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Tag: Tekes

The Finns are coming, the Finns are coming (to Health 2.0!)

One of the great things that I’ve seen in a couple of decades of watching health tech has been the democratization of technology, and the amazing ideas coming from all across the globe. Health care is no exception and one of the most active regions in health technology has been a tiny European country most people don’t know much about–other than they once had a phone from there on which they played snake. In fact the relative demise of Nokia has been a big boost for tech startups in Finland because it freed up so much technical talent.

Some 100 entrepreneurs, technologists, finance & government types will represent Team Finland at Health 2.0 on oct 4-7. Companies will include the cancer patient communication app NoonaHealthcare, the sleep tracker Beddit, and Jamie Oliver backed You-App, and many, many more.  Late last month I interviewed Ilona Lundtsröm, the Executive Director at the Finnish Innovation Fund Tekes to find out more about what was happening in Finland, and why the rest of the world should pay attention.