In Espoo and the surrounding capital region, a world-class ecosystem for microelectronics, quantum and photonics is taking shape. This ecosystem – also known as the Kvanttinova ecosystem, is orchestrated by a company named Kvanttinova.
Enter Espoo sat down with Jussi Tuovinen, the CEO of Kvanttinova, to learn what the company and the whole ecosystem is all about.
What does Kvanttinova do, Jussi Tuovinen?
The Kvanttinova company helps the ecosystem to collaborate. We are the catalysers and orchestrators of this ecosystem, and we strive to find more synergies between our members. Our job is to help companies to find the right partners, the right facilities, and help take advantage of modern electronics and chips.
Besides, we build bridges to other ecosystems. We have contacts in the best ecosystems globally, and we help our ecosystem’s companies make connections in Finland and abroad.
We are also the contact point to FICCC, The Finnish Chips Competence Centre, here in the capital region. FICCC is part of a European-wide competence centre network, and it aims to lower the threshold to use chips.
Who is behind the Kvanttinova company?
Kvanttinova is owned by three main players in this area: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Aalto University, and City of Espoo. Each of them owns one third of the company.
There is also a new building, Kvanttinova Hub, to be built in Espoo. Can you tell us more?
This year, the construction will start for Kvanttinova Hub, a new building to be finished by 2028. The Hub will be located next to VTT’s and Aalto’s Micronova innovation hub.
Micronova has currently the largest cleanroom facilities for R&D purposes in the Nordics with 2,600 square meters of cleanroom space. The facilities are shared, including basic research and education by Aalto University, applied research by VTT, and product development and production of VTT and different companies. These organisations work in the same building, and they share cleanrooms.
Traditionally, basic research, applied research, and business operate in separate silos. But here they are all together. It is a unique concept, and we’re going to scale it up when building the Kvanttinova Hub. Kvanttinova Hub will more than double the cleanroom capacity in the area.
What is the vision of Kvanttinova?
The vision of the Kvanttinova ecosystem is to be the world’s most useful and fun ecosystem. It attracts the talent, the companies, and the investors. And all that creates a positive spin to create a bigger impact in Finland, but also in Europe.
Europe is not self-sufficient in semiconductors and chips. To reinforce the ecosystem, the EU has started an initiative called the European Chips Act. The goal is to increase Europe’s market share of semiconductors to 20%. Currently, it is less than ten percent and has been declining. To be self-sufficient, we have to increase the activities.
Technology Industries of Finland (TIF) has created a national semiconductor strategy for Finland. According to the strategy, Finland should target to have 20,000 employees in the semiconductor industry by year 2035. The current number of employees is around 7,000.
50-70% of the growth is expected to land on this ecosystem. We are very honored that there’s so much emphasis on our ecosystem, and that motivates us a lot.
You started your career as a space researcher. How did you get into ecosystem development?
I have a long background in research, including over 20 years of space research. I have been involved in several satellite projects, the largest being the Planck satellite for Big Bang measurements.
This experience convinced me that to do high impact activities you need to work together. And I learned the importance of having an ecosystem. Also, working together is more fun!
At the same time, I have always been interested in commercial applications. I would say that my special talent is building bridges from science to business. I have worked in several roles where I’ve been able to do this, both in research organisations and in a startup in Finland and abroad. I’ve worked in Finland, France, Ireland, and the US.
For 18 years, I worked at VTT. There, I was, for example, responsible for Microtechnologies and Sensors, leading the Micronova facility. Already in 2007, we realized that it would be very beneficial to have a stronger ecosystem around us. But the time wasn’t ready yet.
In 2025, I started as the CEO of the newly established Kvanttinova company. It has been extremely enjoyable to be back in Otaniemi, in an era where ecosystem management is considered a necessity.
Hero image: Laura Ockel / Unsplash
Portrait of Jussi Tuovinen: Kvanttinova
