Sometimes, the turning point in a career can come most unexpectedly. For Olli Kähkönen, the CEO and founder of Nordic Bioproducts Group (NBG), it happened on a freezing winter morning in Finland while he was sitting in a car with his 5-year-old daughter.
With the temperature dropping below 20 degrees Celsius, Kähkönen left the car running to warm the cabin before taking his daughter to preschool. All of a sudden, she turned to her father and asked him to switch off the engine. When he asked why, the child answered: "Because otherwise you will destroy the planet and nature."
The moment stayed with him. For Kähkönen, who had grown up in the archipelago near Rauma surrounded by forests and the Baltic Sea, what his daughter said became a recurring reminder of how environmental responsibility is passed from one generation to the next.
Today, that same spirit of responsibility guides Nordic Bioproducts Group, an Espoo-based biomaterials company specialising in sustainable, advanced cellulose technologies. Founded in 2019, NBG focuses on producing high-value biomaterials derived from renewable raw materials, designed to replace fossil-based products. The new materials can be used in applications ranging from packaging and textiles to advanced industrial products.
"Our goal is to take renewable biomass and turn it into materials that can be used across industries," Kähkönen says. "If we can replace fossil-based raw materials with sustainable alternatives, we can make a real difference."
Making sustainability sell
Sustainability is an increasingly important factor in industrial decision-making, but many green technologies come with higher costs. At the same time, finding investors for a bioeconomy company is no simple thing — there are few quick wins in the sustainability business. NBG's technology, however, offers a different model: improving sustainability while remaining cost-competitive with existing production methods.
One of NBG's main areas of focus is microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a plant-based material widely used in food production, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Although MCC has been used for decades, NBG has developed new ways to produce it. The company's patented AaltoCell® technology allows MCC to be manufactured with improved environmental performance while maintaining high product quality and industrial efficiency.
NBG's offering is particularly attractive to global partners, and its work has attracted international attention. In January 2026, Japan's Oji Holdings Corporation, one of the world's largest forest industry companies, invested in a 20% stake in NBG.
Multidisciplinary by nature
For Kähkönen, the journey into the biomaterials sector began through an unusual combination of disciplines. Starting with studies in economics and finance, Kähkönen also attended the University of Art and Design. Combining creativity and finance was not common at the time.
"I still remember my finance professor saying, 'Over my dead body will anyone in finance have anything to do with creativity,'" Kähkönen laughs.
Little did the professor know that the multidisciplinary mindset — combining creativity, analytical thinking, and entrepreneurship — has proven to be a constant throughout Kähkönen's decades-long career.
In 2018, in another U-turn for finance masters, Kähkönen joined Aalto University's Department of Biomass Refining and Biomaterials in the School of Chemical Engineering. There, he began exploring cellulose chemistry and the potential of renewable biomass in greater depth. It did not take him long to realise the scale of the opportunity in the Finnish industry.
Finland's scientific foundations in bioeconomy are universally recognised. Researchers have spent decades studying forest-based biomaterials and developing technologies that can transform biomass into advanced products. However, turning that scientific knowledge into globally successful companies hasn't always been a strength of the Finns.
"Finland has a unique understanding of renewable biomasses and how to utilise them. Yet translating the science into businesses has often been challenging. Nordic Bioproducts Group was founded to help bridge that gap," Kähkönen says.
A company built on research, in Finland's leading deep tech community
Espoo's innovation ecosystem and the Otaniemi area, where NBG is located, have played a critical role in enabling this transformation from science to business. In addition to Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Otaniemi is home to numerous deep tech startups, global tech companies, and deep tech hubs.
The interaction between not just the disciplines but also the players in the ecosystem makes Otaniemi a particularly beneficial place for companies like NBG, making it easier for them to move from research to commercialisation. Companies can access world-class laboratories, collaborate with leading scientists, and connect with entrepreneurs, investors, and the business services of the City of Espoo.
NBG continues to collaborate closely, for example, with Aalto University, utilising laboratory facilities and research services to support product development and analysis.
"The real competitive advantage in Otaniemi is the highly educated people, top-level research, and a culture of collaboration," Kähkönen explains. "Our goal is to take the knowledge created in the research institutions and turn it into scalable industrial solutions."
This mindset of multidisciplinary collaboration serves as a catalyst for emerging industries such as the bioeconomy, where breakthroughs often occur at the intersection of science, engineering, and business.
"The most interesting innovations often happen when different worlds meet. That is exactly what happens here in Otaniemi," Kähkönen concludes.
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Image: Visit Espoo, Kathrin Deter