Helsinki Think Company expands to Viikki – Welcome to University of Helsinki

The operations of the Helsinki Think Company entrepreneurial community are expanding from the City Centre Campus to Viikki. The premises, which bring together students, researchers and entrepreneurs, offer possibilities to network and refine new ideas into business operations.

Helsinki Think Company started as a collaborative effort between the City of Helsinki and the University of Helsinki and during its first year, it has helped tens of business teams. This autumn has seen the foundation of a volunteer association, which is putting the operations further into practice.

– Helsinki Think Company is a good example of long-standing cooperation between the university and the city to further the competitiveness and welfare in the area. We can help create new jobs by supporting young entrepreneurship, says Mayor Jussi Pajunen.

One of the strengths of the entrepreneur community is its interdisciplinary character, which can generate new kinds of business projects. The operations in Vikki add bio and environmental sciences, agricultural and forest sciences as well as veterinary medicine and pharmaceutics to the equation. The goal of the next few years is to expand the operations of Helsinki Think Company to the campuses of Meilahti and Kumpula as well.

– The multidisciplinarity of the University of Helsinki is a strong foundation for value-based entrepreneurship, which connects academic knowledge, the problems of society and profitable business. We want to encourage entrepreneurship in all disciplines of the university, emphasises the Rector of the University of Helsinki Jukka Kola.

Helsinki Think Company offers a free working space for cooperation and events, coaching for starting entrepreneur teams and a possibility for anyone interested to participate in the organisation of activities.

– At Think Company, we bring a new perspective to the operational culture of the university. Learning by doing, fast product functionality testing and openness are key elements in our operations. The recently founded volunteer association is a part of the development, where significant change is created at the grassroots level, says student captain Elina Uutela.

Besides coaching and counselling, both Helsinki Think Company offices offer a number of themed events such as club nights, networking events and EnterpiseHelsinki information events.

Helsinki Think Company (Vuorikatu 5) and Helsinki Think Company Viikki (Latokartanonkaari 3) are communal open-to-all working spaces for entrepreneurs, which were founded as a collaboration between the City of Helsinki and the University of Helsinki.