Miska Hakala has been appointed Director of Growth, responsible for generating growth and investments for Espoo's innovation community, starting 2 May 2023. Miska Hakala has had a long career in business and investment attraction and city marketing. Espoo is one of Europe's leading innovation hubs and Finland's fastest-growing city.
Hakala has previously worked in similar roles at Helsinki Partners Ltd and Helsinki Business Hub Ltd. He also has experience in business and sales development at F-Secure Ltd, UPM-Kymmene Corporation, and Nokia Corporation.
"Miska Hakala's strong expertise and experience in innovation and attraction work, extensive networks of innovation communities and actors, with a constant desire to develop and build new things will help create vital growth opportunities and investment possibilities for our startup and innovation community. I am thrilled to have Miska lead the attraction work at Enter Espoo," says the CEO of Enter Espoo, Jaana Tuomi.
Espoo is Finland's fastest-growing city. International interest in the city is on the rise due to its status as Europe's leading innovation community, the easy accessibility via the metro and Jokeri Light Rail line and the proximity to nature. Enter Espoo aims to increase sustainable growth by attracting international companies to the city. Espoo is one of Europe's leading cities in patent applications, with Espoo-based companies applying for the sixth most patents compared to their European counterparts. Additionally, almost half of the turnover of Finnish companies listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange comes from Espoo.
"It's great to join a team that is truly part of Europe's leading innovation community and helps solve some of the most challenging issues of our time, such as climate goals, utilisation of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and quantum technologies. As a neutral partner, we at Enter Espoo play a key role in building growth opportunities for Espoo's innovation community by collaborating with partners and customers who share our purpose," describes Miska Hakala.
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