Upgraded, the health startup organization of Finland, joins forces with Healthtech Finland
The leading industry association in the health technology sector, Terveysteknologia ry – Healthtech Finland, and the association of health startups, Upgraded ry, have decided to join forces. Going forward, Upgraded’s operations will continue as a division of Healthtech Finland. By merging, the needs of Startup companies can be better highlighted, and the opportunities for cooperation between companies of different sizes are improved.
Veli Mäkelä, the chairman of the board of Terveysteknologia ry, and Kenneth Salonius, the chairman of the board of Upgraded ry, told the news with satisfaction when Upgaded’s members had approved the proposal to transfer the operations to Healthtech Finland at their General Assembly on September 12, 2022.
– Startups benefit from being part of a larger association with powerful channels of influence, Salonius rejoices.
– Mäkelä, on the other hand, emphasizes Upgaded’s active way of working, which can be transferred to the division. He also welcomes new members who offer well-being solutions. Health and well-being are getting increasingly close to each other, and both benefit people as well as the social and health care sectors.
– In the future, we will be able to report about the experiences, needs, wishes and proposed solutions more broadly than before. When these are presented to decision-makers, the impact is greater, continues Terveysteknologia ry CEO Saara Hassinen. The number of members of Terveysteknologia ry is expected to increase to more than two hundred with the merger.
A favorable operating environment to develop, manufacture and market social and healthcare solutions ensures the success of companies of all sizes, including startups.
Health technology is one of the fastest growing high-tech export sectors. In the last twenty years, the product export surplus has been more than 15 billion euros. There is a surplus of more than one billion euros annually, and in 2021 the value of product exports was 2.5 billion euros.
– The growth of startup companies increases exports, which benefits both Finland and Finnish people, say Mäkelä and Salonius.