Campus Incubators and Spark to represent Finland at the European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards

The Campus Incubators programme promoting new entrepreneurship in higher education institution campuses in Helsinki, and the Spark programme supporting entrepreneurship among immigrant women have won the national stage of the competition for the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA). They will represent Finland at the European competition.

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards are awarded annually to the most successful promoters of enterprise and entrepreneurship. A grand jury will select the winners of the European competition, which will be announced at an award ceremony in November 2025. 

The Campus Incubators programme will compete in the category of ‘Improving the business environment and promoting entrepreneurial spirit’. The programme by the City of Helsinki aims to boost the development of higher education campuses into business and innovation clusters and to create incubator programmes in cooperation with higher education institutions in the Helsinki area campuses. In total, 11 campuses and 1,425 people have participated in the activities. 217 entrepreneurs have launched new business.

The Spark programme will compete in the category of ‘Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship’. The programme by The Startup Shortcut Oy strives to increase the entrepreneurship among women with an immigrant background, in particular. The training programme provides the participants a clear and coherent path to experiment with a business idea and teaches them to build the business from the start. The programme places particular emphasis on personal support. So far, over 100 people have taken part in the programme and more than 40 companies have been established.

Lisätiedot:
Jaana Valkokallio, Ministerial Adviser, contact person for the national competition, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 064 932
Jussi Laine, Senior Advisor, Contact person for the Campus Incubators programme, City of Helsinki, tel. +358 40 182 8505
Tom Gammals, Chief Commercial Officer, Contact person for the Spark programme, tel. +358 50 9111 866

*18.6.2025: text clarified on the name and activities of the Campus Incubators programme.