Members: Sini Valmari, Tejas Kotha, SM Amdae, Tommi Elo
Mentors: Jouni Lounasmaa, Tuukka Ylälahti
Did you know that approximately 25% of global emissions come from the food system? The aim of Food Futures is to reward making sustainable choices in restaurants by implementing a loyalty aspect to dining out. An app provides consumers credits for vegan or vegetarian meal choices and the gained credits can be used for rewards or charity. Moreover, restaurants and cities get data about sustainable consumer behaviour. The platform provides motivational sustainability lifestyle support and promotes the 12th target of responsible consumption and production in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Members: Roman Yangarber, Anisia Katinskaia, Anh-Duc Vu, Jue Hou, Silja Huttunen
Mentors: Mikael Malmivaara, Jori Karvonen
The team is developing a new AI-based approach to support language learning, with particular focus on Finnish and several other languages.
Members: Tareque Mahmud, Lidiia Salo
Mentors: Sara Mattila, Jarno Laine
Helsinki Creators makes finding your way in the creative job market easier by offering a platform where you can get professional reviews of your portfolio or CV, find a mentor to help you, connect with real hiring companies, find networking events, create projects to improve your portfolio, and get coaching for freelancing and independent work.
Members: Emilie Ressouche
Mentors: Jarno Laine, Saila Tykkyläinen
People are getting lonelier in industrialised countries all over the world. Luckily, there are ways to get out of loneliness, such as having a community around a shared hobby. However, finding hobbies can be difficult when moving into a new town or country, especially if there's a language barrier. ToGather tackles loneliness among young adults, immigrants, and people moving into new towns by facilitating their access to arts, crafts, and creative hobbies through a geolocalised app that displays creative workshops and events available around the local area, and with a community built around shared values, experiences, and feelings.
ToGather was part of the 2023 HealthX pre-incubator.
Members: Matti Pohjonen, Kazu Ahmed
Mentors: Pete Karumo, Markus Raivio
UnplugIT is a digital solutions provider that helps organisations, peoples, and communities who make a positive impact on the world. The project's mission is to combine the ethical and inclusive development and use of AI with participatory research methods that involve and cater to low-resource and "offline" communities in the Global South. Unlike its competitors, unPlugIT focuses on providing solutions for regions where reliable access to electricity or the internet is not guaranteed, and where existing solutions may not work due to cultural or language differences.
unPlugIT was part of Batch 2 of the SÄRÖ/FRACTURE pre-incubator.
Members: Francisco Rangel, Leah Martin
Mentors: Sara Mattila, Iiro Jussila
Kultura Group is a down-to-earth agency dedicated to building strong communities. In a world plagued by fragmentation, distrust, and loneliness, it recognises the urgent need for connection. The agency's comprehensive approach to community building encompasses strategic marketing and communication, professional web development, impactful event production, and insightful research initiatives. By providing tailored services to companies and institutions, Kultura Group enhances their user engagement. By cultivating our own group of community-curious people, is inspires structural change. The agency's work emphasises the role of culture in equitable and sustainable communities. It benefits organisations, individuals, marginalised groups, and the planet.
Members: Dmitry Mizulin, Yaroslav Slimov
Mentors: Vladimir Chepurnoy, Iiro Jussila
YourTutor is an online end-to-end platform that helps you find a suitable tutor and arrange regular meetings to improve your skills. For tutors the service is an opportunity to do flexible work within their area of expertise, for learners it's a way to learn more efficiently than via the existing e-learning approaches of watching pre-recorded videos.
Members: Anne Johansson, Mary McIntosh
Mentors: Laura Avonius, Janne Neuvonen
The idea behind the team's solution is to create a peer support environment for those getting through and healing from facing narcissism. The team wants to comprehensively bring together the academic knowledge around the condition as well as the psychotherapeutical methods that are the most effective to use. Combined with individual survival stories and the presence of a peer community, healing can begin.
