Nanocomp Ltd. Becomes the Flagship Company of a New High-Tech Business Park in Joensuu

PRESS RELEASE 15 December 2025

The availability of expertise, proximity to the university, and strong collaboration opportunities with stakeholders convinced Nanocomp to invest in and establish its production facilities at the new Photonics Manufacturing Hub in Joensuu.

Photonics Manufacturing Hub – a cluster of photonics companies – will rise within the GreenPark business park. The flagship for the project is Nanocomp, a company that started in Joensuu and has since grown internationally. Nanocomp will be the first photonics company to establish production facilities in the area.

Photonics technologies, based on the science of light, are used for example in solar panels, smartphone displays, and medical devices.

In addition to Nanocomp’s new production facilities, plans for the area include a modular Photonics Manufacturing Center, where companies can engage in experimentation, production, and innovation activities. Nanocomp was acquired by Taiwanese company Radiant Opto-Electronics in 2023.

“Green Park project further demonstrates Radiant Group’s commitment in investing Europe photonics deep-tech. The state-of-the-art facility will be the place where the world meets Nanocomp and the Finnish photonics community, bridging advanced engineering and commercialized mass-production. Appreciated the support from city of Joensuu, Radiant Group is looking forward for the long-term collaboration,” says Justin Wang, Chairman and President of Radiant Opto-Electronics.

Nanocomp’s CEO Veli-Pekka Leppänen is enthusiastic about the project.

“Photonics has been selected as one of Joensuu’s key strategic areas. We are one of the pioneers in the field, but we look at things long term and more broadly than just from Nanocomp’s perspective because we want to remain strong also in the future,” Leppänen says.

Expertise as Joensuu’s Attraction Factor

Joensuu is Finland’s leading educator in photonics, producing professionals for the industry from vocational level to PhD. The University of Eastern Finland offers the country’s only master’s programme in photonics engineering, and the research conducted at its photonics research center in micro- and nanophotonics and hyperspectral imaging is world-class.

For an international export company, the concentration of expertise and research and development activities is essential.

“The reason we are still here is the expertise, and Joensuu can provide it. Close research collaboration is often the starting point for business,” says Leppänen.

Nanocomp knows this well. The company originated in 1997 as a photonics research spin-off from the then-University of Joensuu, when an electron beam lithography tool was acquired for manufacturing components.

“Without photonics research, there would be no Nanocomp,” Leppänen says.

Today, the region is home to 15 companies in the sector, employing a total of 300 experts. According to Leppänen, the University of Eastern Finland’s proximity is crucial for the company.

A Kick-Start for Growth Plans

Business Joensuu’s CEO Tomi Haring is proud of the company he has followed since its founding.

“I want to congratulate Nanocomp on this bold step and its determined work as a leading photonics manufacturer in Joensuu,” Haring says.

He describes the company’s growth story as remarkable.

“Nanocomp’s recent growth leaps demonstrate that long-term research and product development for international markets also generate new jobs in the Joensuu region,” Haring says.

By 2035, Joensuu aims to attract significant investments and new jobs, while building RDI infrastructure and networks among various actors. Haring sees Nanocomp’s decision to locate in the photonics hub as an inspiring starting point for these plans.

“I believe we will see more news like this in the coming years,” he says.

Competitiveness Through New Technology

Nanocomp manufactures photonics components, including microstructures used in displays of portable devices. Globally, photonics is growing rapidly, and most companies in the sector engage in export activities. This is also true for Nanocomp, which supplies components to integrators in Asia.

Using its roll-to-roll method, the company replicates components onto thin plastic films, printing structures with ink. Mass production lowers unit costs for high value-added products, keeping the business competitive.

“The technology is efficient compared to competing methods such as injection molding, which has enabled us to operate in Europe,” Veli-Pekka Leppänen explains.

According to him, access to shared university equipment at the Photonics Manufacturing Center is a significant advantage, especially for start-ups for whom investing in manufacturing technology is often expensive.

Boosted by Business Joensuu

Pauliina Pikkujämsä, Director of Services at Business Joensuu, considers Nanocomp an excellent flagship for the Photonics Manufacturing Hub.

“The company serves as an example and trailblazer for other photonics companies in the region. As an economic development company, we want to support Nanocomp’s growth and offer our services and networks to support its success,” Pikkujämsä says.

According to Veli-Pekka Leppänen, Business Joensuu has been a unifying force behind the factory project and has supported the overall project management. A land reservation agreement with the city has now been made, and planning is progressing well.

“The freedom to focus on our core operations instead of acting as developers ourselves is a major advantage,” Leppänen says.

More Business Clusters for GreenPark

GreenPark is home to a major John Deere Forestry factory that manufactures forest machines, along with its world-class support functions. Now a similar cluster is being built in the area for the photonics sector as well. Discussions are underway with several companies and partners about opportunities in the area, Pikkujämsä says.

“The added value for us comes from how well we can interact with educational institutions and other companies. That has been important in our decision-making,” Leppänen says.

For the Photonics Manufacturing Hub, Veli-Pekka Leppänen hopes to attract a broad range of expertise—from research to industrial mass production.

“In a community where everyone is close to each other, the conditions for success are the best,” he concludes.

Joensuu is one of Finland’s 16 InnoCities, implementing development projects in areas such as the green transition, digitalization, and new technologies. InnoCity Joensuu’s initiatives have focused particularly on developing RDI ecosystems in photonics and forest bio-circular economy.

Learn more about Photonics Joensuu

Contact:

Veli-Pekka Leppänen

CEO, Nanocomp Ltd

veli-pekka.leppanen@nanocomp.fi

tel. +358 40 012 7680

Leena Lehikoinen

Development Manager, Photonics Manufacturing Hub, Photonics Investments

leena.lehikoinen@businessjoensuu.fi

+358 50 350 3415