Aaltoes took part in the Media Lab Christmas  Demo Day activities in mid-December. We were very impressed by all the initiative and great projects that were showcased during the event. No entrepreneurial spirit missing there, but great ideas need also great team members and some funding to turn into a business. Want proof? Here’s a story of one the Media Lab projects turned into a startup.

HeiMoi – engaging local activities at the neighborhood of your city

One of the Aaltoes catalyzed startups is the project formerly called Cityard, nowadays known as HeiMoi. Shanfan Huang, a TaiK  graduate, presented the original idea of Cityard in Media Lab Demo Day December 2008.

-  The whole project was incubated inside Media Lab and many Media Labbers  gave me great advices to conceptualize it, Shanfan tells.

HeiMoi is a location based web service that engages local activities in the neighborhoods of the city.

- Since last year Demo Day, I further developed the idea in Dynamic Visual Design seminar and also got support from many workshops arranged in Media Lab. After the Media Lab round I went to Aaltoes Pitch in March 2009, followed  by the first Aaltoes Talkoot in April. I also participated in many training and workshops organized by Aaltoes.

Shanfan has been one of our favourite stories to share as the support she gained from the Aaltoes community has been so tangible. With Tuli-funding  and  a partner found from Aaltoes Talkoot she could further develop the idea during last summer. Shanfan also demonstrates the determination needed from an aspiring entrepreneur: for the first pitching round she practiced in front of the webcam for 40+ times.  Future plans for HeiMoi?

- Now I have a partner, and will continue the product development towards a possibly “incorporated future”.