free-to-play game developer Owlient. The team at Owlient has extensive expertise in the management of online game-playing communities, and their Howrse brand has almost two million monthly active users.

The Millions Strong Sports Tracker Community Expands to Windows Phone

The Nokia-born and now startup-based hit app Sports Tracker will launch on Windows Phone in November.

The much-anticipated Windows Phone version of Sports Tracker comes with the category-leading tracking features familiar from the Symbian, Android and iPhone versions. In addition to tracking the app comes with a comprehensive training diary, ability to share workouts to Facebook, Twitter and the Sports Tracker online community as well as cloud backup of tracked activities to sports-tracker.com.

"We are extremely thrilled to bring Sports Tracker to Windows Phone. We see Windows as a very exciting platform especially now with the advent of Nokia's amazing new Lumia -series of Windows Phone devices." says Mr. Ykä Huhtala, CTO and one of the founders of Sports Tracker.

App features

• Full tracking features as in the award-winning Symbian app and iPhone / Android

◦       Distance

◦       Duration

◦       Speed

◦       Average speed and pace

◦       Max speed

◦       Energy spent (kCal)

• Training Diary for workout data analysis
• Diary sync to sports-tracker.com service for further analysis
• Sharing of workouts to Facebook, Twitter and the Sports Tracker community

Sports Tracker for Windows Phone will launch in November 2011.

Walkbase Launches to Public and Announces Investment Round

Walkbase (also known as Mobio Ltd) launched the public beta of their indoor positioning platform for mobile applications on 19th of October. In addition, the company announced that they have raised 500,000€ in funding from private investors. 

Walkbase provides room-level location context to mobile applications through API and plugin currently available for the Android platform. This means that mobile applications can push location-specific content such as advertising to their users when the users walk into stores. “Walkbase offers the first truly scalable indoor positioning platform that leverages crowdsourcing for data gathering and self-learning algorithms to keep the database fresh,” says Tuomas Wuoti, CEO of Walkbase, Inc.  

Key application areas of context driven indoor positioning include location-based gaming, different check-in based applications, hyper-targeted marketing, and location-based social media. The Walkbase platform can be used to easily enhance existing apps and to create whole new categories of apps not possible before.

Users of the closed beta have been enthusiastic. Matthew Moore, CTO of CrowdMob, Inc. comments: “The Walkbase API is incredibly simple to use and gives the most painless way to enable indoor positioning capabilities and push context into our applications. I strongly believe you can expect to see some really exciting stuff powered by Walkbase out there very soon.”

Walkbase service pricing is also partner-friendly. There are no setup fees and the partners only pay for actual API calls if the number of calls exceeds 50,000 per month. For further details, please visit at www.walkbase.com.