Slush Report: Over 50% of Finnish Startup Founders Consider Relocating – Reasons Include Culture, Taxation, and Market Size
A survey by Slush reveals that 53% of Finnish startup founders are considering or actively planning to relocate their business operations abroad. The report covers over 300 respondents—around 10% of Finland’s active startups—making it one of the most extensive surveys on challenges faced by Finnish startups. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has also received the results for use in the government’s upcoming budget framework session.
“The results are striking and point to a structural problem. However, somewhat surprisingly, only 30% would move to the United States—the cradle of startups—while 70% would remain in Europe. Finnish entrepreneurs clearly want to build in their local environment, as long as the fundamentals are in place,” comments Slush CEO Noora Saksa.
Finland Must Build the Best Startup Environment in the World
Recently, many Finnish politicians have aligned with the startup ecosystem in recognizing startups as a key driver of economic growth. Every startup aims to be the best in its category, so location decisions are based on where the best conditions exist to build world-class companies.
“It is not enough for Finland’s business environment to be, for example, the 6th best in Europe. Current legislation dates back to a time when startups barely existed in Finland. Today, 4,000 startups employ more people than the Finnish forest industry. Since startups drive economic growth, international competition for entrepreneurs is fierce. Finland must be the best place to build and scale companies,” Saksa explains.
According to the survey, 56% of respondents identified general attitudes and culture as obstacles to startup growth. Risk-taking carries stigma, careers in growth companies are unfamiliar to most, and companies are not bold enough in purchasing products from Finnish startups. Other challenges include taxation (18%), the small size of the Finnish market (16%), and regulatory complexity (14%).
10 steps to secure Finland’s startup future
Based on survey responses, Slush compiled 10 concrete reform proposals and submitted them to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. The proposed solutions fall into three broad categories: 1) updating our legal structure, 2) easing recruitment, ja 3) supporting the precurement of startup products. Below you can find the full 10 reform proposals gathered and condensed from the survey's open response fields.
- Channel more pension fund and public sector assets into private equity and VCs, in line with the UK’s Mansion House Compact initiative
- Taxation of employee stock options only upon value realization, while preserving the Finnish tax authority’s right to tax
- Make bringing international talent to Finland as easy as possible through predictable startup visas, stable residence permits, and smooth family integration
- Support EU’s 28th regime for a truly open European market
- Celebrate risk-taking, failure, and startup successes in media and public discourse
- Introduce business subsidies for purchasing startup products
- Encourage reinvesting company profits in line with US QSBS or Swedish holding company model
- Lower the threshold of first startup recruitments by targeting payroll-related tax reductions
- Allocate public funding toward early-stage startups rather than established companies to enhance creative destruction
- Make startups a more attractive career option by strengthening pro-entrepreneurship attitudes in education and supporting grassroots initiatives focused on entrepreneurship in higher education institutions
“The government aims to continue strengthening the operating environment for growth companies. The Slush survey provides excellent input. The government will review the proposals as part of its April budget framework discussions and assess which suggestions can be implemented. Finland must be a place where people want to found and grow companies—not relocate,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo commented on the survey.