References
The Butterfly Brick is a patented support piece for the ice hockey goalie’s skate, which makes the butterfly save position more balanced and ergonomic. Our vision is to help goalkeepers prevent hip injuries, which are becoming increasingly common.
I got a lot of help in developing the business idea from the Draft program, which helped us finance the testing phase of prototypes and pilot research on the benefits of supporting blocks.
Business Center has also offered sparring in financial and development matters, pitching coaching, and lots of good contacts. Business Center has been a very valuable support during the initial stages of the company.
Kimmo Rautiainen, CEO
Business Center Pohjois-Savo was involved in creating the first social entrepreneurship accelerator pilot in Pohjois-Savo and all over Finland in cooperation with the The Centre of Expertise. The pilot was implemented online from February 8, 2023 to March 8, 2023.
“Ultimately, the success of the accelerator is about people. What kind of atmosphere, the spirit of doing things, the culture of trust and frankness they create together.
The role of the facilitator is of course important and this is where the team at Business Center Pohjois-Savo knows their stuff. They inspire and challenge with their relaxed, humane and expert approach.”
Tom Tarvainen, ohjelmajohtaja, Arvoliitto
Iispro Oy is a startup company founded in April 2022 that makes and develops applications and sells expert services.
“We received invaluable help in business development and sparring in the development financing, measures and schedule. From the discussions we got new perspectives that we might not have thought of ourselves. The advice we received was patient and professional. We got answers to the questions we asked quickly and it was easy to agree on joint schedules.”
CEO Mari Pirkkala, Iispro Oy
Tmi Elina Partanen trains social and healthcare service providers about equality and especially about meeting sexual and gender minorities and promoting their health.
Business Center Pohjois-Savo’s support was critical to concretizing the vision of academic entrepreneurship.
Without the sparring of the Business Center’s experts, many of the ideas would not have been implemented. Our team also received start-up capital from the entrepreneurship program to develop operations. With the help of the support, the idea became clearer and our team managed to start academic entrepreneurship in a discipline where it is usually considered really exceptional.
Elina Partanen, entrepreneur
Betomo develops methods based on electronic imaging for monitoring the drying of concrete at construction sites.
Our research group has investigated the imaging of moisture in concrete using electronic imaging. Thus, the business idea is the commercialization of my research topic.
The most important gift I received from the Business Center was the enthusiasm to actually implement the business idea through the sparring sessions and discussions. With Tomi’s guidance, I also got my pitch in such good shape that I won the Tahko Ski Lift Pitch student series with it, and I came second in the *ship startup festival’s pitch competition.
Petri Kuusela, CEO/Founder
Betomo
We got to participate in the LEAP project in the spring of 2022. Perhaps the best parts of it was that we got to shake things up and learned to properly question the right things.
Harri Apell, CEO
Farmikko Oy develops, manufactures and sells accessories to meet the needs of customers repairing energy and fiber wood.
“We received help in the preparation of the development project, which we had already started ourselves. We had identified clear development needs, but together we were able to better clarify the core issues in the required application format. During the project, we also received important support in reporting and change applications.”
Mikko Junttila, CEO
We got a really good business plan, which became a tool for the management team, and it is included in our daily work.
Joni Kapanen, CEO
“We have received a lot of help in the different stages of our company’s development from Business Center’s sparring sessions. It has been important for us to be able to brainstorm new business ideas together with competent experts. From Business Center, we have received confirmation, encouragement and suitable challenges to develop operations. In addition, it is inspiring to get to know the Business Center’s wide and versatile network and get involved with a low threshold.”
The mission of Nanoscale Oy is to develop smart ECO boards for humidity control with advanced nanotechnology. The ECO boards have the unique features of automatic control of humidity, no electricity consumption, maintenance free, formaldehyde free, zero carbon emission, a long lifetime (>30 years), and mildew-proof.
We attended entrepreneurship training of Bootcamp and participated Draft Program. With the 4000 € financial support, we have successfully developed the prototypes of ECO boards and registered the company of Nanoscale Oy.
The Business Center provides very helpful entrepreneurial services. The specialists in the Center actively help start-ups to establish networks and connect various resources for business development.
Wujun Xu, CEO and Co-Founder
Marginum’s technology promotes the effectiveness of cancer surgeons with monitoring techniques that detect tissue fluorescence. Our vision is to create a leading company producing fluorescence spectrum analysis solutions in surgery.
We participated in the Draft program, from which our team won €4,000 to promote our business. The company was founded only after the Draft program.
Business Center’s advice on starting a business was invaluable. In addition, the tips received regarding suitable funding agencies were relevant. The Business Centers contact networks have also been helpful in identifying various networking events. We are very satisfied with our company.
Samu Lehtonen, CEO & Co-Founder
NOETON is developing a solution to reduce particle emissions from small wood burning. Our vision is to make combustion more environmentally friendly and thus help in the fight against climate change.
I had an idea and a prototype of a device that had been developed at the University of Eastern Finland as part of my dissertation research. My co-founder and I had decided to start working on the idea as a company and our first step was to participate in the Draft program.
From the Draft programs, we received initial capital to establish a company and financial help, e.g. to improve the company’s visual appearance. In addition, we got sparring, good contacts in the local business support network and, of course, valuable experience in pitching.
Heikki Suhonen, CEO
