Call for applications: Aalto Creatives pre-incubator programme starts in March 2025
The application period for the Aalto Creatives pre-incubator programme is open until 10.2.2025
Aalto Creative Demo Day: Inspiring Pitches and the Future of Creative Industry Incubation
The Aalto Digital Creatives program concluded its sixth and final semester with the Aalto Creative Demo Day on Marsio Stage. The event featured startup ideas developed by participants of the pre-incubator program. Moving forward, the program will continue as the Aalto Creatives pre-incubator in 2025 and will be accepting applications from all sectors of the creative industries
In its sixth semester this autumn, the Aalto Digital Creatives program concluded and is set to continue in 2025 under the new name Aalto Creatives. To mark this celebration of the rebranded program, Aalto Creative Demo Day showcased startup ideas that were developed in the 12-week incubation program.
At the Aalto Creative Demo Day on Marsio Stage last week, six teams from this autumn’s pre-incubator program and two teams from last spring’s program took the stage and received valuable feedback from a jury of creative industry experts.
First to take the stage was Olga Tereshkova from the Accentric.AI team. Olga, together with teammates Tanya Zenova and Alexey Vdonin, participated in the program this autumn to develop a platform that enables architects to automatically visualize their lighting concepts during the early stages of an architectural project.
Jun Yang introduced her non-profit startup, Path Pleasure, which aims to make walking routes more enjoyable while also advancing health, sustainability, and inclusivity for broader social impact. Jun’s startup idea stems from her background as a doctoral researcher at Aalto University, where she specializes in leveraging big data and machine learning to understand walking environments.
In this autumn's pre-incubator, 90 Day Finn Veronika Marsland developed Addable together with co-founder Chloe Straw. The Addable team aims to revolutionize the world of podcast advertising by offering a service where brands can connect with multiple podcasts to maximize their advertising potential. Veronika was introduced to the stage with, "She came for the saunas, stayed for the coffee, and now she's here to disrupt how podcasts monetize."
The Shimmering Wood team amazed the jury with their innovative product—a wood-based material that could substitute for the plastic-based shiny materials commonly used in fashion and other industries. The Shimmering Wood is developed as an interdisciplinary collaboration by doctoral researcher Noora Yau, material scientist Konrad Klockars, and fashion designer Anna Semi. Pitching on stage was Noora Yau, who studies the material experience of wood-based structural color at Aalto University.
Titus Pünder presented Sparks, a platform and marketplace for interactive art that aims to shape the future of creative industries by combining art and technology in innovative ways. The platform enables people to engage with art interactively, using photographs, music, touch, text, voice, video, data, and colors, among other methods. Titus is an artist and musician currently pursuing a doctoral degree in computer science at Aalto University.
Nina Sirén's startup idea Revie isa service that makes custom-made clothing more available and approachable through creating a more accessible solution for the use of pattern software and cutting. Through this service, Nina aims to raise appreciation for the work and materials that go into making clothes. Nina is a designer working on sustainability studies and digital product development.
Aalto Creative Demo Day featured two alumni pitches, both from the spring 2024 program. The first alumni to take the stage was Julio Orduña Sánchez from the Nite Labs team. Nite Labs has created a device and an operating system that enables musicians, such as DJs, to create visuals for their performances. The system is capable of real-time visual and sound interaction. Julio, with a background in architecture, blends design with sound to craft immersive experiences, bridging the gap between art and music to create multi-sensory environments.
The second alumni and final pitch at Aalto Creative Demo Day was from Mimiqit team's Zachary Burda. They have already published their application in the app store earlier this year. This previous application was directed at people learning how to dance by uploading their dance videos to the app and receiving feedback on their dance moves. The new application, coming next year, will operate as a platform connecting dance studios with their students. Students looking for particular dance classes will be able to find them via Mimiqit’s application, and dance studios will benefit from a platform managing their bookings and payments.
The jury of creative industry experts at Aalto Creative Demo Day had four members: Helene Auramo from BrainBites, Heikki Laaninen from Metropolia UAS, Marja-Liisa Niinikoski from the Finnish Fashion and Textile Association and Vesa Raudasoja from Business Helsinki. The Aalto Creative Demo Day presenter was Katriina Haikala, an artist and systemic team coach.
Aalto Creatives pre-incubator program’s call for applications is open from 16.12.2024-10.2.2025. The Aalto Creatives afterwork and info session event will take place on Wednesday 22.1.2025.
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Got an idea, but not sure how to build on it? Aalto Creatives is a free 12-week programme for creative professionals ready to turn their practice into a business that can genuinely scale. Grounded in Aalto University's entrepreneurial expertise and network, and surrounded by a community of peers who get it.
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