Firstbeat Named One of Europe’s Most Innovative Startups for SEC2SV Event in Silicon Valley

Firstbeat has been announced as a finalist for Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley (SEC2SV) – the premier program for future European startup unicorns to engage with main US industry players for sales, funding and collaboration opportunities. SEC2SV Finalists were named by Mind the Bridge, Startup Europe, and EIT Digital.

Firstbeat CEO Joni Kettunen will travel to San Francisco to attend the event.

Finalists were selected on the basis of being among the most innovative tech companies in Europe. Firstbeat is representing Finland at the event with other finalists hailing from Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. To be considered, finalists were required to demonstrate at least 20% annual growth in terms of revenue or number of employees.

“These companies really epitomize European Innovation—the next TomTom, Spotify, or BlaBlaCar—and we are convinced that their participation in SEC2SV will strengthen the two-way bridge between the European and the Bay Area ecosystems creating value and jobs for both continents,” stated Marko Turpeinen, Director of EIT Digital’s Silicon Valley Hub.

“Engagement with the US and Silicon Valley, in particular, has been a high priority for our company over the past few years. Last year, roughly 75% of Firstbeat’s sales were exports and much of that was the result of our focus on developing business relationships in the US. We view being selected to join SEC2SV as a valuable opportunity to grow, to learn and perhaps most importantly to find like-minded partners in the mission to deliver the benefits of innovation to people around the world,” stated Joni Kettunen, Firstbeat CEO.

SEC2SV will be held September 12-20, 2016 featuring a week of local presentations and meetings kicking off on September 12 with European Innovation Day at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.