The aim is to create a short psychoterapeutical group theraphy model conducted via an app or a hub, which, in addition to hosting the sessions themselves, lists a collection of therapists that are familiar with the condition, for further healing needs.
Ann's peer support for healing was part of the 2023 HealthX pre-incubator.
Members: Lena Belozerova
Mentors: Juhani Lehtonen, Iiro Jussila
A special social project that matches families with retirees and provides a win-win solution.
Members: Laura Feld, Adriana Delgado, Giovanna Villani
Mentors: Mirva Nevalainen, Vladimir Chepurnoy
There is a growing population of animals in captivity, and more resources are needed to fulfil happy lives for them. A key component of caring for captive animals is enrichment: toys and structures that challenge and entertain them. However, the majority of enrichment solutions available are designed for pets, and don't fulfil the specific cognitive and motoric needs of other species. It falls on caregivers, who have limited resources, to design and produce better-suited alternatives. CaptivATED MINDS offers species-specific enrichment, developed through a combination of science and design, and in collaboration with caregivers. Our enrichment will both better serve the needs of captive animals and fit into the workflow of caregivers, easing their work.
Members: Anton Stalchenko, Natalia Stalchenko, Alona Hapey
Mentors: Topi Manu, Ari Huzckowski
Finland has over 47 000 Ukrainian refugees, mainly mothers with children. Daycares in Helsinki lack the necessary space for many of these children, and none of them are able to offer teaching in Ukrainian. The team behind WWA wants to establish a daycare for children of different cultural backgrounds, Ukrainian families being the early adopters of their service. Eventually, the team plans to expand and include other languages. The WWA daycare will offer language support, a multilingual team of educators, research-based pedagogy, flexible hours, and family events. Their revenue model includes attendance fees, need-based subsidies, non-profit funding, and a children’s language club for everyone interested.
WWA was part of Batch 2 of the SÄRÖ/FRACTURE pre-incubator.
Members: Ivana Situm
Mentors: Turo Numminen, Pete Karumo
FOG (Facts on the Ground) is an AI/ML powered platform designed to give you access to diverse expert perspectives on world news topics.
Members: Yu Zhou, Zhang Xinwei, Zhu Yumin, Wu Shan
Mentors: Juhani Lehtonen, Topi Manu
The team's solution is to launch an AI-powered, interactive cultural intelligence learning platform with case-based training modules. By providing comprehensive and engaging training programs simulating real-world scenarios, the platform enhances the ability of businesses to operate effectively in diverse environments.
Members: Afsheen Ahmed, Syed Ahmed, Rakhshanda Jabeen, Elias Mbanze
Mentors: Markus Raivio, Michael Gates
With first-hand experience of studying in an international master's programme in education, the team has recognised the urgent need to enhance global research-based teacher training. To achieve internationalisation goals, the education sector must become more globalised. Given that teachers constitute the backbone of any educational institution, providing them with up-to-date, research-driven training and robust professional development is paramount.
Members: Timo Muhonen
Mentors: Saila Tykkyläinen, Janne Neuvonen
With their customised language models, Silent Knowledge Amplified harnesses tacit expertise for strategy implementation, workplace induction, or the transfer of silent knowledge when an experienced employee moves on. The team aims to not only store wisdom; they leverage it, providing personalised learning and virtual one-to-one mentoring. In a world where knowledge is power, Creatures Corporation ensures that their clients have the keys to power.
Members: Medha Gupta, Nidal Karagic
Mentors: Jarno Laine, Jori Karvonen
Pawple is your local community of people to depend on. Pet keeping can be tough, especially if you’re alone, and this can affect both your pet's and your own wellbeing. The team behind Pawple wants people to feel less alone in this journey. Whether you're entirely inexperienced in pet raising or a seasoned pet lover, Pawple creates a safe space to learn how to raise pets before you get one and find the right support — whether its people, places, or services you need — to better take care of your pet and yourself.
Pawple was part of Batch 2 of the SÄRÖ/FRACTURE pre-incubator.