Our History

Welcome to the brief recap of our history so far 💛

Hanken Business Lab was founded with a simple idea: to create a place where people with curiosity, courage, and ambition could explore entrepreneurship together. Since 2016, the Lab has grown from a single-room headquarters into a co-working space with an active community of founders, members, and partners that operates both locally and internationally. Several generations of entrepreneurs have used it as their home base, and dozens of ideas-turned-businesses stemmed out from here. 

This timeline highlights key moments that have shaped Hanken Business Lab and its community the most.

We are excited about the future, and we hope you will be a part of it 🙌

Please note that this section is under construction until mid-April.

  • 2026 marks Hanken Business Lab’s 10-year anniversary. As part of this milestone, we are introducing a new membership structure, launching our website and new services, and creating clearer pathways for companies at different stages of growth.

    This reflects the continued evolution of the community and the Lab’s long-term commitment to supporting founders from first ideas to international scale.

  • In 2025, Hanken Business Lab and Hanken launched Time 2 Scale, a cross-border acceleration program supporting companies from Finland, Estonia, and Latvia.

    During the same year, the Lab also organised the first-ever Nordic Happiness Summit, bringing together students, founders, researchers, and ecosystem leaders around the future of wellbeing and sustainable entrepreneurship.

  • In 2024, Hanken Business Lab received long-term funding from the Louise and Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation. With matching support from Hanken, this milestone strengthened the Lab’s incubation activities and enabled the continued development of services for early-stage companies. As a token of this support, our incubation services have been proudly renamed to L&G EPIC (Louise and Göran Ehrnrooth and Partners Incubation Community).

  • By 2023, Hanken Business Lab had grown into a community of over 50 members and partners. ‘The Playground’ had already supported 14 new companies in the first year, helping early ideas take their first real steps forward.

    During the same year, Hanken joined ENGAGE.EU European University Alliance, with the Business Lab contributing to the development of labs across the European consortium.

    Last but note least, Hanken Business Lab’s operations in Vaasa were re-launched.

  • In 2022, the Lab entered a new chapter with the launch of ‘The Playground’, a 16-week pre-incubation program. With strong support from Hanken and the City of Helsinki through the Campus Incubator Programme, the Lab team grew and expanded its offering to members and the ecosystem.

  • Hanken Business Lab was founded in spring 2016. It began with a single meeting room and a simple note on the door. As the first activities took shape in October, the need for more space quickly became clear. Director Markus Wartiovaara was offered the old IT cellar in Hanken’s basement. Where others saw dust and forgotten storage, he saw potential. That space became the foundation the Lab would grow from.