Viikki Food Design Factory and University of Helsinki piloted pre-Germinator for the first time in 2022-2023. The courses piloted in the programme have been included in the University of Helsinki Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry's new Entrepreneurship and innovations study module.
Pre-Germinator was a program that consisted of two parts, and it took place from fall 2022 to spring 2023.
The first part was with a course called FOOD-911 Me as a change maker (2cr). It consisted of six lectures, innovation excursion and a group work of creating and/or developing ideas. The course was about innovativeness, concepts, and innovation contexts. This course was part of the pre-germinator program, but it was also open for everyone interested in innovations. Groups with the best pitches, held at end the of the course, were welcomed to the second part of the pre-Germinator as well.
The second part, course FOOD-912, was called "From ideas to innovation". This part of the pre-germinator was only for the chosen ones, who were selected via pitching at the end of the first part. It was a five credits hands-on innovation course consisting of workshops, creation of minimum viable products building teams, testing the ideas with food professionals and finally pitching the innovation in the final demo gala. The team with the winning pitch at the demo gala received two tickets to the Sweden Foodtech's Big Meet in Stockholm 2023.
Viikki Food Design Factory provided the facilities (communal space & laboratory for testing the idea in practice), coaching, workshops, contacts, and the possibility to work with other innovative people.
Isa Stucki
Project planner
Viikki Food Design Factory
isa.stucki@helsinki.fi
+358 44 3533389