Solar Foods co-founder Pasi Vainikka appointed LUT industry professor

Pasi Vainikka, DSc (Tech.) and docent, has been appointed industry professor at LUT for a three-year term starting 1 September 2025. The position is part-time.

Vainikka is an LUT alumnus and is known as one of the founders of the Finnish success story Solar Foods.

“It’s great to be back at LUT. I’m convinced that universities of technology in particular will revive the Finnish economy. The incredible brain power that comes together in LUT's hallways and student associations – that synergy of technology and business – that’s where startups are born,” Vainikka says.

Vainikka points out that relatively young technology companies fuel the most profitable part of the global economy. He wants to do his share to keep the business and academic worlds moving forward and to spur the creation of future high-performing teams.

”If research is coherent, it’s a window into the future. A researcher can be an industry visionary, and Europe needs great visions and profitable business right now. That’s why impactful research is essential to the economy.”

“Technology entrepreneurship is one of the key goals of LUT's new strategy” 

Vainikka had a long, distinguished career at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. From VTT, he moved on to become a high-growth entrepreneur and established Solar Foods with his fellow researchers in 2017. Vainikka was the company's CEO for several years and turned it into a thriving international technology enterprise.

As a result, Solar Foods was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 2024.

“Solar Foods is a successful example of what long-standing research, collaboration between research institutes, and the commercialisation of research results can lead to,” says Olli Pyrhönen, dean of the LUT School of Energy Systems.

Pyrhönen anticipates that Vainikka's role will boost the commercialisation of research and innovations in areas such as P2X technologies. P2X is a technology where renewable electricity is turned into hydrogen, fuels, chemicals, or heat for storage and energy use.

“Pasi Vainikka provides the LUT community with new expertise in technology entrepreneurship and the commercialisation of innovations, which are focus areas of LUT's new strategy,” Pyrhönen sums up.

Solar Foods’ Solein is taking over the world

Solar Foods produces a protein called Solein® by using carbon dioxide and electricity.

The company has a plant in Vantaa and is planning new production locations for cities such as Lappeenranta. This would mean a billion-euro investment for the area.

Solar Foods’ first products entered the market in Singapore in 2023. The company is currently commercialising Solein for the US market. Meanwhile, the Finnish market is still waiting for sales authorisation from the EU.

Vainikka, who lives in Taipalsaari, is an LUT energy technology alumnus. Last year, he was selected as the first recipient of LUT’s Curious Alumni Award.