Parental trust: the driving force behind Finest Future’s recognition at APEA 2025

At the Asia-Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA) 2025 ceremony on October 9 in Ho Chi Minh City, Finest Future was honoured with the Fast Enterprise Award for the second consecutive year.

This award, presented by Enterprise Asia, recognises organisations across the region that demonstrate rapid growth, resilience, and sustainable impact.

For Finest Future, it is not just a corporate milestone, it is a testament to the enduring trust and partnership of parents, students, and schools across Asia.

Tuomas Aleksi Tiilikainen, CEO of Finest Future, receiving the Fast Enterprise Award at APEA 2025

Founded in 2020 as a collaboration between educators and entrepreneurs from Finland and Vietnam, Finest Future was built upon a simple yet powerful philosophy: education for happiness.

The company envisions a world where students are not only academically capable but also emotionally fulfilled and socially responsible, values ​​deeply rooted in Finland's globally acclaimed education system.

Over just three years, Finest Future has evolved from a small pilot cohort of 15 students to a thriving community of over 1,000 students from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar, studying in nearly 100 partner high schools and vocational institutions in Finland.

Each student's journey is carefully designed and personally guided, ensuring that families are supported from their first consultation in Asia to the moment their children confidently step into Finnish classrooms.

This remarkable growth is a result of more than business ambition, it reflects a movement of trust, driven by the collective faith of parents who see in Finest Future a reliable and caring partner.

Trust: The cornerstone of international education

If students are the centre of education, then parents are the foundation that sustains it.

Finest Future understands that every decision to study abroad is both a dream and a leap of faith for families. The company therefore builds its operations on transparency, guidance, and community, three pillars that turn that leap into a confident step forward.

Through personal mentorship, regular engagement sessions, and partnerships with Finnish school leaders, Finest Future ensures that both parents and students feel safe, supported, and well-informed throughout their journey.

Each family receives guidance about curricula, living arrangements, costs, and post-graduation pathways.

The company's ecosystem even includes cultural transition workshops and Finnish-language training to help students adapt smoothly and thrive in their new environment.

The Finest Future Christmas Gala Night brought together a vibrant community, reflecting the strong spirit of connection and togetherness that defines Finest Future

“What matters most to us is ensuring that both parents and students feel safe and supported throughout their journey,” said Tuomas Aleksi Tiilikainen, CEO of Finest Future. “We are here to guide them every step of the way, to bring joy, learning opportunities, and growth, not only in Finland but across Europe.”

This approach has earned Finest Future wide recognition for redefining how education providers build trust with families in Asia.

It also explains why the company continues to maintain some of the region's highest levels of satisfaction and retention among both students and parents.

Recognition beyond borders

The Fast Enterprise Award at APEA 2025 acknowledges Finest Future's success in scaling responsibly and sustainably. Despite being a relatively young organisation, it has managed to balance expansion with impact, ensuring that rapid growth never compromises educational quality or student wellbeing.

In accepting the award, CEO Tiilikainen shared, “For our industry peers, this award demonstrates that educational innovation can grow quickly and sustainably, even from emerging markets like Vietnam.

And for our community of parents and students, it strengthens that they can place their trust in Finest Future as a reliable partner.”

This recognition also signals a wider shift in how the world perceives Vietnam's role in global education. Once seen primarily as a source of outbound students, Vietnam is now becoming a hub for educational collaboration and innovation, with Finest Future as one among those standing at the forefront of this evolution.

Finest Future's impact extends well beyond the classroom. Through key initiatives, the company is fostering academic, cultural, and personal growth among young learners across the region. The Finnish Education Expo 2025 connects Finnish principals directly with Asian parents and students, creating rare opportunities for authentic dialogue about learning, life, and career development in Finland.

The Finnish Champion competition celebrates language learning and cultural exchange, and encourages students to explore while building confidence and communication in Finnish.

The Finest Future Excellence High School Scholarship provides access to high-quality Finnish education for outstanding students, strengthening the organisation's belief in equitable opportunity.

Each of these initiatives embodies the company's mission to empower students with both knowledge and happiness to ensure that education is not only a path to success but also a journey of self-discovery.

As the company looks ahead, expansion remains a key focus. Finest Future is developing new partnerships in Estonia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, while deepening its integration with Finnish institutions through digital learning platforms and exchange programmes.

A notable innovation is its AINO Platform, a digital ecosystem that supports language learning, cultural preparation, and real-time communication between students, parents, and educators. This technological advancement exemplifies how Finest Future blends the warmth of personal mentorship with the scalability of modern tools.

For Finest Future, every achievement, whether measured by numbers, awards, or partnerships, ultimately comes back to one thing: people.

Behind every student's success is a family that dared to dream; behind every partnership is a shared belief that education can shape a better world.

“I believe that investing in education is the greatest gift a parent can give, a legacy of knowledge and happiness,” said Tiilikainen.

That belief continues to guide the company's decisions, ensuring that its growth remains grounded in empathy, integrity, and purpose.

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