100STARTUPS

• future founders and current founders

• job seekers

• students

• Anyone exploring entrepreneurship

A Grid, Otakaari 5 A, 02150 Espoo - Aalto University Campus, Finland 

A Grid is a leading Nordic startup hub with offices, makerspaces, and a vibrant community just 15 minutes by metro from Helsinki city center. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

Check out the program for the main event, taking place at A Grid on October 21-22. Explore the booth area all days, featuring Business Espoo Advisors and ecosystem service providers ready to support your journey.

Get inspired, make connections, and turn ideas into action. Join 100STARTUPS.

*we are working on bringing you the best program possible, so changes might apply*

Kick off the event with big energy, bold ideas, and a look at what’s ahead.

Janne Laine, the VP of Innovation at Aalto University, received his doctorate in 1996 from the Helsinki University of Technology in Forest Product Technology. He has diverse leadership experience from holding various positions at Aalto University; Dean of School of Chemical Engineering, Head and Vice Head of Forest Products Technology and Professor of Forest Products Chemistry. He has also worked at two research institutes in Sweden. Laine holds a number of national and international positions of trust, he has built several research and innovation ecosystems and various corporate partnerships.

Mervi Katainen is the Chair of the Espoo City Council, leading the city’s strategic direction and championing collaboration across public, private, and academic partners. As opening speaker, she brings Espoo’s vision of innovation with impact, where startups, scaleups, and researchers co-create solutions that improve everyday life and drive sustainable growth.

Samuli Pehkonen is the CEO of Startup Foundation, the nonprofit powering Finland’s most iconic entrepreneurship platforms. Startup Foundation is leading the 100x100 initiative with a clear target: 100 Finnish startups each reaching €100M in annual revenue. Samuli’s keynote is a call to action, shifting Finland from talk to traction by building more ambitious, faster-growing tech companies.

Representatives from all parliamentary parties debate how Finland can accelerate research commercialization, create more deep-tech startups, and turn scientific breakthroughs into global impact.

Discover the next wave of startups as founders pitch live and demo their breakthroughs, separate registration for investors.

Bring your idea or your expertise, and leave with sharper insight, new connections and maybe your future team.

Do you have a business idea you want to test before building it? Or are you looking for a startup to join, where you can put your skills to work from the start? This workshop brings both groups into the same room. People with ideas get honest feedback and find people who can help build them. People with expertise find ideas worth building and teams worth joining.

We'll use the Epics® thinking and expression tools and the Epics® methods to keep the session high-energy, psychologically safe and fun. Rough, half-formed ideas are welcome, questions are encouraged, and every voice counts. That makes it easier to share openly, challenge ideas without challenging people, and connect beyond small talk.

Who should join

Idea holders: founders and future founders who want to test their idea in a supportive setting, and find the people who could help build it.

Future team members and experts: people looking for a startup to join, a team to work with or an early-stage idea to help shape.

What we'll do

Welcome and framing: A short introduction to the aim of the session and how we'll work together.

Speed dating: expertise and interest discovery: A playful, cocktail-style exercise using Epics®. You move around the room, show your expertise and what you want to build or be part of, and meet as many people as possible.

The science behind Epics and idea validation: A short intro on why the Epics® method works, based on what you just experienced, and how it creates the safety and openness that good idea testing needs.

Idea validation in small groups: In groups of about four, idea holders present their idea. The others ask curious questions, share what they know and help identify the riskiest and most promising points to test next.

Highlights with the room: Key insights, surprising challenges and promising matches from the groups.

Your next steps in validation: Practical guidance on how to keep testing your idea after the workshop and how to do that well.

What to bring: An idea you want to test, or the expertise you'd like to contribute. Your idea doesn't need to be finished, and you don't need a pitch deck.

Facilitated by the Epicmeets team. https://epicmeets.io 

Showcasing the support network powering founders across industries. Join us for rapid-fire ecosystem pitches followed by focused roundtables where you can discover the services, programs, and partners available in your sector of interest. 

What to expect

   - 5-minute lightning pitches from key ecosystem leaders across six industries

   - Roundtables/discussion groups per industry, hosted by the pitch leads

    - Practical guidance on programs, funding, facilities, and advisory resources

    - Networking with peers, supporters, and future collaborators

Industries represented:

Defence - Ossi Ritvos (Enter Espoo)

Quantum - Tomi Salo (Kvanttinova)

Green Line - Maria Hartikainen (Espoo)

AI - Hannele Mennala (FAIR EDIH / Aalto University)

Space -  Miika Kostamo (ESA Philab)

Health - Ida Koho (Health Incubator Helsinki)

Great deep tech companies need more than great technology. They need the right market opportunity and the right people around it. In this founder interview, we'll get practical about finding the right match: how commercial and technical founders connect, what each needs to bring to the table, and how to know if the fit is right.

