Koneen Säätiö

What Koneen Säätiö does

Koneen Säätiö (Kone Foundation) is an independent, autonomous Finnish philanthropic foundation headquartered at Lauttasaari Manor in Helsinki, founded in 1956. The foundation's mission is to support freedom in science and art, funding researchers, professional artists, and interdisciplinary projects that bridge the two disciplines. In 2025, the foundation distributed a record €65.4 million across grants, prizes, donations, and residencies, supporting 389 projects in the general autumn grant call alone (from a record 7,642 applications) and approximately 970 person-years of individual grantee work in 2024. Roughly 76% of grants are multi-year commitments, with the largest share of funding (approximately 75%) directed to academic researchers and the remainder to artists and collaborative projects.

The foundation operates several interconnected programs: an annual general grant call; thematic initiatives including Metsän puolella (For the Woods, launched 2022) and the 'Is Democracy Eroding?' (Rapautuuko demokratia?) programme (2021–2025); the Saari Residence international residency in Mynämäki (1,034 applicants from 86 countries in 2025); the annual Vuoden Tiedekynä (Scientific Pen of the Year) €25,000 award for Finnish-language scientific writing; and Apurahat+ post-award support services including the Kamari meeting space. Applications are processed through a dedicated online grant service (koneensaatio.apurahat.net), and the foundation maintains a multilingual website across 17 languages.

The foundation is funded by its endowment and operates as a non-profit grantmaker rather than a revenue-generating entity. It is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Hanna Nurminen, with Ulla Tuomarla as CEO and Kalle Korhonen as Director of Science and Art Funding. Strategic partnerships include Scholars at Risk Network, the University of Helsinki and University of Turku researcher colleges, and a Ukrainian Researchers Support initiative. The foundation does not develop proprietary technology and has no public AI, API, or commercial product offering; its technology footprint is limited to grant administration and content publishing infrastructure.

Name

Koneen Säätiö

Legal name

Koneen Säätiö

Website

https://koneensaatio.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Koneen Säätiö (Kone Foundation) is an independent Finnish philanthropic foundation that distributes grants and residencies to academic researchers, professional artists, and interdisciplinary science-art projects, operating thematic programs on forests and democracy while running the Saari Residence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Science Grant Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Science and art grants
• Research funding
• Artist residencies
• Interdisciplinary funding
• Philanthropic foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Koneen Säätiö is an independent Finnish foundation that distributes grants to support scientific research, artistic work, and interdisciplinary science-art projects. Its offerings include the annual Apurahat (Grants) program, thematic initiatives such as Metsän puolella (For the Woods), the Saari Residence international residency program, the Apurahat+ support services for recipients, and the annual Vuoden Tiedekynä academic writing award. Funding is awarded across humanities, social sciences, environmental sciences, and all artistic fields, with a strong emphasis on multi-year commitments and academic/artistic freedom.

Product overview

Koneen Säätiö (Kone Foundation) is an independent foundation that provides grant funding for science, art, and interdisciplinary projects. The organization operates several interconnected programs: annual Grants (Apurahat) as the core funding mechanism, the Saari Residence international residency program, thematic funding initiatives like Metsän puolella focused on forests, the Vuoden Tiedekynä academic writing award, and the Apurahat+ support services for recipients. The organization also maintains an online grant service platform for applications. Funding is awarded across humanities, social sciences, environmental sciences, and all artistic fields.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Apurahat (Grants)
• Saaren kartanon residenssi (Saari Residence)
• Apurahat+ (Grants+)
• Metsän puolella (For the Woods)
• Vuoden Tiedekynä (Scientific Pen of the Year)
• Verkkopalvelu (Online Grant Service)

Quantifiable outcome

• In 2025, funded 389 projects with 52.1 million EUR; 5.1% application success rate
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Scholars at Risk NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022
• Turun yliopiston tutkijakollegium (University of Turku's Researcher College)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022
• Ukrainian Researchers SupportcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022
• Helsingin yliopiston tutkijakollegium (University of Helsinki's Researcher College)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Finnish Cultural Foundation: Finland's largest private cultural foundation, distributing roughly €40M annually to arts, sciences, and community projects. The most direct peer given shared mission, country, and target audience of researchers and artists.
• Svenska kulturfonden: Swedish-speaking Finnish cultural foundation funding arts, science, and language projects. Directly comparable as a Finland-based grantmaking foundation serving an overlapping population.
• Volkswagen Foundation (VolkswagenStiftung): German foundation funding science, humanities, and interdisciplinary projects internationally. Comparable in mission to support independent research and unconventional methodologies across science and culture.
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: Largest US foundation focused on arts and humanities with a multi-billion dollar endowment. Directly comparable in arts/humanities funding orientation and multi-year grant practice.

Broad incumbents

• Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation: Sweden's largest private research funder with multi-billion SEK annual grants to science. Comparable as a major Nordic philanthropic science foundation with both STEM and humanities focus.
• Carlsberg Foundation: Danish foundation distributing roughly DKK 1B annually to science, humanities, and cultural projects. Closely comparable in structure, sector mix, and Nordic context.
• Novo Nordisk Foundation: Denmark's largest foundation, distributing billions DKK annually with significant arts, humanities, and science funding alongside medical research. Comparable scale and sector breadth.
• Wellcome Trust: UK-based global charitable foundation supporting science and health research with a multi-billion GBP endowment. Comparable as a major independent science funder with residency/grant programmes.
• Open Society Foundations: International grantmaking network funding democracy, human rights, and independent research globally. Comparable thematic focus on democracy and cross-border researcher support.

Regional players

• Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research: Swedish research funding foundation supporting natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. Comparable as a Nordic research grantmaking organisation, though more STEM-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@koneensaatio
• Xx.com/koneensaatio
• Facebookfacebook.com/koneensaatio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Koneen Säätiö