Our story began in 2008, when Finland established six Strategic Centres for Science, Technology, and Innovation (the SHOK programmes) across key industries. These clusters were non-profit companies jointly owned by Finnish businesses, research institutes, and universities, with a shared mission: to accelerate the commercialization of research and strengthen national competitiveness.
Within this framework, shareholders worked together to advance both basic and applied research that individual companies might otherwise have found too distant from market application. The clusters pioneered effective open-innovation practices, enabling collaboration not only in bilateral projects but also in large, multi-partner consortia—even among competitors.
Public funding from the Finnish government supported these activities until 2015. During this period, especially within the energy and environment cluster (CLEEN) and the bioeconomy cluster (FIBIC), strong foundations were laid for long-term collaboration and for what would later become central to the sustainability transition.
A Strategic Turning Point (2015– )
In 2015, CLEEN and FIBIC merged to form CLIC Innovation, bringing together expertise in bioeconomy, circular economy, and future energy systems under one organization.
As collaboration deepened, CLIC’s role expanded beyond technology-driven RDI projects. The focus shifted increasingly toward shaping markets, strengthening innovation ecosystems, and influencing the broader innovation environment—particularly within the evolving EU policy and funding landscape.
Recognising that cluster activities alone do not generate direct revenue, CLIC began to actively offer its multi-stakeholder RDI expertise as a service. In parallel, CLIC took on more operational roles in projects, acting not only as a coordinator but also as a project partner alongside companies and research organisations.
Applying Experience to Systemic Impact
Today, we apply this combined insight — spanning national programmes, EU frameworks, and hands-on project work—to help organizations succeed in complex innovation environments.
We support our clients whether they are leading a single RDI project or navigating an entire ecosystem. Depending on the need, we act flexibly as consultants, thematic experts, facilitators, coordinators, or project partners — always adapting our role to serve the broader system-level impact.
Our work continues to focus on addressing systemic challenges arising from resource scarcity and accelerating the green transition through collaboration that goes beyond the capabilities of any single actor. We operate on three interconnected levels: as an open innovation cluster, welcoming new associate partners to join our community; as a service provider supporting organizations in complex RDI and innovation processes; and as a project partner contributing hands-on expertise within multi-stakeholder initiatives.
