PulseOn Oy sprung up from the Nokia Bridge Program

After taking part in the program, Jaakko Hattula and Jari Nousiainen, who had worked at Nokia and been involved in product development in heart rate measurement innovation,  founded PulseOn Oy in 2012. At the time of founding the company, Hattula had been working at Nokia for over 14 years in product development and marketing, while Jari Nousiainen had been involved in product development and management tasks for almost 25 years. 

They have continued developing a medical device, a wristband, and related software for detecting arrhythmia and brought the product to the commercial market. 

‘We thought that it would be silly to discard all the interesting work we had already done. The Bridge Program gave us the chance to keep developing the idea. And we got licenses from Nokia.’

Over the years, the business idea has changed shape. At first, the duo planned to create a consumer product.

‘However, we noticed that global companies had started developing their own innovations, which made us focus on the health care sector. We found our medical focus in 2019,’ says Jaakko Hattula, CTO of the company.

Prioritising science and research

From its early days, the company has been patenting its own solutions, ensuring in this way that it could bring the product to international markets. At the same time, the company has been selling licenses and patents that have become redundant after its focus shifted to the medical sector. The wristband was launched in 2021. It detects arrhythmias in the wearer and sends the information directly to a doctor.

‘We have always prioritised science and research. Product development is not a cheap endeavour, so we have kept our cash flow going by selling devices and our product development capabilities to others. Investor support has also been important. When we found a gap in the market in the healthcare sector, we entered a market where devices must be extremely precise; but at the same time, the cost structure is better than in the consumer market.’

The company’s product development team includes medical advisors, such as cardiologists and cardiac nurses. Business Finland, among others, provided funding for product development. 

‘It is important that we found investors who were eager to market our product to the medical sector. They understand that our work takes a long time and costs a lot. We are not talking about 100,000 euros - more like ten million. And this sector does not operate on the same “fail fast” principle like the games industry.’

Acceleration from the start-up ecosystem

Teaming up with Aalto Startup Center, the company found its premises in Startup Sauna in Otaniemi. Working with the business accelerator gave them new perspectives to entrepreneurship and business development, as they traded the listed company environment to the start-up economy and its hustle and bustle. 

‘We were a pretty strange bunch since the typical entrepreneurs in Startup Sauna were a lot younger than us. Being an entrepreneur takes patience. We knew how to use the support we were offered. From the get-go, we understood how important it was to do the footwork: meeting our customers and getting their feedback. Different countries have different practices and you have to be able to operate in various economic cycles. We also learned agile operation in different market areas.’

Coming from Nokia, it was clear from the start that industrial design would be a highly important part of the development of the new product. 

‘Some parts of industrial design are visible from the outside, but in our company, it is present throughout the whole service chain: from device design to cloud services. In addition to the experts in our team, we also get help from partners. We work closely with five companies that supply us with components, software, and more. We also have other subcontractors. We assemble the device here in Finland.’

Years of growth ahead 

PulseOn Oy is currently going through one of its most interesting phases so far. The company’s goal is to grow and become international while keeping their base in Otaniemi. 

‘We mainly focus on Europe, but we also sell to Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. Every region has different regulations for new medical devices, and a place like the United States is a challenging market for us.’

In comparison to managing a listed company, there have been many new lessons to learn: how international outreach has been mandatory from the start, how carefully resources must be spent, and how essential meetings with customers are. 

‘A small company has to do it right the first time: you can’t keep changing the business idea. It is a challenge how little risk capital there is available in Finland. Naturally, good ideas do receive funding. The problem with Finland is that it lacks base capital. The risk of investing in start-up companies is higher, but if no one does it, then we won’t have any new innovations, either. It is important to have infrastructure that supports start-up companies since the entrepreneurs have not yet accumulated any capital of their own.’

Since the company is focused on product development, its turnover has fluctuated instead of following steady growth. Last year’s turnover was around EUR 200,000. The team consists of over 13 experts. 

‘Our turnover is going to grow significantly this year. Thanks to the Finnish market, the company will grow for the next few years and lay a foundation for global expansion.’ 

This article is part of a series on different growth stories from over the years compiled on Aalto Startup Center’s alumni companies. For more information about Aalto Startup Center, see: www.startupcenter.aalto.fi