New growth for SMEs from the environmental business
In the coming years, renewable energy production and the environmental business in general will be among the fastest growing business sectors globally. They will also open new business opportunities for Finnish SMEs. Finnvera promotes these projects through its financing services.
In addition to renewable energy and the related services, environmentally-friendly and resource-saving technology is also a new growth sector. Finnish companies have market potential in the development of technical solutions for wind power, bioenergy, solar power and wave energy. In addition, decentralised energy production, especially the increasing use of wood energy for heat and power generation and new energy sources, offer growth potential for business.
“By providing financing for new business opportunities opened by renewable energy and the associated technologies and services, we promote development in this sector. Growth and development require funds, and alongside other providers of financing, Finnvera is there to share risks related to financing,” says Unto Väkeväinen, Head of Regional Financing at Finnvera.
High-level competence in environmental technology
Finland has highly developed competence in environmental technology. Finnvera has provided financing, for instance, for the construction of a biogas facility, for the acquisition of a printing press that uses considerably less chemicals than before, and for a packaging line used for manufacturing recycled carton packagings.
“Finnvera’s subsidiary, Seed Fund Vera Ltd, plays an important role in the commercialisation of clean tech innovations; that is, technology that benefits the environment and saves resources. The Fund invests in innovative start-ups in this sector, and clean tech companies already account for 12 per cent of the investments made by the Fund. And it seems that this share is rising,” says Väkeväinen.
Finnvera has several options for financing environmental business projects. Before a financing decision is made, Finnvera assesses the applicant’s potential for profitable business and checks whether the company has complied with the requirements of environmental legislation.
“It is predicted that product and service concepts pertaining to the environmental business and renewable energy will become an important growth sector in the future. Especially SMEs will gain new opportunities through them, both on the domestic market in exports,” Unto Väkeväinen anticipates.
Additional information:
Unto Väkeväinen, Head of Regional Financing, tel. +358 20 460 7346
www.veraventure.fi > Seed Fund Vera Ltd
