Finland: Aalto University coworking and startup garage (2011)

This 2011 conference deck presented Aalto Venture Garage, an entrepreneurship-focused coworking space on Aalto University’s Otaniemi campus in Finland. Juho Hyytiäinen described the space as a student-led initiative that had emerged because the growing Aalto Entrepreneurship Society needed premises. The slides characterised Aaltoes as an independent, privately funded community led by students and postgraduates. Founded in 2009, it had promoted high-technology, high-growth entrepreneurship through grassroots action, self-initiative and lean practices. By 2011, Aalto Venture Garage had housed eight startups and three student communities and had also operated a seed accelerator programme. Photographs documented its shared working areas, events space and industrial interior, including Startup Sauna and Aaltoes branding. The deck also considered the initiative’s value to the university. It argued that attention could help attract strong students, funding interest and media coverage, while early involvement in acceleration could demonstrate institutional vision. The presentation identified Startup Sauna as Finland’s first university-run early-stage accelerator programme, although it noted that this distinction had subsequently ended as other programmes emerged.

Key findings

• In 2011, Aalto Venture Garage housed eight startups and three student communities.
• The Otaniemi campus coworking space focused on entrepreneurship and also operated a seed accelerator programme.
• Aaltoes was founded in 2009 as an independent, privately funded community initiative led by students and postgraduates.

Presented by Juho Hyytiäinen, Aalto Venture Garage, at Coworking Europe 2011