OY MERINOVA AB

Their core work

Merinova is a regional innovation and technology center based in Vaasa, Finland's energy technology capital. They act as an intermediary between research institutions, municipalities, and industry — facilitating co-creation processes, smart city pilots, and knowledge transfer particularly in the energy and cleantech sectors. Their work focuses on translating research into business applications through open innovation platforms, regional smart specialisation strategies, and practical experimentation with energy transition policies. They bring a strong regional development perspective, connecting local industry ecosystems with European innovation networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Merinova's early H2020 work (2017) was hands-on and technical — focused on deploying smart city solutions including renewable energy integration, energy storage, electric mobility, and citizen engagement platforms through IRIS. By 2019-2021, their focus shifted decisively toward the strategic and policy layer: open innovation methods, knowledge exchange frameworks, innovation policy experimentation, and the European Green Deal agenda. The trajectory shows a clear move from implementing specific energy and city technologies toward orchestrating broader innovation ecosystems and shaping transition policies.

Merinova is moving upstream from technology deployment to innovation governance and policy experimentation — expect future work at the intersection of regional development, Green Deal implementation, and responsible innovation frameworks.

How they like to work

Merinova operates exclusively as a consortium participant, never as coordinator, which is consistent with their role as a regional innovation intermediary rather than a research leader. Despite only three projects, they have worked with 85 unique partners across 17 countries, indicating participation in large-scale European consortia where they contribute regional expertise and local testbed access. This pattern suggests they are easy to integrate into large projects and bring practical, place-based implementation capacity rather than academic output.

With 85 consortium partners spanning 17 countries from just three projects, Merinova has built a remarkably wide European network relative to its size. Their connections span municipalities, universities, and industry players involved in smart cities and energy transition across the EU.

What sets them apart

Merinova's location in Vaasa — home to Finland's largest concentration of energy technology companies — gives them direct access to a dense industrial energy cluster that few other innovation intermediaries can match. They combine hands-on smart city implementation experience with growing expertise in innovation policy, making them valuable as a bridge between technical pilots and policy frameworks. For consortium builders, they offer a Finnish SME perspective with real industry connections in the Nordic energy sector, plus a proven track record in co-creation and citizen engagement processes.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IRIS
  Largest project by funding (EUR 139,738) and longest duration (2017-2023), involving integrated smart city solutions across energy, mobility, and citizen engagement — their most substantial technical engagement.
• RIPEET
  Most strategically significant: directly addresses European Green Deal implementation through responsible innovation policy experimentation, signaling Merinova's evolution toward policy influence.
• OpenInnoTrain
  MSCA-RISE project bridging academia and industry across multiple tech domains (cleantech, fintech, food tech, industry4.0) — demonstrates breadth beyond energy.