Here’s a quick recap on the Sunday activities, presented by your favourite reporter, Kristo Ovaska:

Artturi Tarjanne presenting some tips for Aaltoes startups

Timo Everi telling about marketing

Aaltoes Business Model Canvas workshop by Petri Vilén

Final pitches

Relé

StatusScan

Luenti

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”.

Here are the startups traveling with us in Silicon Valley during the week. All of them have great stories to share, so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact them.

Aalto Entrepreneurship Society
http://www.aaltoes.com

Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, more often called simply Aaltoes, strives to create an entrepreneurial eco-system in Aalto University.
Our philosophy is that success breeds success and activity. That is why our main goal is to create successful companies. We want to get the best students into Aalto University and we want them to want to become successful entrepreneurs. We aim at helping our students to find and create ideas, form teams, learn, create startups and successful companies.
Aaltoes is going to solve this problem by activating students, bringing together resources and helping teams kickstart their startups. We have a lot of great initiatives for startups in Finland, but what is needed is connecting them more and getting people from the outside, for example students, connected with the projects and make them happen. We’re always open to ideas on what kind of new events to organize, so don’t hesitate to contact us, you can join us and we’ll make it happen together!
Contact Kristo Ovaska, kristo.ovaska (at) gmail.com

ArcticStartup
http://www.arcticstartup.com/
ArcticStartup, founded in 2007, is the leading weblog reviewing and reporting on technology startups and growth entrepreneurship from the Nordic and Baltic countries.

We at ArcticStartup aim to encourage entrepreneurship and to help create a radically optimistic entrepreneurial culture here in the Nordics and Baltics by writing about the startups, the stories behind them and the events that influence them. Northern Europe is happening!
Contact Ville Vesterinen, ville@arcticstartup.com

MySites
http://www.mysites.com/
MySites is a place for you to save, manage and share your content online: your party photos, holiday videos, band’s tunes, school work, all in one place! We’re adding new sites and new features every week!
MySites can also bring more functionality to the websites you’re already using. Already have a website, a social network, a blog, a forum? Keep it! We’ll give you apps to help you publish your content there too.
Also, we’re making it possible to see and add your content from any device! So you can keep in touch with your friends’ content with your phone, or on tv using your console.
Contact Ramine Darabiha

Nodeta
http://www.flowdock.com/

Nodeta is a software consultancy that currently employs 12 experienced web developers and agile experts. Our focus is in our real-time team collaboration app, Flowdock.

Flowdock is now in its private alpha stage as some of the first companies are exploring its features and giving feedback. It will be launched to the public later this year.
Contact Mikael Roos, mikael (at) nodeta.fi

Powerkiss
http://www.powerkiss.com/

A few words for those of you who are just getting to know us! Powerkiss has developed an integrated wireless charging solution, which converts basic furniture into smart energy platforms. To juice up your gadgets, you only need to place them on the surface of the furniture, just like you would do anyway. Powerkiss is a marriage of high-tech and design. We deliver charging packages, which can be integrated into various furniture surfaces. The first products were launched with Martela, the Finnish designer and supplier of interior solutions, in April 2009. One never has enough friends – we are more than happy to cooperate with new, inspiring partners, just let us know if you are interested!
Contact Maija Itkonen, maija.itkonen@gmail.com

GrowVC

http://www.growvc.com/
Grow VC is Venture Capital 2.0, bringing the first truly transparent, international, community-based approach to early stage funding. Grow VC can help mobile and web 2.0 startup stars secure initial funding for their businesses ranging from $10,000 to 1m USD. Grow VC will not only connect startup entrepreneurs with ‘funders’ (investors) to help them discover their common interests, but also provide tools for the process and new transparent ways of doing things. Grow VC international headquarters is located in Hong Kong.
Contact Valto Loikkanen, valto (at) loikkanen.com

Widsen
http://www.widsen.fi/
Widsen is a young and goal driven company focused in providing sensing and communication solutions for a variety of industries and applications. Our core competence lies in combining NFC (Near Field Communications) technology with PLC (Power Line Communication), creating easily applicable and low-cost solutions. We are based in Helsinki, Finland.
Contact Markus Nuotto, markus.nuotto (at) gmail.com

YritysHelsinki
http://www.yrityshelsinki.fi/index.php
EnterpriseHelsinki is Helsinki regions joint service centre for prospective and active entrepreneurs. We are pleased to offer all the service needed to develop a business:
- Info on becoming an entrepreneur
- Management consultancy for new and early-stage entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneur training
- Business incubation services
- Business service for immigrants
- Setting up a business begins with a business plan
Contact Valto Loikkanen, valto (at) loikkanen.com

