What does SITRA mean in Research?

SITRA

Sitra (Finnish: Suomen itsenäisyyden juhlarahasto), the Finnish Innovation Fund, is an independent public foundation which operates directly under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament. Its endowment was valued at 771 million euros in 2017. Its duties are stated in legislation: the objective of the foundation is "to promote stable and balanced development in Finland, qualitative and quantitative economic growth and international competitiveness and cooperation", by means of supporting "projects that increase the efficiency of the economy, improve the level of education or research, or study future development scenarios". Sitra functions both as a think tank and as an investment company. Sitra was founded in 1967 as a part of the Bank of Finland, on the country's 50th anniversary. However, most of the value of its current endowment comes from a donation of Nokia stock from the Finnish Parliament in 1992.Sitra's operational independence has been further strengthened by its funding model. It is not answerable to the government in power and does not depend on the state budget; instead, its operations are funded with the profits of its endowment and the profits of its operations. According to law, the funds must be invested securely and in a profitable manner. The return from Sitra's endowment averages at approximately 30 million euros a year. Sitra does not spend the core endowment or receive any tax-generated government funding. While Sitra can be compared to Business Finland, their roles are different: Sitra invests in companies and startups to create new profitable business, while Business Finland is a part of the government through a ministry and funds research in companies or universities without an explicit profit motive.

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