Aalto Ventures Program

The custom course on entrepreneurship for Ukrainian refugees is now running

Aalto Ventures Program, the entrepreneurship education program of Aalto University, has launched a custom course on entrepreneurship for Ukrainian refugees. The ‘Fresh start UA’ course aims to empower people fleeing the war and help them rebuild their lives in Finland.
Title image for "Fresh UA" course. Sunflower field and blue sky. Tailored course on entrepreneurship in Finland for Ukrainian refugees

The goal of the course is to empower people fleeing the war in Ukraine to detect new opportunities and rebuild their life in Finland.

Attendees will learn skills that help them to get a job or start a company in Finland and plan their entrepreneurial activities. Topics of the course range from the basics of entrepreneurship and understanding the Finnish startup ecosystem to psychological safety and work-life balance.

Go to the course page

Course practicalities

This course is free of charge and designed for independent learning. The language of the course is Ukrainian. It teaches the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and is suitable for any Ukrainian who wants to consider starting their own company in Finland. The course provides the opportunity to learn:

  1. How to launch a business in Finland
  2. How to generate and validate ideas for the business
  3. What are the opportunities to launch a business in the digital economy in Finland
  4. How to receive support from various entrepreneurial organizations in Finland
  5. The Finnish business culture
  6. Practical methods for maintaining your mental health and the career-family balance
Daria-and-Yuri the creators and voices of the course, photo by Valeria Azovskaya

Behind the course

The course was developed by a team consisting of Ukrainian-born entrepreneurs Yuri Kozik and Daria Sazonova, teachers from Aalto Ventures Program, and an expert from Aalto Online Hybrid Lab.

Yuri and Daria are the founders of a Finnish technology startup Advicera Oy, which develops software for accelerators, incubators, and other innovation mentoring programs and is supported by several local and international investors, including Peter Vesterbacka.

When the war in Ukraine started, Yuri and Daria saw the need to help people who are fleeing the war to Finland to find opportunities here. Being experts in mentoring entrepreneurs, they came up with the idea to develop a course for Ukrainian refugees. AVP decided to help with the course production in March 2022.

Visit the course info page, enroll and start studying

The course is already running, with more than 80 participants. For any new students, there will be a welcome webinar in Zoom on 19/08/22 at 13:00 where you can find more information about the course, ask questions, and get to know the speakers.

Support and assistance

A group of students working on a presentation at Aalto Ventures Program

Aalto Ventures Program

The best way to predict the future is to build it. We teach students to build like an entrepreneur.

a photo of Aalto University BIZ main building by Mika Huisman

Aalto Online Learning - Online Hybrid Lab

Aalto Online Learning - Online Hybrid Hub design, test, and promote production models and best practices in the field of online learning.

  • Published:
  • Updated: