7.7.2023

It takes courage and determination to make a change

The Finnish summer is showing its best and there is an air of cautious anticipation. The war in Ukraine continues for the second year, market development is difficult to foresee and the rising interest rates hit both companies and households hard. On a brighter side, the energy transition is carrying Europe towards an emission-free era, bringing along new growth opportunities or those ready to seize the opportunity. The Finnish political field also shows clear signs of purposeful changes to a more business-friendly direction and the beginning of a new era.

The only constant in life is change, and amid all the changes, we need to focus on the things we can control. Right now, we can control how we adapt to the changing world. We will need courage and determination to help us forward even through difficult times. Despite hardships, now it’s the time to sow the seeds for future growth and focus on green transition investments and support them on all levels of decision-making as well as promote green innovations. There is good reason to believe that the energy transition will create enormous opportunities and can help turn this decade into a decade of growth in Finland.

We at Castrén & Snellman have also drawn from our courage and determination. This summer, we celebrate our 135-year-long journey that we have travelled through the changing society in an independent Finland, enabling the success our clients. The trust shown by our clients has turned the small boutique firm established by two men into an international forerunner of business law, employing more than 300 experts. We want to hold on to our standard of exceeding expectations at all times.

As a forerunner, we embrace our responsibility at the dawn of a new era. Finland is a pioneer in the energy transition, and Castrén & Snellman is advising in the most important renewable energy projects in Finland. I believe that the prelude of yet another success story has been played and that it is up to us to decide how the story continues.

Our warmest thanks to our clients, stakeholders and employees! We wish you a happy summer!

Latest references

We successfully represented a Finnish construction management consultancy and a safety coordinator employed by the company in criminal proceedings concerning an alleged occupational safety and health offence. The prosecutor sought a penalty for an alleged breach of occupational safety regulations. The charge arose from a fall accident at a construction site where our client acted as the safety coordinator appointed by the developer. We assessed the scope of the safety coordinator’s duties in relation to the responsibilities of the main contractor, as well as how our client had fulfilled their obligations in practice. We demonstrated that our client had acted with due care and in full compliance with their duties throughout the planning, preparation and execution of the construction project. The District Court of Eastern Uusimaa dismissed the charge against our client. The Court held that our client, in their capacity as safety coordinator, had duly fulfilled the occupational safety obligations incumbent on the developer during the planning and preparation phases of the construction project and had not been aware of the fall protection deficiency identified at the site. The judgment is final insofar as our client is concerned.
Case published 22.6.2026
We advised Efima Oyj on the sale of its financial management services business to Rantalainen as part of its strategic focus on fully concentrating on the delivery of business applications as well as data and AI solutions. As a result of the transaction, customer contracts related to financial management services and 65 experts working in these services will transfer to Rantalainen. The transaction will be carried out as a transfer of business, and the experts will move to the new owner as existing employees. Efima is a Finnish digital company that supports the sustainable growth of large and mid-sized companies by streamlining their business processes and by creating competitive advantage through the innovative use of artificial intelligence and data. The company has nearly 200 experts based in Helsinki and Tampere.
Case published 12.6.2026
We advised lead investor Ugly Duckling Ventures on the EUR 6.5 million funding round of Skyfora. The round also included Eviny Ventures, LUMO Labs and EIC Fund, alongside non-dilutive funding from Business Finland. The investment will support the commercial scale-up of Skyfora’s weather intelligence solutions, the expansion of partnerships with telecom operators, forecasting providers and meteorological institutions, and the continued growth of the team. Skyfora is a Finnish company developing high-resolution weather data solutions using patented technology that extracts atmospheric data from GNSS receivers embedded in existing infrastructure, such as telecom networks. By unlocking previously untapped data sources, Skyfora enables the next generation of AI-driven weather forecasting and supports improved decision-making across weather-sensitive industries. Ugly Duckling Ventures is a Copenhagen-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage Nordic B2B technology companies, with an emphasis on medtech, resilience tech and business services.
Case published 10.6.2026
castren snellman general atlantic iceye
We advised General Atlantic as the lead investor on ICEYE’s EUR 1 billion series F funding round, valuing the company at over EUR 10 billion. ICEYE raised EUR 450 million (USD 520 million) in a primary Series F funding round led by General Atlantic. Additional investors included Solidium, Tesi, Varma, Ilmarinen, Lifeline Ventures, Nokia, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and TCV. Together with a secondary placement, the total fundraising exceeds EUR 1 billion. ICEYE is the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space, providing continuous monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth. The company operates the world’s largest and most advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite constellation. General Atlantic is a leading global investor with more than four and a half decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 885 companies throughout its history. As of March 31, 2026, General Atlantic manages approximately USD 126 billion in assets across its investment strategies. We advised General Atlantic on this transaction in collaboration with the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Case published 9.6.2026