Finest Bay Area Development (FEBAY), the Finnish infrastructure developer behind the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Finest Tunnel, has partnered with Finna Family Office to bring long-term family-office capital into the project. Under the agreement, Finna plans to establish the regulated Finna Finest Infrastructure Fund, which will invest in FEBAY and finance the tunnel’s development. The planned 103-kilometre rail link, including around 78 kilometres beneath the Gulf of Finland, aims to connect Helsinki and Tallinn by 2035, subject to permitting, financing and other approvals. The tunnel is also envisioned as the first step in a wider infrastructure programme spanning a planned artificial island, a gigawatt-scale subsea data centre, small modular reactor (SMR) energy, offshore wind and additional power-grid capacity.
Founded by Peter Vesterbacka and Kustaa Valtonen, FEBAY will continue to own and lead the Finest Tunnel project, overseeing its technical development, permitting and eventual delivery. The company is developing the project as a privately led infrastructure initiative, with the proposed tunnel designed to create a direct rail connection between the Finnish and Estonian capitals.
Under the new partnership, Finna will establish the Finna Finest Infrastructure Fund, a regulated Luxembourg investment vehicle intended to give eligible family offices and other investors access to the project. Finna says the fund is being designed around the long investment horizons typically associated with family-office capital, while its backers include European family offices and asset managers as well as US investors.
The partnership is particularly focused on matching the long development timeline of major infrastructure with investors that are not necessarily working toward short-term exits.
“A tunnel under the sea is not a five-year investment. It is an asset that will serve generations, and that is exactly how family offices think,” said Christian Lindekilde, Founder of Finna. “They invest for the next generation, not the next quarter, and they understand what strategic infrastructure means for the regions their families live and work in. The Finna Finest Infrastructure Fund is being designed to give them a clear, regulated route into one of Northern Europe’s defining infrastructure projects. And as our family office platform opens, we want long-term investing of this kind to come within reach of many more families.”
A 103-kilometre rail connection
The Finest Tunnel is planned to stretch approximately 103 kilometres between Finland and Estonia, with around 78 kilometres running beneath the Gulf of Finland. The project envisages two large railway bores and four European standard-gauge tracks.
On the Finnish side, the planned route includes Tuusula, which would host a depot and cargo terminal, as well as Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Otaniemi and Keilaniemi in Espoo. It would then continue to a planned artificial island roughly 15 kilometres south of Helsinki before reaching Ülemiste in Tallinn, next to Tallinn Airport.
From Tallinn, the connection is intended to link onward with Rail Baltica, potentially creating a broader rail corridor connecting Finland with the Baltic states and the European rail network.
The proposed tunnel would serve both passenger and freight traffic. The scale of the potential market is underlined by the existing traffic between the two capitals: more than 7.5 million passengers travelled between Helsinki and Tallinn by sea in 2025, according to FEBAY.
If developed as planned, the tunnel would substantially shorten the current journey between the two cities, replacing the existing ferry crossing with a direct rail connection.
FEBAY currently targets the start of tunnel operations in 2035, although the timeline remains dependent on environmental assessments, planning and permitting, technical development, financing and government processes.
Tunnel at the centre of a wider infrastructure programme
FEBAY’s plans extend beyond the rail connection itself. The tunnel is positioned as the first component of a broader programme of infrastructure projects, with each associated project expected to be developed, permitted and financed separately.
One of these is a planned artificial island in the Gulf of Finland along the tunnel route. In addition to supporting the construction and technical operation of the tunnel, including ventilation and emergency access, the island is envisioned as a potential urban hub.
FEBAY also plans to develop a gigawatt-scale data centre beneath the seabed, integrated into the tunnel system. The company says the facility would use the geological protection provided by the tunnel environment and would be powered by the programme’s planned energy infrastructure.
That energy system would include small modular reactors (SMRs), which FEBAY describes as a source of dedicated low-carbon power for the data centre and wider programme, alongside a planned offshore wind farm.
Another component would be additional high-voltage grid capacity running through the tunnel. According to FEBAY, the infrastructure could create an additional connection between Nordic and Continental European power grids while placing transmission infrastructure deep beneath the seabed, where it would be less exposed to damage from ship anchors.
Kustaa Valtonen, co-founder of FEBAY, said the tunnel would remain the starting point for the programme.
“Helsinki and Tallinn are two capitals with a stretch of sea between them. The Finest Tunnel will make them one region,” said Kustaa Valtonen, co-founder of Finest Bay Area Development. “The tunnel comes first, and everything else builds on it, the island, a data centre secured deep beneath the seabed, the energy to run it, and a power connection that is far better protected than any cable on the seafloor. In Finna we have a partner that brings the patient, long-term investors a programme like this needs.”
Family offices as infrastructure investors
For Finna, the partnership represents an opportunity to direct family-office capital toward a long-term infrastructure project.
Finna Family Office was founded by Christian Lindekilde and is positioning itself as a family-office platform designed to bring investments, private funds, property, insurance, liabilities and long-term financial planning together for families.
Lindekilde previously held an executive position at UBS Global Family Office, where he worked with family offices representing more than $30 billion in wealth. He later raised more than $280 million for US technology companies.
The company says its planned family-office platform will seek to make the family-office investment model accessible to a broader range of families and individual investors. However, access to individual investments, including the Finest Infrastructure Fund, will remain subject to eligibility, suitability and applicable regulations.
The fund has not yet opened for subscriptions. Its launch and investments remain subject to final documentation, regulatory requirements, approvals and closing conditions.
A privately financed European infrastructure bet
The partnership comes as FEBAY seeks to advance one of Europe’s most ambitious proposed cross-border transport projects through private capital rather than relying solely on public funding.
Vesterbacka, who co-founded FEBAY, said family offices could provide the type of patient capital required for infrastructure projects with long development and operating horizons.
“Europe has never been short of big ideas. What it often lacks is capital willing to take the risk and stay with them long enough to get them built,” said Peter Vesterbacka, founder of FEBAY. “Europe’s family offices, together with partners around the world, can be that capital. Random Ventures, the investment company Kustaa Valtonen and I jointly own, has invested in Finna because we believe in what it is building. That investment reflects our commitment to this partnership and to delivering the Finest Tunnel.”
Vesterbacka and Valtonen also jointly own Random Ventures, an investment company that has invested in Finna. According to FEBAY, that investment reflects their commitment to the partnership and to the development of the Finest Tunnel.
For now, the immediate focus remains on developing and financing the tunnel itself. If the project progresses through its regulatory, technical and financing stages, the tunnel could eventually form the backbone of a much larger cross-border infrastructure system connecting transport, energy and digital infrastructure between Finland and Estonia.
Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/finest-bay-area-development-and-finna-partner/
