Pioneer SPAC Seeks to Fill Gap Left by Underfunded Finnish PE
Hanna Hoikkala, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) Finlandâs first blank-check company says it plays a unique role in providing especially fast access to capital, given the limited resources private-equity investors have in the Nordic nation.
Virala Acquisition Company Oyj last month raised 107.5 million euros ($127 million) from investors in an initial public offering in Helsinki, and now has as long as three years to find a mid-cap company to buy. VAC, as the company calls itself, intends to give its target a quick way to fund growth as a public company and avoid having to sell to an industrial buyer, typically foreign, for lack of other options.
Pioneer SPAC Seeks to Fill Gap Left by Cash-Strapped PE
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Interim Management Is Having Its Moment
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How can we attract more foreign Angels to Helsinki?
Entrepreneurs will tell you: one of the biggest strengths of the Helsinki startup ecosystem is our highly active local angel network, FiBAN. These 600+ members are critical to our startup ecosystem because they function as the starter motor that gives our entrepreneurs runway to test out their ideas, provide a sounding board for ideas, and offer a deep network of contact and potential clients.
On the European level, we are spoiled with FiBAN. But looking big picture it’s not enough to compare ourselves as slightly better than, say, Denmark’s angel investment scene. We should aim to attract as much capital as Silicon Valley, London, Singapore, and other startup capitals.
Finnish startup investments almost doubled in 2020, topping $1 bln first time ever
April 20, 2021
Driven by large investment rounds of HMD, Wolt, ICEYE and Varjo investments in Finnish startups grew 88% last year from a year ago, with the firms raising higher ever amount of 951 million euros ($1.15 billion), Finnish Venture Capital Association said.
“Due to the successful cooperation between entrepreneurs and investors, Finland is one of the fastest-growing European startup centres. Expanding international networks will continue to be important so that more and more Finnish companies receive help to develop into a globally significant growth company, ” Janne Holmia from Verdane said in a statement.