The number of growth companies in Tampere Region has increased in pace with Finland's highest growing regions over several review periods in succession, which is one of the most positive signals in the situational picture of innovation activities. Diverse growth companies are being born in various fields. There is slight variation in the focus areas of each business field according to selected growth criteria. The majority of growth companies pertaining to their official definition are in the industries of various professional support services, construction and information and communications (OECD definition for a growth company: employment affecting at least 10 people at the beginning of the growth period and average growth 20% per year over three review periods). Smaller growth companies have appeared also in the trade sector (with an employment criterion of at least three people at the beginning of the growth period), and the field of manufacturing emerges from the moderately growing companies (with an average growth rate of 10% per year).
Tampere Region based companies have entered the stock exchange more actively than before. Growing listed companies can be found in various fields. The most recent companies to publish listing news include Vincit Oy together with Javerdel Oy, Pihlajalinna Oy, Robit Oyj and Restamax Oyj.
In the graph below a growth company is defined as a company growing at least 10% a year and employing at least three people at the start of the growth period. Pirkanmaa had 783 such growth companies in 2010–2013 (2009–2012: 684 companies).
Other growth company indicators convey signals of deteriorating prospects. The number of companies established at universities and on innovation platforms has decreased, which has a negative effect on future company growth potential. Similarly, Tekes funding for young and innovative companies has notably decreased. The larger base of growth companies is not reflected in patents because the number of Finnish patent applications has remained fairly unchanged compared with the previous year.
The establishment of growth companies is a multi-year process. They cannot be made up from scratch. In the future, we need to pay special attention to ensuring that the number of companies producing a high amount of added value increases and that they have direct access to global markets, networks and different sources of funding.
According to the international venture capital database, venture investments in companies located in Pirkanmaa have decreased notably. The statistics are based on information entered by capital investors in the PEREP Analytics database.
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