New Finnish defence companies are being founded at an accelerating pace, and companies are seeking strong growth

Tesi's survey identified 574 Finnish defence industry companies. Of these, around 200 are defence or dual-use startups seeking strong growth, and around 40 are more established companies whose core business is in the defence sector.

"More and more companies operate in the defence sector, and the ecosystem has clustered together more closely than before, so more companies in the sector are being identified than previously. Based on the survey data on new companies, it is clear that new companies are also being founded. New dual-use technology companies are constantly emerging in Finland, and in recent years increasingly also technology companies focusing directly on defence," says Jakob Sandell, Research Manager at Tesi.

The number of companies is growing in all size classes. This means that many newly founded companies are succeeding in scaling up their operations and moving into the next size class.

"The fact that companies are growing and moving into the next size shows that demand for defence solutions has increased and the ecosystem has grown. This has also increased investors' interest in defence companies," comments Jussi Hattula, Director of Industrial Investments at Tesi.

Growth among defence and dual-use startups is strong: over the past couple of years, their combined net sales have hovered around EUR 450 million, while in 2025 they are forecast to exceed EUR 600 million.

Defence companies can be found all around Finland, including in smaller localities. In addition to the Helsinki metropolitan area, the largest concentrations are in Tampere and Oulu.

Questionnaire: defence companies are strongly growth-oriented

For the first time, the survey included a questionnaire for companies, answered by 110 Finnish defence companies. The companies were asked about topics such as their growth orientation, the most interesting customers and markets, and barriers to growth. The companies were roughly divided into two groups: more established companies and startups. The respondents mainly represented the companies' top management.

Based on the questionnaire, defence companies are highly growth-oriented: as many as three out of four companies are strongly growth-oriented, and the remaining quarter seeks growth where opportunities arise.

"The level of growth orientation is exceptionally high, and in addition, most companies are also targeting growth more broadly in Europe and other international markets," says Sandell.

Based on the questionnaire, the Finnish Defence Forces is the most important potential customer for companies in the sector when comparing the armed forces of different countries. European and Nordic armed forces are also attractive customers. The United States, in turn, divides the companies: early-stage companies see it as a more attractive customer than established companies do.

Companies listed the slowness of customers' procurement processes as the biggest barrier to growth. This applies both to more established defence companies and to early-stage companies: in both groups, well over half listed it as their biggest challenge.

The availability of funding also emerged as a bottleneck for growth: 46% of early-stage companies and 39% of more established companies mentioned it as a barrier to growth. Although companies recognise their need for funding, a large proportion want to grow using cash flow from their business.

"The shift in the availability of growth capital has been both significant and rapid: previously, many investors clearly avoided companies producing products or services for military use, and this limited growth opportunities. Now investors are ready to finance those defence companies that want to grow strongly," Hattula says.

"The companies' open-ended responses highlighted that Finland has the technology, the expertise and the entrepreneurial spirit. For the defence sector to scale even more strongly, a clear path is needed from innovation to testing, procurement, references and exports," Sandell continues.

" I expect this strong development to continue in the coming years. Finland will see a growing number of significant defence companies with a broad, international customer base", Hattula continues.

Read the whole survey here.

About the survey:

The survey examined 574 Finnish defence industry companies. The companies were identified using a wide range of public sources and industry expertise. Compared with the 2024 survey, the methodology has been refined, allowing companies to be identified more precisely than before.

For the first time, the survey also included a questionnaire for companies, answered by 110 Finnish defence industry companies. The questionnaire was conducted between 25 March and 13 May 2026.