VILPE is conquering the world

For 2026, VILPE ​​has done something extraordinary for itself: the budget shows a deficit. This is a conscious choice, as the company has just invested more in the United States than ever before anywhere else.

“The domestic construction market is still in recession. Do we let it fade our company away or do we look for growth elsewhere?", asks CEO Tuomas Saikkonen. 

It feels a bit bad and makes your heart race, because people are safety-conscious, Saikkonen admits.

VILPE ​​is a construction company from Mustasaari. Its story began in 1974 with Eero Saikkonen's innovation of a plastic fastener for felt roofs. Now VILPE ​​makes solutions related to ventilation, structures, penetrations and fasteners. The latest product is the smart roof, VILPE ​​Sense, which is the first in the world to bring roof structure building automation to the world. Saikkonen thinks that the smart roof is the company's first global technology.

"Its roots go back to 2016, when we gave our R&D Director Veli-Pekka Lahti 100,000 euros for product development. An interesting technological breakthrough was found: monitoring roofs and extending their lifespan at a fraction of the cost of repairs."

Millions were eventually spent on the product development of the smart roof. VILPE ​​Sense was launched on the European market 3.5 years ago, even though engineers initially resisted – the smart roof was not yet perfect.

“It wasn’t, but we’re talking about software and hardware. It would have taken decades to develop something perfect. When we launched the product on the market, we learned from our mistakes in three years. Now the product is solid, smart and significantly reduces costs.”

The smart roof responds to the megatrends that are also moving the construction industry: data and digitalisation, sensor technology, and saving materials and energy. It ensures that repair needs can be responded to in real time, and not only when the damage is extensive and the need for repair is great.

The head start in technology lasts the next few years

VILPE ​​has so far invested around 21.5 million euros in future growth, since January 2020. The technological lead will last the next few years, but not forever. That is why the company had to go global now.

In October 2025, VILPE ​​announced that it would establish a subsidiary in Ohio, USA. The hope is that the US investment would lead to a larger, 15 million euro factory investment and a further 30 million euro turnover by the end of the decade. VILPE ​​is now investing 7 million in the USA in two years in purchased services and personnel costs.

“The sums are huge. We have invested twice as much as one would expect given our size. We are still an SME with a turnover of 30 million, the resources are not huge, and we have to choose our battles.”

CGI has mapped out 15 other global, potential markets for VILPE. One of them is Japan, the possibilities of which are currently being explored. If everything goes wrong, the threat is not bankruptcy, but the loss of future development.

Permission to make mistakes

Tuomas Saikkonen's story in the company founded by his father Eero Saikkonen began when he was still a child. As a child, he ran around VILPE's plastic machines and did his first paid jobs as a teenager. Saikkonen, who majored in marketing during his university studies, worked in VILPE's marketing. In 2015, he started as a sales manager, and then became CEO in 2020.

"It was an easy conversation on the sauna benches. An interesting time began in 2020, with the corona pandemic, the Russian war of aggression and the great collapse of the domestic construction market," says Tuomas Saikkonen.

Father and son are both business-oriented in different directions. The father knows technology, the son knows communications.

“You might think that business is the only thing we talk about, but that’s only a small part. My father has been through many recessions and has gained life experience and wisdom. It certainly hasn’t been easy to hand over your own business to someone else. I appreciate that I’ve always been able to make my own mistakes.”

One mistake, for example, was when VILPE ​​invested 100,000 euros in a global online store before it was really ready for the global market. Saikkonen thought that a lot of products would be purchased from the UK, but the only purchase there turned out to be a credit card fraud.

“We are all consumers”

As CEO, Tuomas Saikkonen has been able to use his marketing expertise. In 2021, the “warehouse workers” suggested that the company go to TikTok. Saikkonen himself uses TikTok and saw its potential. Previously, VILPE ​​had focussed on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, but the results were thin.

The goal was to reach international buyers and build a brand. The videos featured mostly VILPE ​​employees themselves, and the videos were made by them. For example, Kirill demonstrated how he learned Japanese by watching anime or how to fix any printer. Founder Eero laconically tells the camera, “Well, that’s it. The employees tell us what languages ​​they speak at work and at home.”

The channel’s popularity surprised everyone. Saikkonen says that TikTok has brought the company more than any other social media. On TikTok the company also showcases VILPE’s solutions and the conquest of the United States, and a little bit of Japan.

“We have gained new customers, new client meetings and hundreds of job applications through TikTok. We are all consumers, including B2B decision-makers.”

“What is interesting about TikTok is that there is no correlation between how long you use making a video and how many views it gets. Quick videos often do best.”

Saikkonen believes in multi-channel marketing. As CEO, he wants to set an example. He is featured on TikTok and spends half an hour every day on LinkedIn content.

“Of course, we also do the legwork. For example, we will be at three trade fairs in the United States in 2026.”

The Growth Collective thought me, that you have to go where talent is

Saikkonen has received new ideas from the Growth Collective, in his own words “good theses”. For example, he has been told that if you need strategic expertise, you cannot expect employees to come to Mustasaari. Attracting talent was one reason to open a new research and development logistics center in Vantaa. It was necessary to be able to tapi into the talent pool in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Lessons have also been learned about internationalisation. When Saikkonen told his peers in the Growth Collective that he would send one VILPE ​​employee to develop a new market, he was told to send three. With one employee you validate a friend, without truly developing the market.

Regarding leadership, Saikkonen received a tip to split the management team meetings in two. Before, VILPE ​​had one giant meeting, now there are separate meetings with a strategic and operational focus.

VILPE ​​has also received support from the Growth Group in clarifying its purpose, or meaning. It is: We extend the life cycle of buildings. And with that promise, we are now conquering the world.