Business Finland has published its new strategy for 2030, and photonics has been designated as an independent strategic theme. Under Digital Leadership, photonics is recognized both as a standalone high-impact growth sector and as a cross-cutting enabler that drives breakthroughs within the other strategic themes — security, clean transition, and quality of life.
The aim of Business Finland’s new strategy is to accelerate Finland’s prosperity, well-being, and sustainable growth by building a society that is more ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable.
“Future growth will stem from knowledge-based investments and commercial understanding that combine top-level expertise, bold research, and the renewal capacity of business,” writes Business Finland’s Director General Lassi Noponen in the strategy foreword.
Business Finland will continue to play an important role in industrial policy and in supporting companies on their path to success in an increasingly complex world. In the new strategy, the core mission is threefold: to leverage private capital, to pursue world-class breakthroughs by raising the ambition level of research and development, and to allocate resources to key inflection points where Finland has clear advantages and the potential for global success.
Photonics meets all strategic selection criteria
In its strategic themes, Business Finland emphasizes sectors that:
- have significant national growth potential
- are expected to grow faster than the global average
- generate high added value retained in Finland
- provide Finland with a competitive advantage in research, expertise, or operating conditions
- have a business landscape ready to capitalize on market opportunities
Photonics meets all of these criteria. It is one of the fastest-growing segments of Finland’s technology industry, already a more than €2.5-billion export-driven sector. Companies in the field forecast an average 48% growth in their business over the next three years. The greatest growth potential lies in SMEs, which can scale rapidly—and photonics is rich with globally oriented SMEs from the outset.
Growth is particularly fueled by the critical role of photonics in artificial intelligence, health technology, industrial automation and defense solutions, telecommunications, chip development, and quantum technologies. Finland hosts internationally significant photonics research, accelerated from lab to production by PREIN – the Flagship for Photonics Research and Innovation funded by the Academy of Finland, and by the national photonics industry association Photonics Finland.
However, the growth of photonics requires skilled talent, facilities, investments, piloting environments, and closer coordination. Therefore, collaboration between Business Finland, Photonics Finland, research organizations, and companies becomes crucial.
Photonics Finland: ecosystem builder and Business Finland’s partner
Photonics Finland acts as a unifying community for Finnish photonics industry and research, working long-term to strengthen the sector’s growth and competitiveness nationally and internationally. Business Finland’s new strategy strengthens Photonics Finland’s role as an ecosystem developer, supporter of companies, and enabler of innovation activities.
The Finnish Photonics Roadmap 2025–2030, published last spring by Photonics Finland together with sector stakeholders, outlines six strategic focus areas that will guide the sector’s development to the next level:
- A national pilot line from research to industrial production
- Continuity of the PREIN flagship and strengthening research
- A national growth program to support exports and business
- Skills and workforce development
- Strengthening export activities and impact
- Strengthening the domestic photonics ecosystem
These priorities directly support the objectives of Business Finland’s strategy: raising ambition, accelerating corporate innovation projects, and building strategic ecosystems capable of reaching world-class level and effectively leveraging EU funding.
Deepening cooperation toward a bolder innovation environment
Photonics Finland expects collaboration with Business Finland to intensify further as the strategy is implemented. Elevating photonics as a standalone focus area strengthens the sector’s national position, supports investments, and creates a visible pathway toward international breakthroughs.
“Our mission is to connect expertise, research, technology, and business—and to ensure that the growth potential of photonics turns into concrete competitive advantage. It is highly significant that Business Finland is increasing its commitment to photonics. Finland’s future growth needs the opportunities that light can offer,” says Juha Purmonen, Executive Director of Photonics Finland.
Business Finland Strategy 2025–2030
Finnish National Photonics Roadmap 2025–2030