Bliq's Driverless Cars Cleared for Finnish Roads
Bliq Driverless vehicle in Helsinki, Finland - © Bliq
Berlin-based startup Bliq just got the green light to bring its driverless cars to Finland. According to the company's press release, Finnish authorities have approved Bliq Driverless for public road operations with immediate effect, after recognizing an approval the company already holds in Estonia.
The rollout will start carefully. During this first phase, a safety driver will still sit behind the wheel while Bliq gathers data and prepares its cars for Finland's demanding winter conditions. Testing around Helsinki is set to begin soon.
Bliq's approach to driverless mobility differs from the usual autonomous vehicle playbook. Instead of building purpose-made robotaxis from scratch, the company retrofits existing, software-defined cars with its own sensor and compute package, turning ordinary vehicles into fully driverless ones. The current setup pairs an AI-based Level 2 driving system with remote human supervision, so someone can step in if needed while the car handles the actual driving.
"This approval brings us closer to making driverless mobility part of everyday life across Europe," said Julian Glaab, CEO and co-founder of Bliq, in the statement. He added that people and businesses in Finland can look forward to more free time and a safer way to travel.
The Helsinki launch will be led by Erik Safonov, who already runs Bliq's operations across the Baltics from Tallinn. He called the move to Finland a natural next step, one that gives the company a fresh environment to build real world experience while expanding carefully.
For Berlin, it's another sign the city's tech scene is exporting real products, not just ideas, into new markets across Europe.
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