INNOVA EUROPE SUMMIT
the same problem in Helsinki; a team gets challenged by a jury from London and a mentor from Berlin opens a door that wouldn’t have existed otherwise. This also means that every partner school shares incubator space and welcomes other schools’ ventures.” He continues by providing a specific example: “At Edhec, we are currently hosting a startup from London Business School with the goal of helping them break into the French market. No single institution can offer a startup launch pad like this on its own. We’re building a connected space where early-stage founders break out of local ecosystems and start operating on a European scale. The Innova competition is a great catalyst, but it’s just the start; the relationships created are what propel students to success.” Cross-pollination & collaboration For Aalto University provost Kristiina Mäkelä the kind of cross- border collaboration practised by Innova comes as second nature to an institution formed from the amalgamation of three universities. “Innova speaks to the core of Aalto”, she comments, noting that the 2010 merger means that “students work in an integrated way… [we operate] a mix and match policy across subjects and there is a highly collaborative mindset”. As Mäkelä points out, Aalto revolves around the concept of interdisciplinarity: “It’s not just a buzzword – it’s real life”. Rather than keeping departments in traditional silos, the university actively integrates economics, engineering, business and design to address multi-dimensional global challenges. She provides the example of engineering students and research economists who
collaborate to address energy transitions, noting that technical innovation alone cannot solve grid challenges. Understanding market dynamics is equally critical – especially in a country where 95 per cent of domestic electricity is non-fossil-fuel-based. The cross-pollination continues with Aalto EE, the institution’s executive education unit that operates as a separate, standalone company; academic staff come directly from the main university, whose faculty design and deliver its executive programmes. In turn, those professors bring real- world industry challenges and executive insights back into their university research and degree teaching. The Aalto University head believes that this spirit of collaboration may also be due in part to Finland’s broader social environment: the nation was named the world’s happiest country by the UN for the ninth consecutive year. Rather than fleeting joy, however, experts attribute this ranking instead to high societal trust, a good work-life balance and pioneering gender equality, supported by equal parental leave policies and one of the lowest gender employment gaps in Europe. Mäkelä is also convinced that the university’s relative youth compared to other, more established educational facilities is a big plus. “We are agile, [the way we operate is] less ingrained and we are not as traditional; we started from scratch in 2010 and created a new way of working – for instance, the US-style tenure track system was implemented.” She adds that as many as 80 per cent of the current faculty have been appointed in the intervening 16 years, meaning they are “more open minded when it comes to change management”. The university’s provost acknowledges that AI will “transform all industries, production processes and teaching methods” and emphasises that it’s not just about how faculty should teach, but what to teach in order to prepare future leaders. “We need to be at the forefront of development… the university must understand change”. Asked how Aalto plans to develop its curriculum, she cites a new BA degree in technology, design & business that aims to flip the traditional T-shaped learning format on its head: “We will teach applicable, practical skills first, followed later by deep specialisation”. In an era where young people are questioning whether it’s worth going on to higher education, Mäkelä insists that the role of the university is “more valid than ever… it has a vital role to play as a talent and knowledge ecosystem.” She mirrors the perspective of the Innova founders when she says: “Universities are the best place for bringing people together to incubate original ideas and inventions that will benefit society – we haven’t yet found a better way of doing things.” • The Innova Europe Summit 2026 was won by Lavanya Saberwal and Viknesh Vijeyanandaraja, representing London Business School. They were awarded first prize for LatentLoop, a sustainable cleantech innovation for communal buildings; by recycling existing heat, the system reduces the overall energy demand and carbon footprint of large facilities such as residential housing and municipal buildings
Finnish Venture Capital Association’s Jonne Kuittinen (far left) was upbeat about the nation’s startup scene in a panel discussion about responsible entrepreneurship
Ambition • ISSUE 4 • 2026 29
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