Introduction
Softlandia has built a third of its revenue from the US market and launched six new AI-native companies — with the drive and spirit of Tampere.
Softlandia was founded in Tampere by engineers who believed in one thing: applied AI must create real value, not just proof-of-concepts. The company’s mission is ambitious — to help a thousand founders build and launch AI-native businesses.
When it comes to internationalisation, Softlandia has moved boldly: the company has participated in two export promotion trips to the United States — Texas, Austin — organised by Business Tampere (Tampere AI). There, Softlandia found its way into the Capital Factory technology hub, one of the most active startup communities in the US. The results show on the bottom line: roughly one third of Softlandia’s revenue now comes from the American market. The company has also been involved in joint AI development projects and EU funding applications.
Perhaps the most visible step is the founding of the Softlandia Venture Studio. The studio builds AI-native companies from ideas originating both in-house and with external founders. So far, six new companies have been launched through the studio. The best-known is spogen.ai — a Tampere-based voice AI assistant for the operation and maintenance of heavy machinery, with customers including AGCO, Valtra, and Tana. Other studio companies include Dobbin.ai (New York), FuOHealth (Helsinki), GitHits, and Vihko.ai. The Venture Studio is a demonstration of what happens when applied AI expertise meets entrepreneurial ambition.
“Tampere is an excellent environment for building AI. You have large industrial companies, several AI players, and a university all in one place. Collaboration works, and the threshold for meeting potential partners is low.”
Ilmo Lounasmaa, Co-Founder & CEO, Softlandia