"The cooperation between Finnish companies was just amazing"

Sport Finland's delegation attracted attention in Spain - Sari Hallikainen of Awesome Crowd praises the collaboration of Finnish companies.

Sari Hallikainen, entrepreneur of digital experience company Awesome Crowd, went on her second Sport Finland trip to Spain. This time it was the World Football Summit Europe (WFS), an international conference and exhibition held annually in Spain. During the two days, around 4 000 key people in the football sector from all over the world gathered in Seville.

- The most memorable thing about the trip was the close cooperation between Finnish companies and in particular the way they encouraged each other. I am proud to be part of such a team," says Hallikainen.

In practice, the group of eight Finnish companies that participated in the networking trip organized by Sport Finland supported one another by sharing valuable contacts.

Hallikainen believes that a strong and united delegation from Finland attracted positive attention.

- Coming together to share our expertise gives us credibility. In Spain, it was considered very innovative that such a group had come together there.

Spaniards create deep contacts

Hallikainen says she has found that Spain is a country where the culture is more personal than in Finland and where interaction with others is particularly important. By being there, people get to know each other, and when the contact has been made, it is easier to build potential cooperation in the future. In Spain, the sports sector has a lot of money and sports clubs have an impact on society.

-    Many clubs and leagues, such as LALIGA, are constantly looking for new business opportunities, for example to better engage their fans. Social impact is also very important for clubs, says Hallikainen.

Hallikainen was already part of Sport Finland's networking trip to Madrid in the spring. The purpose of the WSF trip was to continue discussions with existing contacts and establish new ones. Sport Finland's role in the trip was to support companies and enable networking during the event. Establishing a dialogue with large organisations is not easy for a small company, which is why Sport Finland tries to facilitate the work by opening doors for companies that they might not be able to do so alone.

Hallikainen says that her trips to Spain have given her contacts that could lead to concrete business opportunities as early as this year.

-    These two trips have given us a tremendous opportunity to move forward. At the beginning of the year, I would never have expected that we would be in this situation in the autumn. I hope that the Sport Finland project will continue, as it has been of enormous concrete benefit to companies, says Hallikainen.

Sari Hallikainen snapped a picture with Italian footballer Giorgio Chiellini at the event.
Photo by Sari Hallikainen

The business delegation trip to World Football Summit Europe in Seville was organized on September 18–19, 2024, as part of the Sport Finland network's activities. The network is based on a joint project led by the cities of Jyväskylä, Lahti, and Kuopio, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, and implemented between April 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. The companies participating in the trip were eWatt, Awesome Crowd, Kuitu Media, Northern Sports Insight and Intelligence (ACT Head Impact Tracker), ONIT Sport, Nordic Rack and Office (nro.one), Dribla and Appis.