About Us
Hanken Business Lab was started in 2016 from an old, dust-filled IT cellar at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki. Today, we're an acclaimed Nordic incubator with locations in Helsinki and Vaasa, 50+ member organisations, and a strong community of entrepreneurs, students, alumni, and partners who share the same values as we do: mutual support and giving back, inclusivity, transparency, commitment to continuous learning and growth, and fostering genuine human connections.
What makes us different is our networks, culture, and openness.
Our networks extend to 15+ countries, giving our community access to cross-border opportunities and talent. Our culture, while being truly international, has strong ties to the Finnish-Swedish community, which uniquely positions us in the local and Nordic entrepreneurial ecosystem. Being sector-agnostic, we offer everyone an equal opportunity to connect with us, apply for a membership, or get involved in other ways. Whether you’re launching your first company, pivoting your career, or scaling globally, there’s a place for you here.
❋ Our Community is Our Core
We are community-centred and community-driven at the same time. Our diverse, international community has everyone from entrepreneurially curious students to successful entrepreneurs and seasoned working-life professionals 💛
❋ Dynamic Relationships and Roles
This is an environment where the mentor becomes a mentee to become a mentor again. And this is an environment where we love seeing our members outgrow our services. Many of them stay and continue being a part of our community by giving back 💛
❋ We are Proud of Our Members
Some of our members have stood on the SLUSH100 stage, expanded into Baltic, Nordic, and global markets, and won some of the most competitive awards and grants in the Nordics. Others just pitched in front of a panel of judges plus an audience of ten and absolutely nailed it. We’re equally proud of both 💛
❋ Multi-Layered Operations
We operate across multiple dimensions by design: face-to-face services, strong digital presence, local and cross-border networks, social community, and an intentionally inspiring culture. We know that building something that counts needs more than a desk, a nice set of tools, and funding 💛
Our co-working spaces have personality and intentional design
Our meeting rooms are named after Hanken’s partner school locations we work with - “Stockholm”, “Tallinn”, “Nizza”, “San Francisco”, “St. Gallen”. That’s a daily reminder: the world is open to you, and where you're right now is just a step in your journey.
One of the event spaces, “Lilla Hangö”, was named after Hanko, a culturally significant Finnish-Swedish destination on the southern coast of the country. Fun fact: a phone booth in the space is a real Badkoppi (beach changing room) donated to us by the ex-mayor of Hanko, Denis Strandell.
The Lab still stands behind what it was originally founded for.
Markus Wartiovaara, Hanken Business Lab founder, is a Professor of Practice at Hanken, an entrepreneur, and a student active. As the legend has it, he started Hanken Business Lab after the rector of Hanken School of Economics gave him an open mandate to build something to support entrepreneurship in the school. After that, the plans were made, the old, dusty IT cellar was renovated and repurposed into a co-working space, and the first services were introduced.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The community runs on collaboration, not just networking.
Our educational content is always delivered by experts, practitioners, industry pros, and fellow startups. We strongly encourage our members to try things in practice in other settings - be it local or international - as early as possible in their journey.
Our companies that won awards, grants, and were selected for e.g. SLUSH100 serve as role models as well as a support network for those who are just starting.
We build what we believe in.
Our Time 2 Scale acceleration program funding application was created from inside one of our own meeting rooms. So was this website. So was the Nordic Happiness Summit. When we believe in something, we build it ourselves with our community's input that helps us to stay on target.
We encourage our members to do the same.
International collaboration is one of our top priorities.
In addition to the local ecosystem, the Lab operates internationally. We are a part of the ENGAGE.EU European University, leading the work on Societal Engagement along with 9 other Labs in 9 different countries in Europe.
Check back for more information on our international activities in late March after the beta testing of this website has been concluded.
Our funding is as diverse as our community.
Our funding is diversified across private foundations, EU programmes, Hanken, and beyond. We are deeply grateful to our funders, including the Louise & Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation and the EU's Interreg Central Baltic Programme, whose belief in what we're building makes it possible for us to do the work and not charge for our services.
We are active in Vaasa.
Hanken Business Lab in Vaasa isn't just a satellite office. Thanks to the recent launch of Vaasa Startup Factory managed by one of our team members, it has its own event series, its own emerging community, and its own entrepreneurial energy. Give them a follow and stop by when you’re visiting!
Our Event Concepts
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Community Days
Our main community event organised twice a year, in May and December. Community Days bring together our members, partners, funders, students, and the wider ecosystem to reconnect and hear the latest from Hanken Business Lab. The event also serves as a biannual “open doors” day - all the first-timers get a special side program to make them feel extra welcome! 💛
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Slush Week
Each year around Slush, we organise both open-to-all and invite-only events, mixing our community and networks with Slush attendees from all over the world. Our flagship event, “Unicorn Night”, is an acclaimed annual Slush Community Side Event with world-class speakers, an epic afterparty, and a unique touch of magic that brings together 300 people in the heart of Helsinki.
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Community Afterworks
Hosted monthly, our Afterworks are a safe space for shared learning via stories, experiences, and lessons learned. These late community afternoons are open to everyone at Hanken School of Economics, our members, and our network, bringing everyone together outside the usual day-to-day, the Hanken Business Lab way. Organised together with Hanken ES and held at the centrally located Lykke Helsinki.