Futurice
http://www.futurice.com/
We are a provider of mobile and internet software services. We have attained the position of a preferred partner for the implementation of various projects within the fields of our expertise. We employ over 75 professionals. Our job titles include software developers and architects, QA-managers, Scrum Masters, user experience specialists, UI & concept designers as well as a wealth of other technical professionals. Futurice is owned by the management, Innofinance, company staff and private investors. We are based in Finland, in Helsinki and Tampere, but we work around the globe, in Europe, Americas and Asia. Don’t hesitate to contact us for any of your business or career requirements.
Contact Markku Taulamo, mark (at) futurice.com

Futuuns
http://www.futuuns.com/
Futuuns is a web service built around the audio production process. It’s a place where audio producers can collaborate and make money.

- We provide tools for unfamiliar parties to collaborate safely. Using our online collaboration platform minimizes the risk of audio misuse.
- We create new business opportunities for the producers. We give everyone a change to showcase their skills and make money.
- We guarantee monetary transactions. Transactions between parties are done without any risk of losing money.
- We take care of the copyright issues. An official contract is signed when an audio product changes its owner.

Futuuns will change the way business is done in audio production!

Contact Teemu Yli-Hollo, teemu (at) futuuns.com

Muxlim
http://muxlim.com/
Muxlim is the worlds largest Muslim lifestyle media company. Our vision is to connect the world’s Muslim communities to each other, and to the wider world, through shared online experiences. Tens of million of users visit the Muxlim Network every year to enhance their Muslim lifestyle and enjoy content including music, entertainment, fashion, food, sport, science, news, culture and more.
Muxlim.com is the company’s flagship social media service combining interactive video, audio, blogs, polls and images. Muxlim is focused on the Muslim lifestyle as part of a diverse, all-inclusive world which recognizes and welcomes people of all faiths and backgrounds who want to share, learn and have fun.
Contact Jussi Vaihia, jussiava (at) gmail.com

Qvik
http://www.qvik.fi/
Qvik in a nutshell:
- Finnish IT company; Experts in iPhone, Web and Portal Development
- Offers IT consulting & project development services
- Founded at the end of 2008
- Located in central Helsinki, “Aikatalo”
- Owned by employees
- Ready to help you
Wooden Labyrinth 3D from Elias Pietilä was selected as Best iPhone Student App (Apple Design Award 2009). More information about the Award can be found at: http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/ada/
Contact Elias Pietilä, elias.pietila (at) qvik.fi

Cityard
http://mlab.taik.fi/cityard/

Instead of putting cities on geographical maps, Cityard connects cities based on their semantic relevance. Mining into online buzz, Cityard abstracts word clouds, and some of the words are transformed into symbols, so to make a visual representation. Since all the data is sourced from the web and updates frequently, the user might find unexpected pattern of the world cities. Moreover, registered user can reshape the patterns by commenting, tagging and rebuilding the semantic pattern of cities. With words added to the city vocabulary, the semantic patterns constantly change, and keep refreshed.
Contact Shanfan Huang, chitchy(at) gmail.com Jussi Vaihia jussiava (at) gmail.com

University Merchandise
University Merchandise outsources merchandise marketing services for universities. To meet a lack of resources available at Finnish universities to put a sustained effort into merchandise, our company aims to provide a top-down solution from product development to marketing.
Contact Jens Sorensen jens.sorensen (at) student.hse.fi, Joonatan Lintala joonatan.lintala (at) student.hse.fi

Hipui
Hipui develops a new revolutionary patent pending user interface technology. We are building on pioneering research done at Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and commited to making world easier through natural usability. Our technology enables the use of mobile devices intuitively in many new usage scenarios, such as walking, driving, and sports. Our multimodal user interface enables eyes-free usage and supports even the most complex menu structures.
Contact hipui (at) hipui.com

ArcticStartup
http://www.arcticstartup.com/
ArcticStartup, founded in 2007, is the leading weblog reviewing and reporting on technology startups and growth entrepreneurship from the Nordic and Baltic countries.

We at ArcticStartup aim to encourage entrepreneurship and to help create a radically optimistic entrepreneurial culture here in the Nordics and Baltics by writing about the startups, the stories behind them and the events that influence them. Northern Europe is happening!
Contact Ville Vesterinen, ville@arcticstartup.com Karri Saarinen karri@arcticstartup.com

Language Café
We are a group of three students from Finland with an awarded business idea considering social design and innovations. Our concept aims at social innovation providing an active role to seniors in society and better integration chances to foreign citizens.
Contac Stefania Passera, passera.stefania (at) gmail.com, Maria Ullner maria.ullner(at)gmail.com, Reetta Maila, reetta.maila (at) gmail.com

