Lahti startup seeks investors for promising indie games
Tuesday 13th October 2026 on 17:30 in
Finland
A Lahti startup is working to connect promising small game developers with investors and help bring their games to market, Yle reports. Developer Mika Happonen says the model could address the limited funding options available to independent creators.
Happonen spends two to four hours a day developing Supinaa: Rogue Sapling alongside his day job. The 30-year-old father has made a demo, or short version, of the game and is working on a full release. He has spent about 10,000 euros on development, including staff wages and game assets.
The first version took shape during a game jam, an event where participants set out to make a game over a weekend. Happonen has worked on it regularly since then, although development slowed after he had a child.
He has been interested in games since childhood and says he would like to become a full-time developer. He has also received a start-up grant for a year, but says it did not go far. While receiving it, he was not allowed to take other work.
Finndie Forge was founded in Lahti by Ville Muhonen and Toni Tilsala. The company looks for promising game demos, seeks investors to fund their completion and helps with publication. It plans to take a share of a game’s earnings if it succeeds.
Muhonen says the company will assess demos using player behaviour data, as well as considering the strength of each development team and its ability to finish the game. Finndie Forge also plans to help build a community around each release.
Happonen, who knows Muhonen and Tilsala through Lahti’s game community, says the idea is welcome because small developers have few funding options. He believes a system like Ireland’s, where the state provides basic income to creative entrepreneurs, could make it easier to develop games.
Finndie Forge’s founders met at StartHub, a business accelerator at LAB University of Applied Sciences in Lahti. Tilsala is also involved in IGDA Lahti, part of the International Game Developers Association, which brings local developers together.
Happonen’s game is being developed by Paahtimo Games, which has previously released one game. Muhonen says the company hopes one of the projects it supports could become a hit and lead to a new game studio in Finland.