EdTech Incubator Helsinki

EdTech Incubator Helsinki

The next EdTech Incubator Helsinki program is organized in 2024.

EdTech Incubator Helsinki is a free 20-week incubator program for the best educational and EdTech innovations. With the help of experienced business and education professionals, you can grow your idea into a valuable, scalable and international business concept.

You can find more information about the program and its application criteria below.

Grow your idea into a successful business

During the Incubator program your team will get a chance to collaborate closely with our EdTech community and showcase your idea in our premises at Helsinki city centre. The program includes team workshops, mentoring sprint assignments and keynote speeches – and strong network support during the journey. 

As part of our services, if deemed suitable, we also offer the possibility to co-create and test your solution together with teachers and learners. At the end of the program, all participating teams will have the chance to pitch their idea to leading professionals of educational innovations, investors and influencers. We will provide workspaces and facilities to the Incubator program attendees in Helsinki (Runeberginkatu 14-16).

After the incubator program we can help you to accelerate your business idea towards international markets. Through our network we will also enable connections into important stakeholders such as investors, who can mentor and guide you towards a next success story.


The EdTech Incubator Helsinki program:

Week 1: Bootcamp
Goals, orientation, the philosophy of agility and pitching.

Week 2: Defining the problem and the customer
Value creation based on identifying and empathising with the customer.

Weeks 3-4: Validation and fast experimentation
Validating the customer’s pain points with practical experiments.

Weeks 5-6: Concept and business plan development
Concept and business plan development based on fast experimentation and validation. 

Weeks 7-8: Pedagogical design
The learning experience of EdTech solutions.

Weeks 9-10: Financial management
Implementation of the business plan, budgeting and cash flow management.

Week 11: Mid-term feedback
Your 1-1 meetings with HEH advisors.

Weeks 12-13: Sales
Building a sales strategy, sales processes and tools.

Week 14-15: Marketing
Building marketing strategy, branding and marketing materials, digital marketing for startups.

Weeks 16-17: Pitching
Upgrading the pitch, building and performing the pitch deck.

Week 18: Team and network
Building up a winning team and utilising business support services in Finland. Global operations and cash flow management. 

Week 19: Program Final Week
Creation and overview of an action plan for the future. Reflection and goal monitoring for the future. Feedback session. Networking event and pitching for the big audience and investors. Celebration of the growth journey!

Requirements: teams, idea and participation

Apply with a team of at least two people and a well prepared business idea. If your team is located abroad, make sure you are ready to register your company and IPR in Helsinki.

Your team should also have motivation and some background work done. The business idea should meet at least one of the following requirements:

  • A new product or service that has novelty value in the education field
  • A business idea that is based on innovative technology
  • A clearly defined problem that your solution answers
  • A business plan with an implementation strategy
  • The motivation to turn your idea into a business and commitment to the 20-week program.

There will be plenty of activity and support available each week. Minimum participation for the incubator requires half a day of attendance each week and completing the sprint assignments related to each week’s topic. We hope that at least two members from your team can join the weekly programs. The weekly workshops are usually arranged on Monday afternoon.

Teams outside of Finland

In order for teams outside of Finland to participate in the incubator program, we expect you to register your company in Helsinki. The city of Helsinki offers soft-landing services and we recommend that you contact them even before you submit your application. In order for international teams to land in Helsinki, there are a few criteria they should meet;

  • 30 000€ existing funding (required for expenses related to setting up your company in Helsinki & living)
  • MVP of the solution
  • Market pull identified and need validated
  • A team of preferably at least 2 persons

Check out the soft-landing services of the City of Helsinki here and get your registering process going.

Applying 

The next program will be organized in 2024 and more information about the application period will be published later this year. You can apply to the program with an application form provided on this site during application period.

As part of the application we will require a Business Model Canvas of your idea, hence it might be a good idea to make one before starting to fill out the application form. You can read our tips on making a Business Model Canvas here.

We accept a maximum of 10 teams for each batch. If you don’t get in this time, you can pre-incubate your idea in a targeted manner in our pre-incubator and apply for the next batch. 

If you have any inquiries, please be in touch via e-mail to educationhub@hel.fi