Takeoff Partner’s portfolio company Cuckoo Workout® has been getting offices moving in Finland with their break exercise app that aims to promote health at workplaces. Last year, we wrote about Cuckoo Workout’s Cuckoo School initiative that aims to get children moving through the fun app and games. The company now sees internationalization as their next step, without forgetting the Finnish markets where the app is already well-recognized and widely used.

Young Innovative Company Funding to boost growth

Cuckoo Workout® was selected to be part of Business Finland’s Young Innovative Company Funding program, which intends to boost the international growth of the selected, rapidly growing startups in Finland. The funding is for companies, such as Cuckoo Workout, with a scalable business model with the possibility for fast international growth.

Veera Lehmonen, the Managing Director of Cuckoo Workout, sees the funding as an opportunity for both internationalization and development of the company and the individuals behind it.

“We are at the stage where the product works well in Finland and in some countries internationally. Fast scaling of the product internationally requires a lot of financial resources, which the Young Innovative Company Funding program provides. The funding allows us to invest in exporting our services without risking our place in the Finnish markets. It also means we get to boost growth as a company, which supports individual development,” Lehmonen says.

Next steps for Cuckoo Workout®

At the moment, the company is focusing their growth ambitions on Scandinavia and starting with Swedish markets where sales personnel are currently being recruited. Also the team in Finland is growing this spring. In Estonia, a new cooperation with Activitas is expanding – the two companies share mutual values, and therefore, cooperation is natural. Activitas is an Estonian company focused on work ergonomy and they have added Cuckoo Workout® to their service and product offering, which aims to push companies towards more ergonomic ways of working.

“Activitas tried Cuckoo Workout and saw immediately the benefits in the prevention of  musculoskeletal disorders as well as in the teambuilding at a workplace,” Lehmonen says about the beginning of the cooperation with Activitas.

In addition to new partnerships and employees, Cuckoo Workout has the improvement and growth of their online marketing and sales as their ongoing strategy.

“We see potential to grow our online presence, and therefore, we are also focusing efforts into growth hacking and the development of our online sales,” Lehmonen says.

We are excited to work with Cuckoo Workout on their international growth as investors and advisors.