Abstracts Business

Internationalization of Finnish Technology Startups : Case: Goodwille Ltd

by Miriam Goncalves

The United Kingdom is a large European market that offers vast market potential for companies that enter it. Finnish start-up companies are especially drawn to this market by the venture capital opportunities. A presence in the United Kingdom is necessary for companies that want to become truly international. The sponsor of the thesis is Goodwille Ltd., a British company that provides services to foreign companies who want to start or expand their business in the UK. Goodwille’s newly set target group is start-up and growth companies. The aim of this thesis is to find out how to approach the target group in Finland while strengthening the company’s market position in the country. Therefore, the research is limited to Finnish start-up companies and only on companies in the technology industry. The aim is to find out the potential of the target group in Finland and therefore provide a basis for the development of services on this market. The material was gathered by interviewing expert organisations for the theoretical sec-tion and target group companies for the research section. In addition to the interviews, key sources include publications of Finnish and British export organizations and various theories on internationalisation and market entry. The research was qualitative in nature and conducted through theme interviews; it was carried out in spring 2014. The results of the research indicate that Finnish technology start-up companies are not only eager to internationalize, but are fundamentally international and “born” global. The United Kingdom is not the main market for all businesses, or always a target market in any case. However, it is still an important market for Finnish technology start-up companies and they need support in order to succeed in it.