Tampere for investors

In the city of over 30,000 university students and 34.000 technology industry workforce the talent pool is excellent.

66% of foreign owned companies in Tampere region indicate that the most important reason to stay in the region is the availability of competent workforce and low attrition. Level of education in Tampere is also very high – one third of the population has an academic degree.

The Tampere University and the Tampere University of Applied Sciences form the second largest university community in Finland with over 30,000 students and 5,000 specialists.

Tampere University is one of the most multidisciplinary universities in Finland. Almost all internationally recognised fields of study are represented. The core competencies are found in technology, health and social sciences.

The key strengths of this community are the blending of cutting-edge research with top-tier innovations, multidisciplinary learning, lifelong partnerships and unique experience with the business and public sectors.

Every 5th person in Tampere is a student. There are almost 3.500 international university students. In Tampere University of Technology every 6th student is international.

Talented, experienced and loyal workforce provides good value for money. The availability of talented work force is good and the region’s cost level is 20% lower compared to the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Accelerate your return on investment – Tampere is very cost effective compared for example to Munich and California in average annual ICT R&D salaries. Tampere is also highly cost effective R&D unit alternative compared to more expensive Helsinki area.

“The Tampere Region offers competent workforce at reasonable cost and the attitude of the city is positive towards companies.” – Ville Rönkkä, CEO, CROCS Nordic

Tampere is known as a hub of high technological expertise, which attracts not only businesses to the region but also talented professionals in search of work.

Tampere ranks second in Finland behind Helsinki in terms of the balance between incoming highly educated residents and graduates moving out of the region.

The availability of competent ICT workforce in the Tampere region is excellent. Not only the universities but Nokia’s footprint has been very important. Part of Nokia’s legacy in the region is our pool of ICT talent, who have the skills to introduce the latest technologies to traditional industries.

The city is currently the prime place in the world to find world-class, high tech talent. Besides R&D competencies, there is high availability of experienced people for global business operations and for high-volume, production-related tasks. This provides a  unique opportunity for companies who are seeking to strengthen their talent base, or for companies looking for a place to locate high volume production or their European logistics or aftercare service center. Those who move fast may even employ complete teams and get up and running immediately.

“The personnel are our most important resource. We chose the Tampere Region because it’s a centre of ICT and a good place to live.” – Mikko Kuitunen, Managing Director, Vincit

Tampere is a great place to do business offering also a more human scale and making it easier get around and to meet the right people – and to collaborate with other businesses.

Tampere region is the second largest urban area in Finland with a population of 515 000. In comparison to bigger cities, Tampere can offer great advantage with high quality research, education and talent in cost effective way.

“Unlike many other cities, the sense of belonging together is typical for startups here in Tampere. Even though we’re competitors, we pull together.” – Juuso Kaari, VAU Company

Tampere business ecosystem benefits from the strong co-operation with companies and academic research. The atmosphere in Tampere is very active, open, and versatile. Easy networking between the city, universities and industry enables great possibilities for R&D collaboration with no real distractions to business. Also the compact size of the city enables easy networking across different industries and co-operation projects are very common between large companies and a tightly knit startup community.

“Tampere is one of the few places in the world where biosciences and technology work together in such a close connection.” – Jukka Lekkala, Professor, Technical University of Tampere

According to World Economic Forum, Finland ranks 1st in university-industry collaboration and Tampere University’s technology campus is ranked 11th in the world for private sector and research collaboration (the ranking 2015). Profound collaboration culture in Tampere adds value for companies located in the region. Companies pursuing research collaborations with Tampere University technology campus tap into the latest knowledge, know-how and innovations.

“Tampere is just the right size, and here we know how to combine the show with business – to make show business.” – Ilkka Hynninen, CEO, Aito Media Ltd.

With over 100 years of manufacturing heritage Tampere Region is a traditional centre of Finnish industry. Today, the region is best known for its high tech expertise and extensive know-how in various fields. The leading industrial companies like AGCO Power, Cargotec, John Deere, Fastems and Bronto Skylift have seen the opportunities creating the rare combination of traditional industries and ICT that is unique to Tampere Region. The region holds also a genuinely world-class ICT and mobile ecosystem and is a home to companies like Intel, Microsoft and Nokia.

Tampere puts an exceptionally large amount of effort into research and development, approximately 7 % of the regional GDP. Tampere is also a home to hot Finnish tech-startups and growth companies, such as M-files, Wirepas, Yepzon, OptoFidelity, TreLab, Colossal Order, Tamturbo, Intopalo, Sensotrend, Delta Cygni Labs, Techila Technologies, Piceasoft, Varaani and Quva.

“The world-class research and education in the Tampere region provides us with access to the latest knowledge and competent resources.” – Pekka Huuhka, SVP, Services, Glaston

Companies go global, but Tampere has been able to keep its focal position inside of these global companies, and knowledge has been shared through joint projects or people moving from one company to another.

“In Tampere, there are a lot of piloting opportunities and active, innovative consumers.” – Toni Sormunen, Head of Tampere Unit, There Corporation

Tampere is also central to Nokia’s mobile technology development, and machine builders have been able to enjoy the knowledge this has created in the region. This wouldn’t have been possible without the research and education input from the local universities. And today, knowledge sharing and innovation also takes place in platforms like New Factory.

Every 5th Nokia USPTO patent originates from Tampere*

*) Data is based on USPTO public data on Nokia (Nokia Networks and Solutions) patents between 1993 and 2012. Nokia/NSN had files 10121 patents which were public at the time of analysis.

Tampere holds a strong innovation culture with many world firsts. It is the birthplace of many new technologies including the first commercial GSM phone call, the smartphone and the first VR movie camera OZO, and the walking forest machine.

Nokia has contributed significantly to the heritage of invention in Tampere, and after a period of huge change, it has emerged again as a pioneer. Nokia’s OZO was the world’s first professional Virtual Reality movie camera, developed in Tampere. Capturing 360° spherical video and 360×360 surround sound it provides directors real-time interactive feedback of cast performances for the first time.

With many joint projects with world class research teams from the Tampere University and industry, we’re sure to see more world firsts in the future.