Founder Sprint
Founder Sprint is an intensive program crafted to help student bring out their best founder potential.
Founder School
Discover Aalto Founder School
Founder School is Aalto University’s entry point to entrepreneurial learning. Through monthly Founder Talks, a new minor studies programme, and a tailor-made Founder Sprint for the most driven founders, it helps students develop the mindset to build companies over time.
Aalto Founder School brings entrepreneurial learning together from across campus - one place for students at any level of education, from all six schools. It supports students who are driven to create something new, whether they are still exploring their interests, shaping early ideas, or already taking their first steps toward building a company.
Founder School focuses on early-stage founder development. People who think boldly, act under uncertainty, and sustain momentum over time.
And no one does it alone. Founder School is embedded in Aalto's broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, connected to the people, programs, and communities that keep the journey moving.
Company valuation
over €30 billion
Over
15,000
jobs created
Combined turnover exceeds
€3 billion
annually
Companies founded by Aalto university's students and alumni have a strong societal impact.
"Finland’s strongest asset—economically and as a country—is the success of its growth companies."
Programmes overview
Founder School offers all Aalto students multiple entry points into entrepreneurial learning, designed to support different interests and needs.
Founder Minor
A structured academic pathway into entrepreneurship. We invite students to take practice-oriented courses to learn about product development, product management, building a business, go-to-market, financing a venture, entrepreneurship law, founder storytelling, and a host of other topics relevant for founders. Students from all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome to these courses. By completing a series of founder focused courses, students can earn a Founder Minor.
Founder Sprint
Founder Sprint is a highly selective program (10% acceptance rate) for the most driven founders-to-be at Aalto. Designed to accelerate entrepreneurial growth and fast-track students’ startup journey, the intensive program combines deep-dive learning modules, personalized coaching, and hands-on venture-building experience.
Applications are open to students from all six Aalto schools. Whether you're studying arts, business, design, science, or engineering, what matters most is your ambition to create and build.
Whether or not participants go on to found a company, they leave with the mindset, skills, and network needed to do so.
Each Sprint is built around a carefully curated cohort of students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Together with experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors from the Founder School network, participants help shape the content based on their ambitions, challenges, and the latest best practices from the startup ecosystem.
Founder Talks
A hybrid event series about entrepreneurship for all startup curious students. Enjoy the fireside chats where well-known Finnish and international founders share their journey, interviewed by students from Aalto University.
The talks provide insight into real entrepreneurial journeys, highlighting both challenges, successes and lessons learnt along the way.
Founder Talks: new event series brings founders on stage
Aalto Founder School brings entrepreneurship closer to all students at Aalto through monthly Founder Talks, a new minor studies programme, and a tailor-made Founder Sprint for the most promising ideas. Â
Founder Minor
Learn how ideas become products, ventures, and impact. The Founder Minor helps students build entrepreneurial skills alongside any degree.
Prototyping and Validation Grant
Turn an idea into something real and validate a market.
As part of the Aalto Founder Sprint program, participants begin with the Insight Sprint, where they research and analyze an emerging trend, industry, or market and produce an Insight Report. This report develops the ability to synthesize research into clear insights and identify potential opportunity spaces. The exercise helps participants understand the broader landscape before moving on to product prototyping and business strategy in later sprints.
News from Aalto founder community
Applications open: Aalto Creatives pre-incubator autumn 2026
The next Aalto Creatives pre-incubator starts in September. Applications close on 7 September. Join the info event on 27 August to hear from alumni and meet the Aalto Creatives team.
PORT_2026 brings Aalto students together to tackle culture, media, and climate challenges
Nearly 60 Aalto students joined the PORT_2026 Innovation Challenge, developing and pitching solutions addressing culture, media, and climate challenges.
Aalto University to host the INNOVA Europe Summit 2026 in Espoo
Aalto University to host the INNOVA Europe Summit 2026 in Espoo, bringing together Europe’s next generation of student entrepreneurs.
Finnish AI Region Secures Second Term with Top Marks from EU
Finnish AI Region (FAIR) EDIH has been selected to continue operations for a second term with excellent ratings. European Union continuation funding enables service expansion from the beginning of 2026. Aalto University is one of 10 partners in FAIR.Grant Articles
Prototyping and Validation Grant: VeinOptima
An Aalto design student is building a device to help nurses find veins faster, funded by Aalto's Prototyping and Validation Grant.
Prototyping and Validation Grant: Stealth Startup
Two Aalto students got the Prototyping and Validation Grant. What they did before building anything is the part worth copying: a three-week trial
Prototyping and Validation Grant: Deployable
Four Aalto master's students built a physical AI startup on a borrowed GPU, beat PhD teams at a hackathon, and received Aalto's prototyping and validation grant.
Events for Aalto Founder community
100STARTUPS Masterclass: Starttiraha
This session provides an introduction to Starttiraha (Start-up Grant), a Finnish support scheme designed to help entrepreneurs secure their personal income during the early stages of starting and establishing a business.
100STARTUPS Masterclass: Business Finland funding opportunities for early-stage startups
Learn what funding opportunities exist for Finnish early-stage startups and how public support systems work.
100STARTUPS Masterclass: Legal responsibilities of an entrepreneur
What does it actually mean to run a company legally and practically? This session walks you through the key responsibilities every founder needs to understand.
Aalto Founder Talks #9: Milda Mitkute, Co-Founder of Vinted
Milda Mitkutė co-founded Vinted, turning second-hand fashion into Europe’s largest resale marketplace and a global circular economy success story.Team
