The second Bootcamp Kicks Off at Haaga-Helia Pasila Campus

The Bootcamp opened on Thursday with a welcome and orientation session that introduced the program’s purpose and approach. Fredrik Sirén from Metropolia UAS delivered the first keynote, “Learn from Your Struggles!”, encouraging founders to see challenges as an essential part of business development. His talk set a reflective and constructive tone for the days ahead.

After introductions of the companies, mentors, and the project team, participants reviewed the Zebra ScaleUp roadmap, which provides a structure for aligning business growth with social and environmental responsibility. The afternoon focused on strategy and sustainability. Olli Laintila from Haaga-Helia discussed how to develop a clear business strategy, while Minna-Maari Harmaala presented sustainable business models with real life cases. Between sessions, teams worked with mentors to apply these ideas to their own projects.

Friday began with a networking coffee and continued with a keynote from Aleksander Gansen of AG Consult on team building and collaboration. Later, Laurent Tran-Nguyen from AiBEN spoke about creativity and innovation in the AI era, showing how technology can support purposeful growth.

In the afternoon, Kert Kaljula, CFO and investor, gave a session on financing growth, focusing on how to approach investors and manage funding. The day’s final presentation came from Patrick Gerber of EP Consulting Services, who discussed how to define and enter new markets and what to consider when expanding internationally.

Throughout both days, teamwork sessions allowed participants to develop their ideas and prepare concrete next steps.

The Bootcamp ended with a joint wrap-up, where teams shared progress and future plans. The event gave participating SMEs a clear direction for how to grow their businesses in line with the Zebra ScaleUp principles of purpose, sustainability, and collaboration.