Bluugo Selected to Phase 2 of Business Finland’s YIC Funding program
Bluugo has recently been accepted to the second phase of Business Finland’s Young Innovative Companies funding program.
Bluugo moves to the second phase of Business Finland’s YIC funding program
We are excited to announce that Bluugo has recently been accepted to the second phase of Business Finland’s Young Innovative Companies funding program!
“With the Young Innovative Company funding, Business Finland intends to accelerate the global growth of the most ambitious, rapidly growing startups in Finland. The funding can be used for the comprehensive development of business activities. For example, it can be used to strengthen a team, to develop a business model and growth strategy, and to open up new markets.”
-Business Finland
The YIC funding program consists of three phases, which amount to a maximum total of €1,25 million.
Business Finland sets goals for the company in its funding decision, which, if realized, enable the company to move on to the next phase of funding. These goals typically relate to factors such as the development of turnover, the ability to get funding from other sources, and expanding into new markets.
Bluugo was selected to the program in September 2019 to boost the growth of our unique SaaS product Tracking Cloud®.
Phase 1 – Taking on new markets in a global pandemic
Like in many things, timing is everything when it comes to business. Unfortunately, it was not on our side this time around.
The global Covid-19 pandemic hit the business world hard just as we had started to move forward with our plans to conquer new markets in Europe. Events were canceled, investments frozen, and ongoing projects postponed. This sudden shift in the business world forced us to rapidly change our go-to-market strategy and develop our sales process into an even more digitalized format.
Due to the pandemic, the first phase of the YIC program was prolonged and its effects taken into consideration regarding the goals set by Business Finland.
The main goal of phase 1 for Bluugo was the growth of our monthly recurring revenue. Despite the sub-optimal conditions created by Covid-19, we managed to hit our targets and were accepted to the next phase of the program – a big thank you to Business Finland!
Phase 2 – storming the DACH & SWE markets
In phase 2 of the YIC funding, we will continue to grow our international operations, focusing especially on the markets of Sweden and the DACH region. We will streamline our sales process further by focusing on localization to guarantee that our potential customers always get the best possible experience when working with Bluugo. We will hire new talents across all departments to keep our organization strong and competitive.
During phase 2, we will also investigate the possibilities of bringing in additional funding to fuel our growth even faster. Last but not the least, we will continue to invest heavily in our product development – how else could we hope to continue being the best at what we do?
Success Stories since 2008
Since 2008, a total of 466 Finnish startups have been selected to the YIC program. So far, 130 of these companies have reached the demanding goals and completed all three funding phases. This elite group of companies includes many international success stories such as Supercell, Seriously, Framery, and iLOQ.
We are now one step closer to joining that group – watch out Europe!
Additional information
Business Finland – Young Innovative Company Funding
Business Finland – Funding Terms for the YIC program
Business Finland – List of companies accepted to the YIC program
