Helsinki will open a new Helsinki Education Hub on 23 September. The learning and education sector is growing globally and Helsinki Education Hub wants to promote the growth of entrepreneurship in learning and education technology. The aim is to combine learning and education start-ups, Finnish pedagogical know-how and academic research in order to generate new innovations, promote entrepreneurship in the field of educational technology and create new business. At the same time, we want to make Helsinki a capital of learning.
Helsinki Education Hub includes preincubation and incubation services, co-development and contacts with stakeholders and larger companies that are important for young growth companies. The activities of the service path are supported by events and trainings held at Hub’s premises, as well as the opportunities brought by the community.
“The City of Helsinki is a pioneer in dynamic cooperation between the public and private sectors. For many years, Helsinki has invested in current and potential growth areas such as gaming, XR and Blockchain, AI and healthcare, as well as climate solutions. Helsinki Education Hub is a concrete example of the City of Helsinki’s support and investment in promoting growing entrepreneurship in learning and education technology,” says Mia-Stiina Heikkala, the leader of the Helsinki Education Hub project.
Helsinki
Education Hub will become a community of EdTech players
Helsinki Education Hub offers a new kind of multifunctional environment for the use of EdTech, i.e. for growth companies, researchers, learners and learning and education professionals involved in development in the field of educational technology. In the premises, you can attend events or come to work and meet other members of the community at the same time. Hub does not rent out workspaces, but, if desired, an EdTech growth entrepreneur can request, for example, Hub’s 50-person multipurpose space to hold an event. Helsinki Education Hub also hosts several different physical and virtual events. In the customizable and multifunctional premises, it is possible to organize webinars, workshops and lectures, as well as other events that promote entrepreneurship in the field of EdTech.
Helsinki Education Hub also offers support to companies in the EdTech sector and experienced personal coaching to support early-stage growth. In particular, support is provided for issues related to team building, financing and growth.
Co-development enables customer-oriented development of services and products
Helsinki Education Hub also serves as a testbed-environment and an innovative learning and research space for pedagogical experts, teachers, researchers and learners. Co-development offers companies the opportunity to develop their products and services in a customer-oriented way together with users. Helsinki Education Hub co-operates with Helsinki schools in testing. More information on the City of Helsinki’s EdTech operations can be found at testbed.helsinki – pages.
Through the Helsinki Education Hub, EdTech growth companies can find connections to accelerators, investors and researchers. Through Hub, investors can also more easily find Helsinki’s potential growth companies in the learning and education sector. From the beginning, Helsinki Education Hub’s operations have also been aimed at the international market, and the hub’s operations have created sustainable opportunities to promote learning and education exports in international markets. This happens through the internationalisation of companies, support for business competence and goal-oriented innovation cooperation.
Helsinki Education Hub is located on Runeberginkatu and online
Physically, Helsinki Education Hub is centrally located in Töölö, Helsinki, at Runeberginkatu 14-16. The site is easily accessible by several means of public transport. The facilities and activities can also be explored virtually in the virtual hub. The Hub’s website provides news and other current information on EdTech issues in the Helsinki metropolitan area and around the world, as well as events at the Hub, along with registration information. The website also contains links to Helsinki Education Hub’s social media channels on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Education Hub is located on Runeberginkatu and online. Photo: Karoliina Korhonen
Helsinki supports young EdTech growth companies in a concrete and goal-oriented way
Helsinki Education Hub will also come to contain an EdTech-field incubator. The application for the incubator program opens on 23 September and will remain open until Wednesday, 20 October. 10 teams or companies will be selected for the first incubator program, which will have to create a functioning marketing and sales strategy, manage financing channels and cash flow, build a team and create functional networks during the program. Growth companies participating in the program will receive guidance, counselling and coaching to promote entrepreneurship and business. In the future, 20 teams or companies will start each year in the incubator.
Helsinki Education Hub is a unique project that combines the expertise of the City of Helsinki’s Economic Development from NewCo Helsinki and the Innovations and New Experiments unit.
The opening of the Helsinki Education Hub will be held on Thursday 23 September
The operation of the hub started already in August and the opening will be celebrated online on 23 September from 15-16:30. Speakers at the event include Marja-Leena Rinkineva, Director of Economic Development of the City of Helsinki, Marjaana Sall, Ambassador for Education at Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and keynote speaker Ed.D. David Dockterman, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
You can register to follow the opening here. The event is in English.
Check out the Helsinki Education Hub website here.