The Startup Marathon is an online hackathon designed for students and aspiring entrepreneurs curious to try out what it’s like to start a business from scratch. The event took place online via Zoom and Discord, from March 19 to 21. With the help of mentors and experts in the field, each team went from a startup idea to concrete actions, only within 42 hours. Boost guided them through every step from the validation process to the pitching contest. If you missed the chance to sign up or you were just too busy, Boost will share with you the behind-the-scenes of what happened during the three-day marathon.

Day 1 Highlights

The Startup Marathon opened its virtual doors at 6pm. Participants entered the zoom meeting filling up empty spaces on the screen. Faces suddenly appeared showing the excitement of the many aspiring entrepreneurs who joined the Startup Marathon. The Boost event started with a welcome speech, describing what to expect during the 42-hour hackathon. Then, each person had one minute to pitch their idea: 9 ideas were voted by participants and moved forward in the competition. The teams were then divided into nine and swung to the Discord channel. On that platform, members got to know each other and brainstorm around their idea. We witnessed such a great team spirit, as all of them were eager to start working hand in hand. At 9pm, the Startup Marathon clock started, marking the beginning of the online hackathon.

Day 2 Highlights

The second day of the Startup Marathon began with a morning coffee. Boost tried to recreate a virtual café where people would gather to talk about anything, compare coffee mugs, and of course, build a network.

Venla Elovaara opened the day with her startup journey. The audience felt inspired when she spoke about her career from a hairdresser to a CEO of a gaming platform. Venla, who was once part of a Boost event, the Startup Journey Accelerator, said that Boost had provided her with helpful tools for her entrepreneurship path.

Our next guest was Christina Forsgård, founder of Netprofile, a marketing communications consultancy founded in 2000. With her knowledge, she could guide each team through the validation of their idea, and give tips on what to improve. Boost mentors were assigned to each group to share their expertise and give additional pieces of advice to the participants. Max Garner, Jere Ketonen, Mikael Hörkkö, Noora Frelander, Jani Rusi, Eero Mäkelä, and Nithyananda Shrinidhi were among the mentors. Their help was a stepping stone for the next phase of the marathon: the Business Model Workshop, hosted by Rasmus Basilier. In the end of a long productive day, StepOut joined the session to help the attendees relax, with some stretching and deep breathing.

Day 3 Highlights

The third and last day of the Startup Marathon began with a morning coffee. Again, people gathered to enjoy a sip of coffee together. The two previous days were intense but the third day of the marathon, participants were ready to present their pitch to the judges.

The Zoom session started with a yoga class with Diego Dharma, who helped each team take a deep breath, stretch and relax their mind to deliver a perfect pitch. Everyone was peace of mind and ready to join the pitching workshop held by Erika Halonen. At 15:00, the clock stopped and participants were invited to pitch their idea for three minutes in front of the judge, Natalia Mufutau, Sales Director at MAW Siivouspalvelut Oy and the founder of Sanify Solutions Oy, Anna-Greta Nyström, Research from Åbo Akademi, and Raoul Lehtonen, CEO of Monttu Ventures. Finally, the winners of the Startup Marathon were announced by the judges: LEF. Their startup aims at promoting the education in Africa by providing schools with learning material from Finland. It was a tough call, since everyone worked really hard on their startups. We, at Boost, were honestly surprised by the quality of the pitches.

We would like to thank everyone for your participation, your commitment and hard work. We are wishing you the best of luck with your startups. And if you are willing to develop your startup, check out our upcoming Startup Journey Accelerator program. 🚀

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