Sustainable Grant Recipients, Spring 2024

The foundations of the Tampere Universities community annually distribute sustainable entrepreneurship grants. HUBS actively collaborates with all three foundations and participates in the selection process for grant recipients.

In spring 2024, we received an impressive number of applications. A big thank you and hearty congratulations to the students who receive the grants!

Tampere University of Applied Sciences Foundation

1. Sasa Airio, 5000 €, LIME Interactive media. “Nellamo offers unique art that combines Nordic traditions and folk tales into a modern art form.” A careful and justified business plan, strong entrepreneurial spirit, and skills mapped with entrepreneurship studies and light entrepreneurship. The grant is for the acquisition of equipment to enable the start of business operations. Excellent and justified application.
   
2. Satu Turunen, 5000 €, LIME Proakatemia. “We are setting up a restaurant in Tampere’s Finlayson.” The business idea is already being implemented, so the grant supports the business that is about to start. The business plan is comprehensive, and the founders already have experience in the food industry. Various aspects of sustainability have been considered. Good application and skilled team, financing from themselves and an external financier.
   
3. Tommi Riikonen, 5000 €, LIME Proakatemia. “Kaius makes clothes that stand the test of time and use.” Strong team and clear business idea, good application and calculation for the use of the grant. There is potential and with the help of the grant, the team could expand their product range and take the operation to the next level.
   
4. Kati Penttinen, 2000 €, SOTE Social Worker. “Zen Coaching-based individual coaching for private individuals who need support for their own inner and spiritual growth.” Clear, expertise-based business idea.
   
5. Päivi Ylistalo, 5000 €, LIME YAMK Risk Management and Circular Economy. “Development of a Clothing Brand with Circular Business Model.” Strong and thorough application, business idea based on circular economy. Clear calculations for the use of the grant; the grant would enable the start of business operations and practical experiments.
   
6. Mila Melin, 5000 €, LIME Proakatemia. “Hempee-cafe will be opened for the first time in the summer of 2024 in Tampere’s Hiedanranta park area in cooperation with the city of Tampere and Tampere Ice Cream Shop, Minetti.” Strong application, social and ecological sustainability clearly considered in the business plan. Greatly sought and found partners and identified opportunities for implementing their own idea.
   
7. Felix Schwarz-Pajunen, 4000 €, LIME Proakatemia. “Content & Social Media Marketing for Local Farmers.” The application and background material have been carefully invested in. Multidisciplinary team and network-based operating model, the idea has also been tested with a potential partner/customer. Passion and desire to develop the operating conditions of local agriculture are conveyed.

The University of Tampere Foundation

1. Emma Lillqvist, 1250 €. Journalism undergraduate student (ITC). A team strongly committed to entrepreneurship and the idea, ambitious plan. The grant will support the acquisition of equipment to enable the start of business operations.
   
   Our business idea is to create a resource bank for those working with social media. The purpose of our resource bank is to serve as comprehensive support for social media professionals or beginners. Our target audience consists of small entrepreneurs, influencers, and content producers.
   
   
2. Tilda Enne, 1250 €. Communication Sciences undergraduate student (ITC) + team member. Realistic plan, building socially sustainable working life with media professionals in a collective (cooperative). The grant will support the acquisition of common equipment.
   
   Our business idea is a collective of multi-media journalists who can carry out freelance projects both alone and together. The competition for full-time journalist jobs is tough and the number of freelance journalists is constantly growing in relation to those in employment. Our goal is to improve the working readiness of the collective’s members after and during studies.
   
   
3. Jenni Toivonen, 1250 €. Postgraduate student of Business Administration (MAB), also a team. Carefully mapped market situation and service offering, realistically considered own position. Three pilots planned, the implementation of which can be supported by a grant.
   
   POLKU Agency is a science-based partner focused on growth marketing and customer experience development – we develop business and create growth based on customer understanding. Our company specializes in creating measurable growth for customers through both customer experience development and digital marketing.
   
   
4. Salla Jääskeläinen, 1 250 €. Master’s level education scientist (EDU). The company has been established and entrepreneurial experience already in the background. Second hand clothing store based on circular economy, pilot planned for summer 2024, which can be supported by a grant.
   
   Salvia is a newly established, innovative second hand company, whose main goal is to make the acquisition of used clothes as effortless as buying new clothes. The pop-up shop opening in the summer is carefully arranged in the same way as clothing stores and its selection reflects the season’s trends, which makes shopping in our store easy and pleasant even for those who are not used to rummaging through flea markets. Clothes and accessories are collected from consumers and they are checked and serviced before sale to ensure quality.
   

Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology

1. Hesam Jafarian, 5000 €. Postgraduate student, ENS. Tampere-Turku team. The company has already been established. Ambitious idea, concrete plan for using the grant: acquisition of materials for robot piloting.
   
   Autonomous robot with the goal of logistics by meeting the increasing demand for effective, environmentally friendly delivery solutions.
   
   
2. Lauri Kohvakka, 2 700 €. Undergraduate student, MAB + team. Concrete, new business idea based on circular economy. Partners ready, calculations and business plans well underway. The grant would support product development work and moving the idea towards practice.
   
   The business idea is to repair floorball sticks with carbon and fiberglass reinforcements.
   
   
3. Chloe Kiernicki, 2 300 €. Master’s student, BEN. Multidisciplinary and cultural team Tampere-Helsinki. The idea supports the promotion of sustainable development in housing. The grant is intended to acquire external, missing expertise in UX design for the team.
   
   An application with DeCarbon-Home to help single-family homeowners to make energy-wise decisions in their homes.
   
   
4. Nhi Ngo-Lundell, 5 000 €. Master’s student, ICT. The team has already represented the University of Tampere in the international GISU network competition. An idea linked to social sustainability, which also has global potential. The goal of the grant is to move from prototype to coding phase.
   
   “NeighborlyKids” app helps improve social factors to enhance the quality of life and well-being of current and future residents by helping immigrants access essential services, integrate into society, and stay connected to their home communities.
   
   
5. Olivia Saukonoja, 3 000 €. Master’s student, ITC. Team. An idea focused on a current problem, the mental health of students and young adults, creating social sustainability. With the grant, software development, security, and content produced by mental health professionals.
   
   Our service solves Finland’s mental health crisis and overloaded mental health services by providing support for the mental health of students and young adults through a mobile application.
   

The next sustainable entrepreneurship grants can be applied for again in the fall of 2024 (only TAMK students) and in the spring of 2025 (all students of the Tampere higher education community). Read more about the grant!