Enterprise Ireland Nordics: A look back on 2025

Hannah Fraser is Director for the Nordic Region at Enterprise Ireland

It has been a landmark year for Irish business in the Nordics. Over the last 12 months, Irish exporters have been winning big all over the region, unlocking new opportunities and forging partnerships across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. It has been a pleasure to support them as they continue to deliver the very best of Irish innovation.

Recent years have seen incredible momentum towards the Nordics. Attracted by an ease of doing business, similar business culture and synergies across sustainability, innovation, and openness, the region has become a key export market for Irish businesses across many sectors. Whether in high tech construction, energy, engineering, tech & services, retail or life sciences, Irish companies have been making their mark here.

This momentum reached new heights in 2025. The announcement of Enterprise Ireland 2024 annual export figures saw a 24% increase in exports to the Nordics compared to the previous year. This made the region, for the second year running, the fastest growing export region for Enterprise Ireland supported companies. Total exports to the Nordics surpassed €2bn for the first time, with strong growth observed across all sectors. 

Behind each of these numbers is the hard work of Enterprise Ireland supported companies: new contracts, agreements, connections and partnerships, and it is a testament to them that the number of Irish companies doing business in the region has gone from strength to strength.

While there are so many examples of success we could point, some of key Irish wins across the region this year include:

• GagaMuller, the specialised project management consultancy opened an office in Helsinki in December.
• Strata, specialists in construction scheduling, project management and digital construction services are announcing the opening of an office in Sweden with a plan to hire over 20 engineers and construction professionals in the coming 2-3 years.
• Kirby Group reached the milestone of 700 employees in Sweden, with projects across Stackbo, Ersbo, Katrineholm, Västerås and Stockholm. The company opened an office in Gävle in 2021 and works with over 200 Swedish companies who provide services and supplies to Kirby sites.
• The Smooth Company, known for its viral haircare product Smooth Stick, today announced its official partnership with H&M Beauty in Sweden, marking the launch of its products in the Swedish market this September. It is the first Irish brand to debut within H&M Beauty in Sweden.
• The Revive Group continued their Nordic expansion with the official opening of their service centre in Greve, Denmark.
• Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter has become a standout success in Sweden since its launch in 2013, selling over 3 million units. Cocoa Brown just signed a 3-year agreement to supply Viking Line, the operator of cruises across Finland, Sweden, the Åland Islands, and Estonia, with Cocoa Brown Tan.

The Trade Mission to Sweden provided an opportunity to mark and celebrate this success, and to look to the future of Irish-Nordic partnerships. Featuring 50 Irish companies and led by Minister of State for Small Business & Retail Alan Dillon TD, we were joined by leaders from Swedish industry across the programme. The connections forged on that visit have already led to many new partnerships and we expect many more to come in the future. 

Other major initiatives featuring Irish companies this year included TechArena, the United Nations International Procurement Seminar, WindEurope, Aqua Nor, The National Ploughing Championships, Future Dara Sumit Helsinki and Slush. Over 150 Irish companies visited the region this year to attend events, and we were delighted to support each of these initiatives, representing the best of Irish innovation in the Nordics. Each event was a highlight, so we made a short video which you can find at the bottom of the page.

A huge thank you to all our friends and colleagues across Ireland and the Nordics who made this a year to remember, and of course to the fantastic Enterprise Ireland supported companies who are the reason we do what we do. 2026 is set to be another significant year for the region, and we look forward to getting started after the Christmas break.