VTT’s Senior Scientists Juha Kalliopuska and Sami Vähänen and their company Advacam won the Startup Sauna start-up accelerator program. According to the judges Advacam developed significantly during the program and in all succeeded very well in the program.
Startup Sauna has developed into a world class accelerator program and the win is significant for Advacam. “The biggest advantage of the program was to learn entrepreneurial skills, take on a new view of the world and gain international network. This win is an important reference for us and it will help us on our way towards new challenges”, Kalliopuska and Vähänen comment.
Advacam’s product is a colour X-ray imaging camera, which enables inspection of composed materials. Company’s next steps include acquiring financing for the productization of the prototype and gaining and handling pilot orders.
Kalliopuska and Vähänen were pleased with the entrepreneurial style the program had. Customers and end users were contacted well in advance in order to understand their needs on time. The competitors were challenged with different types of assignments and they also received guidance from working life investors on how to acquire funding.
The greatest surprise of the Startup Sauna was the program’s professional style, worldwide network and the intensity of the work. The seven week program progressed quickly as the focus was on the essential. There was no room left for explanations, but on the other hand, all of the competitors received their share of the criticism.
During the program Advacam participated on a trip to the Silicon Valley, where Kalliopuska and Vähänen met several investors, start-up accelerators and future end users. “Among others, Draper Fisher Jurvetson was one of the investors we met at Palo Alto and the founder Steve Jurvetson himself was also present”, says Kalliopuska.
Advacam was established on the second week of May with Juha Kalliopuska as the CEO. Sami Vähänen is the CTO of the company.
The other winner of the competition was Chinese iJudgefights.
For more information, please contact:
Antti Sinisalo, CEO / VTT Ventures Ltd
Tel. +358 40 524 8751
antti.sinisalo@vtt.fi