We'll also talk about how to tap into universities to identify promising innovations and opportunities before there is a company or even a complete team, how to bridge the language gap between business and technology, and the courage and persistence it takes to build something from scratch.

Egzon Delija, CEO and commercial founder of Mantis Vision, in conversation with Inkeri Borgman, a community manager of the Espoo Deep Tech space at A Grid.

Sales is both easier and harder than most founders realise. During this 1 hour interactive workshop, you will learn by doing and get an overview to framewroks you can contineu with after the workshop.  

Mike is the Head Coach at Sampo Accelerator. He can often be found coaching early stage start-ups and entrepreneurs in the fundamentals of pitching ensuring that there are no bullet points on slides, microphones are used correctly, and that *every* team member can deliver an understandable short pitch. In his free time he is a co-driver with the Travelling Salesman project, curator of Startup Digest for Helsinki, beer drinker, frequent visitor of sauna and the holder of a British passport

Turn ideas into action. Meet the City of Espoo’s business advisors and get practical answers to your burning startup questions.

Turn ideas into action. Meet the City of Espoo’s business advisors and get practical answers to your burning startup questions.

Learn from leaders who’ve built and transformed.

Aape Pohjavirta is an inspirational public speaker and the Founder and President of Funzi, the mobile learning pioneer that empowers billions with motivating, useful learning to build a better tomorrow. A recognized global voice on how science, technology, and innovation can accelerate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Aape is known for energizing audiences with practical optimism, clear frameworks, and real-world stories that drive action.

Dr. Riikka Mäkikoskela works as Head of Aalto Centre for Radical Creativity at Aalto University, Finland, driving transdisciplinary collaboration and systemic change at the intersection of art, design, technology, and business. With a strong background as a contemporary artist and researcher, she holds a Doctor of Arts degree. Her research focuses on the creative process, and her research and art have been presented at both Finnish and international events, galleries, museums, conferences and journals. Her expertise lies in art-based research, creative and strategic leadership, and building cultures and environments that nurture radical innovations and future-oriented problem-solving.

Turn research into real-world impact and IP-ready opportunities.

Size your market, set an annual revenue target, and reverse‑engineer it into unit economics. Mix it with operating expenses and capital expenditure, and you've got yourself a mess of confusing terms, and still not a clue of what to do as a first-time CEO. If you're wondering what a CAP table is, if you've ever shrugged your shoulders over how much your company could be worth, or what amount you should raise... Come have a listen. We might have some answers.

This workshop aims to banish the bullshit and provide a clear framework with formulas for building a financial model for your business idea. Understand how much you need to raise, and figure out a benchmark valuation based on logical assumptions.

Great deep tech companies need more than great technology. They need the right market opportunity and the right people around it. In this founder interview, we'll get practical about finding the right match: how commercial and technical founders connect, what each needs to bring to the table, and how to know if the fit is right.

We'll also talk about how to tap into universities to identify promising innovations and opportunities before there is a company or even a complete team, how to bridge the language gap between business and technology, and the courage and persistence it takes to build something from scratch.

Egzon Delija, CEO and commercial founder of Mantis Vision, in conversation with Inkeri Borgman, a community manager of the Espoo Deep Tech space at A Grid.

Sales is both easier and harder than most founders realise. During this 1 hour interactive workshop, you will learn by doing and get an overview to framewroks you can contineu with after the workshop.  

Mike is the Head Coach at Sampo Accelerator. He can often be found coaching early stage start-ups and entrepreneurs in the fundamentals of pitching ensuring that there are no bullet points on slides, microphones are used correctly, and that *every* team member can deliver an understandable short pitch. In his free time he is a co-driver with the Travelling Salesman project, curator of Startup Digest for Helsinki, beer drinker, frequent visitor of sauna and the holder of a British passport

Turn ideas into action. Meet the City of Espoo’s business advisors and get practical answers to your burning startup questions.

Form teams that move fast and win together.

A concise finale to wrap up the 100STARTUPS event, celebrate the community, and channel ideas into next steps. Thank‑yous to speakers, partners, and volunteers, and a quick look at what’s next. All submitted, validated ideas will enter a lottery to win a SLUSH ticket. Finish with a group photo to close, then off to the after-party!

Wrap up with new friends and memorable conversations. Stay tuned for details.