Joonas Mikkilä predicts strong growth for Finland’s tech sector
At this year’s Evertiq Expo Tampere 2025, Joonas Mikkilä, Senior Advisor at Technology Industries of Finland, shared insights on the country's semiconductor sector and the national strategy known as “Chips from the North,” which aims to accelerate growth in the years ahead.
As a senior representative of Technology Industries of Finland – a state-supported industry association for the tech sector – Mikkilä is closely involved in the development of Finland’s technology ecosystem. Meeting at Evertiq Expo in Tampere, his former hometown, Mikkilä expressed enthusiasm about the region’s role in driving innovation.
“Tampere is one of the hotspots of the Finnish chip industry,” he said. “We have strong industry players here, and importantly, the city itself is actively engaged in supporting local growth. We work closely with them to make that happen.”
“Chips from the North” identifies growth potential
A key focus of Mikkilä’s work is the "Chips from the North" initiative, launched in 2024. He described it as a strategic roadmap to significantly scale up Finland’s semiconductor industry—from its current value of EUR 1.5 billion to between EUR 5 and EUR 6 billion by 2035.
"It's an industry-led effort, but it's very much produced by the entire ecosystem here in Finland, meaning all the experts from academia and the rest contributed. And the strategy does two things. It provides an overview of the Finnish chip industry and ecosystem. And secondly, it identifies what the growth opportunities are for the industry and what needs to be done in order to seize these opportunities in the future."
Mikkilä is optimistic about reaching these ambitious goals, noting that Finnish companies are already well-positioned in their respective niches.
“The government has also made several critical investment decisions, especially in areas like R&D pilot lines. So I’m confident we’re on the right track,” he added.
Compact ecosystem enables close collaboration
According to Mikkilä, Finland’s relatively small size can be an advantage, particularly in fostering effective collaboration between public and private sector actors.
"There's only a handful of them in the private and public sectors. And then obviously, many of these players have already identified a need to collaborate, because we cannot go it alone in our separate tracks. Especially in this current climate in Europe and globally. So we need to pull even closer together, whether it's in terms of R&D investments or other investments or talent supply."
Should the Chips from the North strategy succeed, the results would be substantial—not only in revenue, but also in employment. The industry could see the number of jobs rise from 15,000 today to nearly 35,000 by 2035.
But obviously, this requires a lot of effort and actions, not just from companies, but also from the government and academia.
While it remains to be seen exactly how Finland’s role as a global technology leader will evolve, Mikkilä is confident that the foundations are in place—even for a country smaller than many of its competitors.
Evertiq Expo Tampere will be back in 2026, continuing to build on the success of this year, featuring expert speakers and plenty of opportunities to connect with professionals from across the industry. Mark your calendar for March 26, 2026, at Tampere Hall.