JIS-Automation and Takomo are the 2026 Growth Builders – two exceptional growth stories built with the support of private equity and venture capital investors

The winners of the Building Growth 2026 competition, organised by the Finnish Venture Capital Association (FVCA) and PwC, are JIS-Automation in the buyout category and Takomo in the VC/Growth category.

The final of the Growth Builder 2026 competition took place, as usual, at the association’s main annual event, the PE-VC Summit, on Thursday, October 8th. Each year, the competition seeks the most inspiring growth story among portfolio companies backed by private equity and venture capital investors — stories where growth has been built together with the investor in a long-term and impactful way.

The winners were selected by an annually rotating jury of external experts. This year’s panel consisted of journalist Marko Junkkari, Maria 01 CEO Sarita Runeberg, and Aalto University Professor Samuli Knüpfer.

“What particularly impressed us about JIS-Automation was its entrepreneurial drive, strong values, and the genuine collaboration between the entrepreneur and the investor. There is clearly a great connection between them and a shared desire to build the company together. The pitch also had just the right amount of humour and personality. Together, these elements made for a particularly compelling and distinctive growth story.”

JIS-Automation’s journey is supported by private equity investor Korona Invest.

“What particularly stands out about Takomo’s story is its international ambition from day one and its determination to build a truly global consumer brand from Finland. It represents a new generation of entrepreneurship: looking boldly ahead rather than comparing itself to what has been done before. For Finnish companies, taking a consumer product to international markets is far from a given, which makes Takomo’s story particularly compelling.”

Takomo’s journey is supported by private equity investor Mandatum Asset Management.

Alongside the winners, the competitive final featured Veke and Nordic Bites Group in the buyout category, and EWQ and Fennoa in the VC/Growth category.

“It’s wonderful to see such a wide variety of inspiring growth stories emerging from Finnish businesses. This year’s finalists once again demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit, courage and the ability to build growth over the long term. The Growth Builder competition highlights what can be achieved when entrepreneurship, expertise and capital are brought together behind a shared growth ambition. Congratulations to the winners and all the finalists!” says Jussi Lehtinen, Partner at PwC.

“It has once again been truly rewarding to get to know this year’s finalists through the interviews and to be involved in organising the competition for another year together with PwC. The finalists demonstrated a strong sense of enthusiasm and a genuine desire to build and grow their companies over the long term together with a private equity or venture capital investor. It is great to once again highlight Finnish growth stories and the people and companies building growth across Finland.

This year, all the finalists were particularly united by the importance of collaboration with their private equity or venture capital investor, which was already strongly evident in the interviews. Growth does not happen by chance — it is built together, with determination and a long-term perspective. Warm congratulations to all the finalists, and especially to this year’s winners — this achievement is truly well deserved!” says Emilia Närhi, Head of Communications at the Finnish Venture Capital Association.

The Growth Builder competition has been organised for over ten years, and its list of past winners includes many success stories such as Framery, Cactos, ICEYE, Virta and Swappie.

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Additional information:

Emilia Närhi
Finnish Venture Capital Association, Head of Communications
emilia.narhi@fvca.fi
+358 44 050 5468

Jussi Lehtinen
PwC/Strategy&, Partner
jussi.lehtinen@pwc.com
+358 20 787 8756