Representing Hub Panostamo at the Tahko Ski Lift Pitch and side event with Kuopio Health

Hub Panostamo ( Kuopion startupien tukiyhdistys ry) is a non-profit business hub and community operating at KPY Novapolis (Microkatu 1) in Kuopio, Eastern Finland.?Together with Henna Halmetvaara the Community Manager and Mikko Juuti a fellow board member of the Hub, we had a couple of days in an awesome setting in Tahko, a ski resort in Eastern Finland not far from Kuopio city. The attendees were a mixtures of start ups founders, investors and service providers, not just from Kuopio but many from Joensuu too, as well as from other Finnish cities like Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, and Oulu, and I am sure there were others from the 40 start ups competing, with some even from abroad, notably 3 start ups from Cologne University.

This was a great platform for us to promote the Hub's open community and discuss the support we can give start ups in Kuopio. Anyone who met us or who is interested in starting a company or looking to see what support they can get for their early stage organisation is welcome to contact me directly about becoming a member.

All memberships include internet access, printing, conference room, phone booth and free use of Novapolis's new co-working space, cleaning, parking, coffee and tea, kitchen corner and above all support of the growing entrepreneurial community, many regular events and services that are developed with the support of this incubator project funded by the North Savo Association.

It was great to see so many new start ups and the generosity of the time given by the organisers, judges, and investors in helping the founders, such as by the Hub's very own Chairman Jari Osmala who was braving the cold wind on the ski lift listening to the pitches and one of the very active judges.

Congratulations to the winners RedoxNRG and all of the entries this year.

The side event of Kuopio Health a member of the Hub was well attended and much focus on having an informal environment to have the start up founders meet with some very high profile investors.

I look forward to continuing the discussions started at the event on behalf of the Hub and and also further exploring how Nolwenture continues nurturing our customers in Kuopio and hopefully helping some new ones met at the event soon too.