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This autumn’s creative industry pre-incubator program launched with the onboarding of twelve new teams from diverse sectors of the creative industries. The teams’ startup ideas relate to fashion, extended reality, design, architecture, digital modeling, makerspaces, gamification, film industry, AI, and interactive art.
 
During the next 11 weeks, the teams will engage in weekly workshops to refine and validate their ideas. These sessions will equip them with important skills to convert their early-stage ideas into viable business models. To address the different levels of readiness and the wide range of ideas, the teams receive one-to-one coaching from business advisors.

The program helps teams to develop the important skill of pitching which is essential for attracting potential investors when the business reaches the funding stage. In certain cases, pitching is also imperative for attracting potential customers. In December, the pre-incubator teams will showcase their pitches at the Creative Demo Day event in Marsio in front of a jury.

The program’s accent on pitch training is one aspect which has changed over the course of the past five semesters.

‘We have found along the way that it is worth investing more and earlier in the program in performing, pitching the idea and generally coming out with your own idea’, says Ari Kivimäki, the program’s project manager from Aalto Studios.

In the sixth semester this autumn, the Aalto Digital Creatives program will conclude and transition into the Aalto Creatives pre-incubator program, which will launch in January. The rebranding involves removing the word "digital" from the program's name to broaden its appeal to all sectors of the creative industry. The intention is to encourage more projects from fields such as fashion and new materials.

The rebranded program will continue working on the networks and impact which the Aalto Digital Creatives has built since its beginning in 2022. The networks have grown with the help of an impressive catalogue of events and continuous collaboration with creative industry stakeholders.

'After the program has been running for a couple of years now, the population of alumni who participated in the pre-incubator and ADC events has grown significantly. We have built a significant network for creative industries in the capital region.', Ari Kivimäki concludes.

As the Aalto Creatives begins in early 2025, the pre-incubator program is planned to be held twice a year. To stay up-to-date on open calls, news and events sign up for the mailing list on the .

The program is a part of the wider supported by the City of Helsinki. In Aalto University, the program is coordinated by Aalto Startup Center and Aalto Studios.