About Startup Sauna
Startup Sauna, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2010, is based in Espoo, Finland. With a presence in 24 countries, it has supported around 175 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, High Tech. As of Oct 2026, Startup Sauna has witnessed 14 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in
its portfolio include PromoRepublic, Yousician and Bonusway. The program primarily supports Seed startups based in Finland. Its latest investment was a Undisclosed Seed round in Speedhire on Jun 14, 2017.
Startup Sauna's List of Top Investments
Startup Sauna has a portfolio of 175 companies. Their most notable investments are in Smartifik and Speedhire.Their portfolio spans across Finland, Russia, United States and 21 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Retail and 26 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Angel and 2 more. Here is the list of top investments by Startup Sauna:Cloud based platform for local marketing. The platform provides clients with insights and tools to manage social media, maintain brand integrity, improve brand reputation, and more. It enables clients to drive awareness across local communities by scheduling localized posts, managing conversations, and advertising to local customers. It enables clients to organize content for markets and locations.
Key facts about PromoRepublic
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Palo Alto (United States)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $5.66M
- Employee Count: 52 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Howzat Partners, Innovestor Ventures and 17 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jun 30, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Yousician
Provider of AI-driven interactive music education platform for learning to play various musical instruments.
Key facts about Yousician
- Founded Year: 2010
- Location: Helsinki (Finland)
- Annual Revenue: €50M - €100M as on Dec 31, 2024
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $35M
- Employee Count: 128 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: True Ventures, EIC Fund and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 28, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Bonusway
Online platform offering cashback and rewards for multi-category products. The product catalog includes fashion, beauty, consumer electronics, and more.
Key facts about Bonusway
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Helsinki (Finland)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $6.19M
- Employee Count: 9 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Businessfinland, Flashpoint and 2 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Nov 16, 2016, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Cumucore
Platform offering network virtualization. It provides a virtualized packet core which is a software based packet core that can be deployed in the cloud with management and traffic optimization solutions. It offers software components on SDN that provide mobile edge computing and content delivery acceleration within any location of the access network.
Key facts about Cumucore
5. AppFollow
AppFollow is the provider of an app monitoring and analytics platform. It tracks the real-time performance of apps on platforms like the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Store. Its features include review management and analytics, a dashboard for ratings and reviews, as well as integration with Zendesk, Helpshift, and Salesforce. Its clients include Bitmango and Discord.
Key facts about AppFollow
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Helsinki (Finland)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $6.38M
- Employee Count: 77 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Nauta Capital, RTP Global and 4 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Oct 29, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Startup Sauna's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Startup Sauna has invested in 175 companies over the last 16 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Speedhire.Startup Sauna's Investments by Stage
Startup Sauna has made 54 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $140K, 1 investment in Angel stage, 1 investment in Series A stage and 1 investment in Venture Debt stage with an average round size of $13K.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 54 |
Angel | 1 |
Series A | 1 |
Venture Debt | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Startup Sauna's Investments by Sector
Startup Sauna has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Consumer, High Tech, Retail and Enterprise Infrastructure. Notably, it has invested in 125 Tech companies, 93 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 77 Software companies and at least 53 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 24 |
Consumer | 16 |
High Tech | 12 |
Retail | 8 |
Enterprise Infrastructure | 6 |
Others | 58 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Startup Sauna's Investments by Geography
Startup Sauna has made most investments in Finland (25), followed by Russia where it has made 9 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Finland | 25 |
Russia | 9 |
Lithuania | 5 |
United Kingdom | 3 |
Latvia | 2 |
Others | 13 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Startup Sauna's recent investments
Startup Sauna has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Startup Sauna:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 14, 2017 | Finland | Seed | 5019 | - | |
Jun 14, 2017 | Finland | Series A | 4035 | - | |
Nov 30, 2016 | Finland | Seed | 3558 | - | |
Oct 25, 2016 | Russia | Seed | 4886 | - | |
Jun 02, 2016 | Russia | Seed | 8578 | - |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Startup Sauna's Portfolio
6 of Startup Sauna's portfolio companies have become public. Maxygen got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), in Dec 1999 at marketcap of $479M.Here are Startup Sauna's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 16, 1999 | - | - | 5828 | |
- | May 31, 2014 | Seed | 5555 | |
- | 2015 | Seed | 5285 | |
- | - | - | 7106 | |
- | - | - | 7015 |
Acquired companies in Startup Sauna's Portfolio
8 companies from Startup Sauna's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Uploadcare in Jan 2024 by Tiugo Technologies for $*****.Here are Startup Sauna's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 16, 2024 | - | - | 6152 | |
Jul 15, 2022 | - | - | 3921 | |
Feb 10, 2020 | - | - | 6715 | |
Jul 10, 2019 | - | - | 3842 | |
Sep 27, 2017 | - | - | 6472 |
Co-investors of Startup Sauna
Over the past 16 years, 54 investors have co-invested in Startup Sauna's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Startup Sauna: Startup Wise Guys, Start-Up Chile and 8 others have invested in rounds before Startup Sauna. There is 1 company where Startup Wise Guys has invested before Startup Sauna and 1 company where Start-Up Chile has invested before Startup Sauna.
- Top Co-investors of Startup Sauna: Spark International entered a company along with Startup Sauna.
- Invested after Startup Sauna: A total of 43 investors have invested in Startup Sauna's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Europa (4 companies) and Businessfinland (2 companies).
Recent News related to Startup Sauna
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Totohealth To Launch In Tanzania, Raises $140,000 From Various InvestorsFootprint Africa•Sep 26, 2015•Totohealth, Totohealth, Spark International, Startup Sauna
•
Определились участники весенней программы акселератора Startup Sauna | Baltic GeekApr 30, 2015•PromoRepublic, Startup Sauna
•
Startup Sauna The 11th batch kicks off next week!Startup Sauna•Apr 28, 2015•PromoRepublic, Startup Sauna
•
Startup Sauna Startup Sauna’s 10th batch – more international than everStartup Sauna•Oct 20, 2014•Sosho, Startup Sauna, AiScreen Oy
