PORT_2026 brings Aalto students together to tackle culture, media, and climate challenges
Launched in 2025 by the Entrepreneurship Unit (ENTU) at Aalto University School of Business, PORT_ brings students together to explore ideas, collaborate across disciplines, and transform early concepts into concrete solutions. Over the weekend, participants worked through the full process of shaping and validating ideas, supported by mentors, workshops, and members of the wider Aalto entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The event opened with welcoming words from Mårten Mickos (Executive in Residence, Aalto Founder School), who encouraged participants to take the challenge seriously while also enjoying the process of experimentation and learning. This year’s edition was hosted by Katerina Tchilinguirov, who returned to PORT_ after winning one of the tracks in 2025. Now standing on the other side of the stage as host, she guided students through the weekend while reflecting on how the experience had changed from being a participant to helping run the event.
Welcome remarks were also delivered by Apurva Ganoo (Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Aalto University) as one of the main organisers behind the initiative. As he noted during the opening, PORT_ remains a relatively new addition to Aalto’s entrepreneurship landscape, with the 2026 edition marking only the second time the innovation challenge has been organised. Even so, the atmosphere throughout the weekend made clear that the concept is already resonating strongly with students, filling the Viima space with energy, ideas, and a friendly yet competitive spirit.
Mentors and workshops support idea development
The programme combined mentoring sessions and hands-on workshops designed to help teams stress-test their ideas and prepare for the final pitching session. Janita Suojanen (COO at Kauas Creative) led a workshop on user understanding and pivoting, while Julius Thimm (former CPO at Slush) guided participants through prototyping and vibecoding. Throughout the weekend, mentors from across the startup ecosystem provided hands-on feedback on problem validation, business models, storytelling, and execution.
The final day began with a pitching workshop led by Mike Bradshaw (Head Coach at Sampo Accelerator), who shared practical advice on how to communicate ideas clearly and respond effectively to jury questions. Later in the day, Monika Liikamaa (Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce) returned to PORT_ for the second year as both keynote speaker and jury member.
In her keynote, Liikamaa reminded students that founders often fall in love with their ideas, but that the real test of entrepreneurship is whether someone is willing to pay for the solution. Without paying customers, she emphasised, an idea remains a project rather than a business. Her message encouraged participants to focus on validation, real users, and building something that solves a genuine problem.
Winning teams and their innovations
During the final pitching session, each team had four minutes to present their idea followed by four minutes of questions from the jury, which included Monika Liikamaa (Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce), Hanna Nyholm (Board Member at FiBAN), Maija Renko (Professor of Entrepreneurship at Aalto University), and Risto Ilmoniemi (Professor Emeritus at Aalto University). Student ideas were evaluated based on technical feasibility, market potential and scalability, team dynamics and competences, and risk assessment.
Across both tracks, the jury saw a wide range of ideas, from platforms addressing misinformation, local community building, and media transparency to solutions focused on climate resilience, flood response, circular fashion, and sustainable urban data systems. The jury noted the strong level of ambition among the teams and praised the students for their creativity, technical skills, and ability to develop convincing concepts within a very limited timeframe.
Next Generation of Culture and Media track winner: Team Kowi
The winner of the undergraduate track was Team Kowi, consisting of Lauri Torvinen and Sreekrishna Praveen. Their concept proposed a location-based social media platform designed to help people connect with others in their immediate physical environment, responding to growing dissatisfaction with globalised social media platforms.
The team will now represent Aalto University at the Global Student Startup Competition in Seoul, South Korea, where they will present their idea alongside student teams from leading universities around the world.
Reflecting on the experience, Lauri Torvinen described the challenge as intense but rewarding: ‘PORT_2026 was chaotic for us, but it showed us the entire process of validating a problem and building a solution in just two days. We managed to condense weeks of work into a single weekend.’
Equitable and Fair Climate Action track winner: Team Nexos
The winner of the graduate track was Team Nexos, made up of Kelly Jackson, Ishika Ishika, Liz Tulio, Yutong Wei, and Georgiana Carrington. Their solution focused on improving emergency response during floods by enabling affected individuals to signal their status through a simple digital platform, allowing rescue teams to prioritise assistance more effectively.
As winners of the track, Team Nexos will represent Aalto University at the INNOVA Europe Annual Summit in Espoo and later attend the European Innovation Academy in Porto, Portugal.
‘The PORT_2026 Innovation Challenge pushed us to turn an idea into something real. We learned how important validation, teamwork and resilience are in solving climate challenges, and winning encourages us to keep developing Nexos and testing it with real users,’ said Kelly Jackson, reflecting on how quickly ideas can evolve when teams collaborate under pressure.
Community vote winner: Team Nexos
In addition to the track winners, the jury selected the top two teams from each track, which moved forward to a peer voting round involving the event participants. The vote proved exceptionally close, with only one vote separating first and second place. In the end, Team Nexos also secured the overall prize of 2,000 EUR, making them the standout team of this year’s edition.
A growing platform for student innovation
Beyond the prizes and international opportunities, PORT_2026 demonstrated its value as a platform for experimentation, collaboration, and entrepreneurial learning. Students had the opportunity to work with peers from different disciplines, test ideas quickly, and receive feedback from experienced professionals across the startup ecosystem.
The aim of PORT_ is not simply to select winners, but to help promising ideas continue developing after the event with the support of Aalto’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and the wider startup community. In that sense, the most meaningful outcomes of the weekend may emerge in the months ahead as teams continue refining their concepts and exploring where their ideas might lead.
PORT_2026 was organised by the Entrepreneurship Unit (ENTU) at Aalto University School of Business, in collaboration with Aalto Design Factory, Aaltoes, Junction, DASH, and Ignite. The event was supported by Baba Foods Oy, Salama Brewing Co., Unlimited Foods Oy, and Foodin Oy, whose food and beverage contributions helped keep participants energised throughout the weekend.
A special thanks also goes to ecosystem partners including Aalto Design Factory, Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, Aalto Founder School, Aalto Innovation Services, Aalto Space Association, Aalto Startup Center, Baby Vc, DASH, ENTU, Finnish Startup Community, Ignite, Junction, Maria 01, MIMIR Fellows, Silta Thinking Rocks, Suomen Ekonomit, and Wednesday, whose continued support helps strengthen the environment in which student entrepreneurship can thrive.
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