Vertics Oy was born from the vision of two upper secondary school students

Atte Pohjanmaa became interested in coding at a very young age. He was brought to Aalto Startup Sauna by coincidence but he became actively involved in it for several years. He got acquainted with startup entrepreneurs, spent summers taking Summer of Startup courses and did his own projects.

“I dragged also my upper secondary school mate Max there and, on the threshold of adulthood, we established a company, Vertics Oy. The idea was to code our own products. I was the sales guy, and Max was the more analytical one. We had read somewhere that companies with an i in their name are more successful on the stock exchange, so we changed the company name Vertex to Vertics.”
 

The incubator gave the company time to grow

In 2017, the young entrepreneurs were given their first office at the A Grid centre for growth companies at Aalto Startup Center in Otaniemi. The following year they took their matriculation examination. The idea was for the company to develop its own software products for clients.

“We got up and running quickly, found clients and made a lot of mistakes. In practice, we were just two ordinary guys who knew nothing of anything. Aalto Startup Center provided us with a really great place to grow at A Grid as part of the startup ecosystem. As far as I can remember, the largest space at the Center was 10 square metres in size, and soon we had outgrown what they could offer.”

Aalto Startup Center also provided advice that helped run the company.

“Bengt Forsström was brilliant in his ability to translate business truths into a form we could understand. For an entrepreneur, it is important to quickly accept certain things. The ability to welcome new ideas is an important skill. That’s a skill I'm still learning, and the process will continue for the rest of my life.”

Since 2019, Atte Pohjanmaa has been the principal owner of the company. 

“Max went on to study political sciences, and we executed a change of ownership, making me the majority owner. Finnvera helped us in the process.”
 

Sales require footwork

In three years, Vertics Oy increased its turnover to one million euros. Then came the coronavirus years. It took the next six years to double the turnover.   

“Sales have always required footwork. I think that finding client companies was easier at the beginning than today. Our investor Jaakko Marin introduced the idea of joining the NATO market in 2022, and it remains one of Vertics’ spearhead sectors.”

Years as an entrepreneur have taught Pohjanmaa how important it is to understand the client company’s business and needs. Over the years, the idea of own software products was buried. The focus was shifted to making projects tailored to client companies’ needs. 

“We have to be able to inspire confidence in our clients so that they will agree to tell us which actual problem they would like us to solve. We have a variety of special features to offer to our customers. I think it’s important to go and meet clients in person and do some agency work, i.e. learn to understand what their business is all about.”

From a company with two founding partners, Vertics has grown into a business employing 30 experts and several subcontractors.

“We want to be an equal company. We do not differentiate between who works on the company’s payroll and who are subcontractors. Some only have their own computers to work with. In recent years, recruitment has become easier in this sector.”
 

The next leap in growth lies ahead

Pohjanmaa sees entrepreneurship as an effort to navigate through rough seas – the best ones will get across and reach their destination. He decided to become an entrepreneur when he was still in upper secondary school. However, he points out that student entrepreneurship also requires courage. On the other hand, when you are young, you can take risks.

“We had to come up with a job for ourselves, so what did we have to lose? Today, many people are in the same situation. Youth is the best time to try out things. When you are older, you may get more stressed when you have a family. However, the fact is that if you set up a limited liability company and take out a loan, entrepreneurship becomes serious business.”

“My wish to decision-makers is that, if an entrepreneur fails and runs into debt, they will make it easier to take up entrepreneurship again. If an entrepreneur goes bankrupt, they don’t lose their competence – if anything, they gain even more of it when they go through bankruptcy. Tough times make tough guys. I think that those entrepreneurs who navigated through the coronavirus years will have calmer seas ahead of them.”

Pohjanmaa believes that Vertics Oy will continue to grow: “Ten years have been a long time as an entrepreneur. As upper secondary school students, we succeeded in increasing the company’s turnover to EUR 1 million. The business will continue to grow in the future. When writing code becomes cheaper, even small companies can succeed by raising their level of service. I don’t believe artificial intelligence will take work away from coders. Instead, basic coding will be replaced by bigger challenges, and that will bring more jobs to the sector.” 

The company is now backed up by several investors. Atte Pohjanmaa found the first one of them at his own upper secondary school graduation reception. 

“The current goal is to take the company to the next level and grow into a business with a turnover of about EUR 10 million within the next few years.”

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 

• Check out the article focused on Xiphera HERE.
• Check out the article focused on PulseOn HERE.
• Check out the article focused on Zipipop HERE.