Apply now for the Aalto Ventures Program online summer course

The course has four focus areas: understanding the culture and people, learning the methods and tools for creating sustainable experiences with a viable business model, using storytelling and pitching to make your business stand out and doing all this while taking care of one’s own wellbeing.

To create a good experience, one should understand the surrounding environment. Course participants will have a glance at the Aalto University Startup Ecosystem through virtual sessions with passionate individuals coming from some of the most innovative, sustainability-focused companies in the country.

A good experience is also good business. During the course, participants will form groups and get their hands dirty, delving deep into teamwork, entrepreneurship, design thinking, and business modeling in order to get from an idea into ready-for-pitch deliverables. Guided by industry professionals, mentors and AVP teachers, students will use an iterative process where they conduct user research of potential customers via various remote channels, working their way from the original idea to an experience that includes both digital and social dimensions – a viable, sustainable business concept.

No experience is good enough if no one knows about it. Great experiences are not only experienced, but also created together with others. The course will start by student teams coming up with venture ideas that they will work on. With the help of training provided by professional pitching coaches, groups will constantly share ideas about their ventures to the staff and other students, while also preparing for the final pitches to blow the socks off of potential investors and stakeholders. The course then culminates in a showcase, where the groups will present the concept of the ventures they have created to the international audience.

The best experiences are the ones created by people who are happy. Making something new is hard work, but working too hard often leads to everyone being worse off. The course takes a firm stand in preventing burnouts, which have become an increasingly common problem among students, especially during this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to working on their projects, students will also learn about time management, and focus on personal wellbeing and social interaction. By the end of the course, students will not only have created a new enjoyable experience but also gone through one in a sustainable way and together with new friends! Especially, through different exercises, students will be able to turn wellbeing-boost lessons into a life-long skill.

This year students come from around 10 nationalities are already on board and we are still open for application! AVP welcomes every individual with an interest in entrepreneurship to apply - whether you are a student, an innovation-driven human being, or you are already in the working life! More information and registration form at https://avp.aalto.fi/avp-course/avp-summer-school/.