Virtua.fi
Virtua.fi is developing the next generation’s eLearning platform for different education contents. The first product was a prep course concept for people who are applying for universities in Finland.
Contact Perttu Ojansuu, perttu.ojansuu (at) virtua.fi

The first Startup Talkoot has been successfully brought to a finish. We had a great time, thanks to all the participants, and it definitely taught us a lot about the types of events that we should organize. The biggest takeaways from the Talkoot was probably the contacts we were able to provide for the Startups, and probably the advice the successful entrepreneurs and experts were able to provide them with during the work on the weekend.
I now Arctic Alarms (www.arcticalarms.fi) continued their work until about 1 o’clock in the morning on Monday. I guess that’s the kind of drive you need to have when you’re trying to change the dynamics of a business where the products haven’t changed for a long time. You need to make the attitudes change and you it takes perseverance
.
The kick-off for the first Startup Talkoot was held on friday. We had a great lecture by Saku Tuominen, Chief Creative officer of Zodiak. Zodiak is the third biggest television production company in the world. The main question of the lecture was “Where do ideas come from?”. I would not be exaggerating to say that everyone that participated in the lecture really got a lot out of it. It was not revolutionary, but I guess it’s always reassuring to hear that you don’t always have to follow the career paths of corporate giants. If you want to be creative, better have creative lifestyle. What was interesting was that Saku emphasized the importance of time management in being creative. You need to have “time to think”. I’ve always been sceptical about the value of working 16 hours a day. Taneli Tikka wrote about this issue a couple of days ago too! (Taneli’s blog)

Two things I want to remember from Saku’s lecture:

1. Emphasis on the problem to solve and the creative implementation. It’s not only the solution (idea) that’s creative, also the implementation and figuring out the actual problem.
2. Rule #6: Never take yourself too seriously. (And there are no other rules. It’s just rule #6)

On Saturday we had around 50 people present during the day. The day started by presentations by the startups:

1. Cityard ( Shanfan’s blog )
2. SMile
3. Arctic Alarm ( Arctic Alarm’s page )
4. Illtags ( the Illtags blog )

Sachin Gaur Presenting his Idea - SMile - Mobile Social Gaming

After the presentations we got the work started. Experts, entrepreneurs and students all joined the startups in their rooms and started discussing the challenges the startups were facing. Contacts were made and all the startups got some great ideas to move forward with. I was really happy to see that issues were raised that gave the startups an extra spark to start working.

We had a very interesting lecture by Moaffak Ahmed from Veturi Venture Accelerator (they don’t have a website. Very chic.). Moaffak told the story of Trema, and how they were able to grow a business without Venture Capital by targeting a specific problem and creating a great product by working very close to their customer. Actually, they had one customer for which they created the product very cheap, but keeping the rights to sell it forward. A great lecture again by Moaffak. Thank you!

The key point I remember from Moaffak’s lecture:

1. Starting and running a startup is not like moving from point A to point B along the path set in your Business Plan. You have to keep your eye on the goal, but still make adjustments to make it fly. Think of sailing.

On Saturday we also had a presentation by Timo Vuorensola, one of the makers of the Star Wreck movie. They’re now working on wreckamovie, check it out! Gives new perspectives on how to use crowdsourcing.

On Sunday there were a lot less people, and the working style was different. Some of the companies also got into some real tangible work by planning the architecture of their applications… That’s great! TULI and Vera Ventures gave us interesting lectures on their financing options, and ee also got to meet some amazing caes from the Aalto University which have been funded by the TULI program. One could make you taller (although I guess the idea was medical use…) by lengthening your bones. The technology was based on a nail with smart material that could be inserted into the bone and made longer by the effect of magnetics, hence forcing your bone to expand and create new bone tissue. The second technology was a very impressive way to use a mobile. The technology is based on non-visual control of devices. In essence, the technology creates a 3D virtual sound world around you. By moving your hand, or by touching a touch-screen on your phone, you can hear the menus and options around you, then by tilting forward or pressing, you choose the menu. So everything happens without looking at the screen. The demo was very impressive. For example, the presenter (I’ll get the name and the link to their pages) had an iPhone in his hand and by moving it could choose play, next, last, pause etc. For all the options you could hear a sound that guided you… And the coolest thing was definitely “Shake to cancel” =)

AES really got a lot out of this event. We were also working on AES the whole weekend and getting feedback. We’ve been working on our concepts all the time, and I think it’s starting to pay off that we’re keeping ourselves open for different options in terms of events and not always going for the most obvious choices. We want to find the most efficient ways to create more opportunities for Aalto students and researchers to found and join startups. It all starts with problems, technologies and first and foremost, the people.

There was also an article about us in TIVI

Riku Seppälä