Helsinki School of Economics and Technopolis to cooperate closely A new Start Up Center supporting growth business in Finland's capital region will be established in Helsinki. It will be located in the first stage building of the Technopolis technology center being constructed in the Ruoholahti district of Helsinki. Operations at the Start Up Center will be run jointly by the Helsinki School of Economics' Small Business Center and Technopolis Ventures Oy. The competence and experience of the Small Business Center, an independent department of the Helsinki School of Economics which operates the 'New Business Center' incubator, will thus be combined with Finland's leading technology incubator chain, Technopolis Ventures Oy. The Helsinki School of Economics and the Small Business Center have leased a whole floor of approximately 1,000 square meters for the use of the Start Up Center. The Small Business Center will transfer all its business incubator operations and related start up companies from their current premises. Technopolis Ventures, on the other hand, will bring its concept, its national and international network and other resources for the first time to the heart of Helsinki. Keith Silverang, Technopolis's Vice President in charge of the Capital Area, emphasizes that the objective of the Start Up Center is to help new companies in Helsinki accelerate their growth and development. On the other hand, the Center will provide larger companies that are already solidly established with a means of partnering with small, flexible and innovative enterprises. The City of Helsinki has great expectations for the Start Up Center and has been closely involved in its planning from the outset. The spirit of an innovation university Pertti Huuskonen, President and CEO of Technopolis, estimates that the Start Up Center will be a perfect complement to the innovation university that is currently emerging in the capital region. It will bring technological and commercial expertise together in a new way, and thus improve Finnish commercialization skills. Moreover, a new type of functional community, with a commercial and technological basis, will be established at the Center. For Technopolis itself, the close cooperation with the Helsinki School of Economics is also a remarkable step forward. “We have plenty of experience in cooperating with polytechnics and technical universities around Finland. Now we are expanding our partner network to include the leading academic institute for economic studies in Finland. Close cooperation with the Helsinki School of Economics represents a major advance also for Technopolis,” says Huuskonen. For thirty years the Helsinki School of Economics' Small Business Center has promoted small business and enterprise by means of education, research, and incubator operations. Pentti Mustalampi, Director of the Small Business Center, believes that the Start Up Center will become a nationally significant developer of growth businesses that collaborate closely with national and international partners. “The innovation university's joint Start Up Center that we are now building will cater to the needs of growth companies in the capital region. The Start Up Center will be the first step in closely knitting together the different business incubator services of three universities,” he continues. “It is important that business enterprise originating from the universities can be promoted through the new university's own actions. Therefore the Small Business Center will relocate its own incubator services to the Start Up Center, which will also provide excellent opportunities for business expansion,” says Mustalampi. The first stage building of the Ruoholahti technology center being constructed by Technopolis - 6,600 square meters in size - will be completed this August. When all stages are completed, the Center will have an area of 27,000 floor square meters. Further information: Technopolis Plc Keith Silverang, Vice President, +358 40 566 7785 HSE Small Business Center Pentti Mustalampi, Director, +358 10 2178 623 In terms of the number of customer companies, Technopolis Plc is one of Europe's largest technology centers. The Technopolis Group is Finland's largest specialized provider of operating environments for high tech companies, and it offers a comprehensive service package combining modern premises and business and development services. Technopolis operates or is building technology centers in Espoo, Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Tampere and Vantaa in Finland, and in St. Petersburg in Russia.